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Context is everything.
Detailed stories on technology startups, business and economic current affairs.
Detailed stories on technology startups, business and economic current affairs.
The digital payments industry, both online and in physical retail, seems set for serious M&A activity as the larger players move to consolidate.
Editor's note: It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call 2021 a landmark year for payments in India. The space has been buzzing with activity for the past few months—be it fund-raises at ever-higher valuations by startups such as CRED and BharatPe or the IPO filings of Paytm and MobiKwik or significant policy changes by the Reserve Bank of India. The stage is set for massive shifts. “Some or the other consolidation is happening. There are times when you get so confused as everybody is exploring M&A today. That's the state of fintech currently. With RBI’s policy changes on one side, small players burdened with compliance cost, bigger players getting next fund and getting into new segments, the market is in utter chaos,” says an industry executive, asking not to be named. There are two things happening in payments right now about which we have already written: First, RBI’s new guidelines on regulating payment aggregators and payment gateways are expected to make it tough for smaller online payment processors to continue, on account of stricter compliance and capital requirements. This means the larger …
The digital payments industry, both online and in physical retail, seems set for serious M&A activity as the larger players move to consolidate.
Editor's note: It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call 2021 a landmark year for payments in India. The space has been buzzing with activity for the past few months—be it fund-raises at ever-higher valuations by startups such as CRED and BharatPe or the IPO filings of Paytm and MobiKwik or significant policy changes by the Reserve Bank of India. The stage is set for massive shifts. “Some or the other consolidation is happening. There are times when you get so confused as everybody is exploring M&A today. That's the state of fintech currently. With RBI’s policy changes on one side, small players burdened with compliance cost, bigger players getting next fund and getting into new segments, the market is in utter chaos,” says an industry executive, asking not to be named. There are two things happening in payments right now about which we have already written: First, RBI’s new guidelines on regulating payment aggregators and payment gateways are expected to make it tough for smaller online payment processors to continue, on account of stricter compliance and capital requirements. This means the larger …
The Rs 250 SIP was launched last year by the former SEBI chairperson with one clear goal: financial inclusion. More than a year later, the much-hyped scheme doesn’t seem to have caught on with MF investors.
Firms like Razorpay and Pine Labs are eyeing the lucrative international remittances market with their newly received cross-border payment aggregator licences. The opportunity, albeit large, is not without challenges.
One of the few remaining foreign venture capital funds in India, Lightspeed has had a rather quiet year—especially when compared to some of its peers. The 2026 IPO pipeline may be the reset it needs.
The Rs 250 SIP was launched last year by the former SEBI chairperson with one clear goal: financial inclusion. More than a year later, the much-hyped scheme doesn’t seem to have caught on with MF investors.
Firms like Razorpay and Pine Labs are eyeing the lucrative international remittances market with their newly received cross-border payment aggregator licences. The opportunity, albeit large, is not without challenges.
One of the few remaining foreign venture capital funds in India, Lightspeed has had a rather quiet year—especially when compared to some of its peers. The 2026 IPO pipeline may be the reset it needs.
