The Weekly Wrap: all you need to know by Friday COB | August 11th

By Puja Sharma

The Weekly Wrap is published every Friday and recaps the week’s main stories and deals, as well as upcoming events and announcements. For Prime subscribers only.

The Big Story

The Reserve Bank of India announced this week three new features that promise to usher in the next era of the payments revolution using the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), including transactions based on conversations with artificial intelligence.

Governor Shaktikanta Das announced these measures while sharing the outcome of RBI’s bi-monthly policy review. The central bank held the key repo rate steady at 6.5%. Das has proposed to launch Conversational Payments on UPI, enabling users to engage in a conversation with an AI-powered system to initiate and complete transactions in a safe and secure environment.

As AI gets increasingly integrated into the digital economy, conversational instructions hold immense potential to enhance the ease of use and reach of the UPI, which has transformed India’s digital payments ecosystem.

Deals of the week

• SumUp scoops $100m credit facility from Victory Park Capital
• Endowus bags $35m funding to expand its digital wealth offering in APAC
• Islamic investment platform Mnaara raises $500K in pre-seed funds
• 40Seas raises $6m to digitise cross-border trade financing
• Moove raises $76m in new funding to bolster business growth
• Investment Platform Stable Money raises $5m in Seed funding
• Vistaar Finance to raise $50m in Debt Financing from US DFC
• Resilience raises $100m Series D round to drive global expansion
• India, UAE agree to promote local currencies for cross-border payments
• SBI Card joins NPCI to facilitate its RuPay Credit Cards on UPI
• PayPal launches dollar-backed stablecoin PYUSD for payments

Be on the lookout for

The Vencent Fintech Summit, taking place on August 14 and 15, 2023, in Little Rock, Arkansas, is set to amass global banking industry leaders, innovators, and influencers to explore the latest technological developments shaping the financial sector.

The focus of this year’s summit is the intersection of technology and the future of the financial industry. Participants will gain insights into banking innovation strategies and best practices for dealing with rapidly evolving technologies, as well as experience intensive live demonstrations and networking opportunities.

Knowledge sharing will cover hot topics like cryptocurrency, banking-as-a-service (BaaS), and cybersecurity. Delegates will have the chance to delve into what’s coming next in FinTech and digital transformation, exploring strategies to keep up with the pace of change. A highlight of Vencent is the announcement of “The Finny” winner, a trophy which recognizes the financial institution that exemplifies innovation and strategic excellence in the field.