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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.
Predatory loan apps with links to China continue to flourish unabated. It’s time to pay attention to what’s aiding this unchecked rise.
Editor's note: Indian bankers and fintech executives should be worried. Predatory loan apps with links to China pose a national security challenge that could undermine our digital banking ambitions. This is despite the finance ministry, the Reserve Bank of India, Google and India’s financial industry adopting several measures over the past couple of years to prevent such apps from duping unsuspecting Indians. New regulations, changes in Play Store policies, public awareness campaigns and the idea of a “whitelist” of legal loan apps to be prepared by the central bank are some of these steps. But the phenomenon of fraudulent Chinese loan apps seems to go beyond extortion. It’s time the Indian government looked at the possibility of fake loan apps as being part of China’s geopolitical strategy. These fly-by-night operators are well financed, enjoy support from their accomplices from outside the country and are resourceful. What works in their favor is that existing regulations and compliance systems of Indian banks and payment firms are inadequate when it comes to detecting fraud in real time. Moreover, any policy changes only increase the compliance …
The newly announced levy on UPI payments undermines the very foundation of using digital payments for stock market investing. Brokers are in a tizzy.
Chinese diplomats to India are saying all the right things for Indian ears, but Beijing’s policy actions are moving in the opposite direction.
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.
