“Be careful or be roadkill.” – Calvin (Calvin & Hobbes) There are two kinds of fintech: the conscientious and the reckless. The former treads with caution. They know that being cavalier isn’t an option if you deal with public money. Then there’s the reckless. The sort that calls your grandmom if you default on aRead more
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A sneak peek at a fintech founder’s diary as she navigates business opportunities and regulatory curveballs. A Tale of Two Cities begins with the now immortal lines: it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. If Charles Dickens wrote about the Indian fintech ecosystem today, we think it would be eerily similar,Read more
A letter from a disgruntled Rs.100 note reminding UPI that cash is still king. “This is an outstanding accomplishment. It indicates the collective resolve of the people of India to embrace new technologies and make the economy cleaner.” – PM Modi That’s PM Modi lauding UPI crossing 6 billion transactions in July. Like any icon,Read more
An analysis of RBI’s card directions that restrict fintech’s access to card transaction data and their interplay with RBI’s outsourcing guidelines. In April 2022, RBI notified the directions on Credit and Debit Cards. In these directions, it asked co-branding partners to keep their hands off card transaction data. The RBI has, this time, gone straight for the fintechRead more
A Bandersnatch-inspired story that follows a fintech entrepreneur as she tries to monetize a payments business in India. In the film Bandersnatch, viewers make decisions for the main character – the young game programmer Stefan Butler. It is an interactive ‘choose your own adventure’ film. You, the viewer, make choices for Stefan. Your choices determine Stefan’s fate.Read more
The best stories of 2022 from our monthly fintech newsletter, FinTales. February 2022: The Hassleocracy of Crypto-taxes “Cryptos have no underlying assets, not even a tulip.” –Shaktikanta Das Ouch. That’s the RBI Governor, not mincing his words. Like everyone else, we’ve pored over the Budget announcements on crypto-assets. The euphoria in the crypto-verse was short-lived.Read more
“There are some gifts only the RBI can deliver. For everything else, there’s Santa.” – (reportedly) Santa Merry Christmas Dear Reader, We have a Christmas present for you: a sneak peek into Santa’s inbox. Besides millions of gushing letters from Messi fans, we found many from fintech founders, and a lot of them read like this:Read more
“Whatever the truth, science today agrees that everything is destined to return to Chaos. It calls this inevitable fate entropy: part of the great cycle from Chaos to order and back again to Chaos.” – Stephen Fry, Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold Hello Reader,The ancient Greeks believed the first divine beings – the sky, the earth, theRead more
This article explains how robo advisors work, how they’re regulated, and why we need specific laws that cater to robo advisory. In our wealth-tech series, we analyse different wealth-tech products and their legal status. You can read all the posts here. There’s always an opportunity with crisis, they say. The 2008 financial crisis wasn’t any different. It didn’tRead more
This article explores model portfolios, their benefits, and the regulatory uncertainty surrounding them. In our wealth-tech series, we analyze different wealth-tech products and their legal status. You can read all the posts here. The COVID-19 pandemic was a turning point in the history of Indian capital markets. Many Indians stuck at home were drawn to the stock-market as itRead more