Recent 6 months news in Banking

Eroute Technologies Pvt Ltd has launched India's first 'Flexi Benefits Basket' on the UPI via its OmniCard platform.

It is an employee-controlled digital wallet designed for tax-efficient spending across multiple benefit categories. The platform is built on a RBI-licensed Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI) infrastructure and is accepted at 60 million UPI-enabled merchant outlets.

Hyderabad-based VIYONA Fintech, a fintech infrastructure startup, has received approval from the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS), now rebranded as Bharat Connect, to operate as a Customer Operating Unit (COU).

This authorization enables the startup to provide interoperable digital bill payment services across India.

Axis Finance Ltd (AFL) has launched an in-house Business Rules Engine (BRE) and digital platform named 'Axis Finance Drishti'.

It is designed to strengthen credit decision-making and risk management in the retail and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) lending sectors by enabling faster, data-driven, and scalable credit assessments.

Union Minister Amit Shah virtually inaugurated 'Sahakar Bhavan', the new headquarters of the Jamnagar District Cooperative Bank in Jamnagar, Gujarat. The project was completed at a cost of Rs 25 crore.

EbixCash World Money Ltd has become the first Authorised Dealer Category-II (AD-II) entity in India to receive authorization from the RBI to facilitate trade and family maintenance remittances, a domain previously dominated by banks.

The enhanced licence permits EbixCash to process trade remittances up to ₹25 lakh per transaction. Furthermore, the entity has received authorization to maintain Nostro accounts, enabling the direct settlement of international transactions without routing them through intermediary correspondent banks.

SEBI has granted approval to the Mumbai-based Carnelian Asset Management & Advisors Pvt Ltd to commence its Mutual Fund (MF) business.

This authorization allows the firm to provide a wide range of active and passive equity, debt, and hybrid mutual fund schemes to retail investors.

DBS Bank Ltd, a Singaporean multinational banking and financial services corporation, was awarded the 'World's Best Corporate Bank' at the 2026 Global Bank Awards by 'Global Finance' magazine. It is the first time a Southeast Asian bank has received this accolade since the category was established in 2005.

Other recognitions at the 2026 Global Bank Awards included Santander (Spain) being named 'World's Best Bank' and the State Bank of India (SBI) being recognized as the 'World's Best Consumer Bank'.

Policybazaar has launched US dollar-denominated term insurance plans for Non-Resident Indians (NRIs). These products are offered in collaboration with partner insurers and operate out of the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in GIFT City, Gujarat.

RBI has approved the acquisition of the fraud-hit Aviom India Housing Finance by the Areion Group for ₹936 crore, marking a milestone in the company's insolvency resolution process.

The RBI has also granted 'fit-and-proper' approval to Manish Lalwani, the promoter of the Areion Group. It is to be noted that this approval is mandatory for changing the control of a regulated financial institution.

The Department of Land Resources (DoLR) under the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) held a meeting with the Reserve Bank of India Innovation Hub (RBIH) to explore the integration of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for land governance and digital lending.

The initiative aims to create a secure land-credit ecosystem to improve institutional credit access for farmers and rural citizens. The meeting was chaired by DoLR Secretary Narendra Bhooshan and RBIH CEO Sahil Kini.

Enkash, a business payments and spend management platform, has become the first company in India to launch UPI-based payments on meal cards.

This feature allows employees to make direct payments from their meal card balance by scanning eligible UPI Quick Response (QR) codes at food and grocery merchants.

RBI has released the composite Financial Inclusion Index (FI-Index) for FY26, which increased to 70 in March 2026 from 67 in March 2025.

RBI has also issued new "Prudential Norms on Specified Non-Financial Asset (SNFA) acquired by Regulated Entities" to tighten regulations governing the resolution of distressed loans. This framework will come into effect on October 1, 2026.

Delhivery Financial Services Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Delhivery Ltd, has received the Certificate of Registration (CoR) from the RBI to operate as a Type-II Non-Banking Financial Company-Non-Deposit Taking (NBFC-ND).

Axis Max Life Insurance Ltd has launched a retirement-focused insurance product named 'Axis Max Life Smart Retirement Income with Sustained Earnings Plan' (Smart RISE). The plan integrates a Guaranteed Annuity with a Variable Annuity linked to the NIFTY 50 Index.

RBI has launched the July 2026 round of three household surveys to gather inputs for the upcoming Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. The Inflation Expectations Survey of Households (IESH) collects data on price movements from 19 major cities, covering current, 3-month-ahead, and 1-year-ahead inflation expectations.

The Urban Consumer Confidence Survey (UCCS) monitors qualitative responses from urban households in 19 cities regarding economic sentiment, including employment, income, spending, and the general economic situation.

The Rural Consumer Confidence Survey (RCCS) assesses economic confidence and expectations for rural and semi-urban households across 31 States and Union Territories (UTs).

The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) has mandated that all Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) must route the settlement of invoices related to procurement from MSMEs through the Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS).

The TReDS mechanism has been progressively expanded, starting with mandatory onboarding for CPSEs and companies with a turnover above ₹500 crore in 2018. The threshold was lowered to ₹250 crore in 2024, and mandatory TReDS settlement will be implemented from June 30, 2026.

According to the Ministry of MSME, invoice financing through the TReDS platform has grown from ₹40,000 crore in FY22 to ₹3.47 trillion in FY26. It is to be noted that the TReDS is an electronic platform regulated by the RBI that facilitates the financing and discounting of trade receivables of MSMEs by multiple financiers.

The State Bank of India (SBI) has divested a 1.42% equity stake in its asset management subsidiary, SBI Funds Management Ltd (SBIFM), for ₹1,655 crore.

The stake was sold to 30 institutional investors through a pre-Initial Public Offering (IPO) placement.

TPG Inc. has signed agreements to acquire a 100% stake in Aseem Infrastructure Finance Ltd (AIFL) from the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and other shareholders.

The acquisition is being executed through TPG Rise Climate, the climate investing platform of TPG. The transaction is undertaken in partnership with the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) and ICICI Bank Ltd. Upon completion, ICICI Bank will hold an equity stake of up to 5% in AIFL.

The RBI has approved the appointment of Mahesh Muralidhar Pai as the MD & CEO of the South Indian Bank (SIB) for a 3-year term, effective from October 2026. He succeeds PR Seshadri.

RBI has imposed a monetary penalty of ₹63.6 lakh on the Bank of Baroda (BoB) for charging interest rates higher than the contracted rates, failing to upload Know Your Customer (KYC) records to the Central KYC Records Registry (CKYCR) within the stipulated timelines, and non-compliance with the 'Fair Practices Code'.

The central bank has also imposed a penalty of ₹3.1 lakh on GIC Housing Finance due to deficiencies in compliance with KYC guidelines.