Digital Financial News

Mint explains.In November last year, the department of telecommunications (DoT) directed messaging platforms, including WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Arattai, Snapchat, Sharechat, Jiochat, and Josh, to ensure their services remain linked to users’ SIM cards and phone numbers. Users without an active SIM would not be able to access these apps.

Digital influencers still struggle to match the trust levels of human creators. Audiences tend to connect more deeply with personalities who feel spontaneous and imperfect.

IT sector, according to the data.There has also been a visible surge in companies explicitly branding themselves as AI-focused. At the beginning of FY26, 84 companies in every 10,000 new registrations mentioned ‘AI’ in their names.

In 2026, India’s banking sector remains a primary economic catalyst, underpinned by robust credit appetite, accelerated digitalization, and resilient asset quality. Having moved past the peak NPA cycle, banks are now characterized by stronger capital buffers, operational efficiency, and a digital-first approach.A key trend shaping the industry is rapid digital adoption.

Regional storytelling has always had a strong emotional connect with audiences. When combined with the short, mobile-optimised format of micro-dramas, such stories can travel naturally across digital platforms, industry experts say.“We are starting to see early interest in regional language micro-drama storytelling as the format gains visibility in India.

₹2,600 crore into its automobile subsidiary, JSW Green Mobility, since its inception—signalling a serious push into India’s passenger and commercial vehicle market as it gears up for a FY27 debut.Billionaire Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Group is targeting the October–December quarter of financial year 2027 to launch its first passenger vehicle, after infusing about ₹2,600 crore into its automobile subsidiary, JSW Green Mobility, since inception.According to Mint’s review of multiple filings with the ministry of corporate affairs, the capital was deployed primarily toward setting up plant operations for passenger and commercial vehicle businesses in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, alongside general corporate purposes and debt repayment.With interests spanning steel, energy and paints, JSW’s move marks its most decisive diversification yet—and places it alongside Tata Group and Mahindra as the third major Indian business house entering the automobile sector.While the automobile subsidiary was incorporated in 2023, filings show it did not receive meaningful financial support from group firms until December 2024—when chairman Sajjan Jindal publicly declared JSW’s intent to build its own automobile brand.Funding from group companies accelerated sharply after that announcement.Queries sent to JSW Group remained unanswered.“Our idea is not to be an outpost of a Chinese company to sell products in India,” Jindal told the Financial Times in December 2024. “We want to manufacture the products in India, value-add in India, and sell them in India.”The company is scheduled to launch its first car in the October–December quarter of financial year 2027.

Snapchat is leaning on India’s regional film industries, enlisting local celebrities to share movie updates and behind-the-scenes content, to engage Gen Z tier-II and tier-III cities—a win-win for both the platform and filmmakers.“We work closely with regional film industries across languages spanning Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and other ecosystems because that’s where some of the most authentic and culturally relevant storytelling is happening today,” said Saket Jha Saurabh, director and head of content and AR partnerships at Snap Inc., Snapchat’s parent company.“These efforts also play a key role in helping us strengthen our reach across emerging markets, including tier-II and tier-III cities, where both regional storytelling and Snapchat adoption are seeing a strong momentum," he added.While Snapchat has collaborated to promote movies such as Pushpa 2, HIT 3, Ponniyin Selvan II, Kantara Chapter 1, and Dude, top regional celebrities like Rashmika Mandanna, Allu Arjun, and Ghanta Naveen Babu, popularly known as Nani, also share content on the app, enticing their fans to sign up.The strategy is to offer exclusive content and early previews, including first looks at films, directly to the app’s audience.

music markets globally, with the recorded music industry crossing ₹3,000 crore in annual revenues and digital contributing over 60%," said Vitasta Kaul, chief marketing officer, Hoopr, a music licensing platform. "However, per-stream payouts remain among the lowest globally, often fetching a few paise per stream.

As we enter a new fiscal year, both the government and industry bodies such as the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) would do well to focus on what truly drives sustained growth in India: Is it the demand or supply side of the Indian economy?In ten-pin bowling, a strike happens only when the head pin is hit. Economic strategy is no different. If India wants to trigger a virtuous cycle of 8% growth, it must hit the right first pin.

.Singh said the company did “blockbuster business” on the opening match weekend, without giving specific details. “April and May could bring in 25% more revenue at least,” he added.Besides live screenings, several restaurants have made themed menus, beer deals and delivery offers.

Amid daily price swings in crude oil, based on what the US or Iran says on a given day, global growth prospects for 2026 appear grim. Even if the war ends within days, rebuilding energy infrastructure in West Asia, battered by bombings and drone attacks, will take months if not years.

India’s proposed amendments of its IT Rules may read at first glance as a technical tightening of platform obligations. The government has described them as “clarificatory and procedural,” intended to improve legal certainty, strengthen enforceability and ensure more effective oversight of content hosted by online intermediaries, particularly news and current affairs.A closer reading, however, suggests that government ‘advisories,’ ‘guidelines’ and ‘clarifications’ could effectively become binding.

Bengaluru: India’s growing faith-tech startups are moving beyond digital horoscopes and virtual rituals to claim the nation’s $35 billion market for spiritual merchandise. So, the firms that once focused solely on software are now wrestling with the complexities of supply chains, selling everything from ‘blessed’ crystals to sacred beads.The pivot toward e-commerce is a move for higher margins and stronger customer loyalty.

The West Asia escalation has brought back into focus a structural vulnerability that has long remained underappreciated in policy discourse. Energy flows translate into payment flows, and both are now increasingly mediated by financial architectures that reflect geopolitical reality as much as economic logic. These are not passive conduits, as they can shape outcomes—by enabling, delaying or, in extreme cases, constraining the movement of money across borders.At the heart of this evolving dynamic lies mBridge, an initiative incubated under the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) for interoperability among multiple central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

Like the ministerial gatherings in 1999, 2003 and 2017, the 14th Ministerial of the World Trade Organization (WTO), held at Yaoundé, Cameroon, ended without an agreement on anything. US trade representative Jamieson Greer used the occasion to reiterate his long-held view that the WTO is not of much use. This trade body operates by consensus and India has had its fair share of blame for such huddles yielding little, having held firm on its right to subsidize agriculture, a point that rich countries found hard to stomach.

ALTT, and is positioning itself as a family-friendly destination. That, however, is only one part of a three-pronged strategy.The company, known for mostly risqué theatrical offerings such as The Dirty Picture and Udta Punjab in the last decade, is also announcing a host of feature film projects, starring mostly bankable faces, to recover investment through a combination of theatrical, satellite and OTT revenues.Thirdly, Balaji, which saw its net loss widen by 107% to ₹24.43 crore in the third quarter of fiscal year 2026 (FY26) and reported a 53.5% year-on-year drop in total revenue to ₹41.58 crore, has also launched an astrological service and a talent management vertical.However, the big question is, will these new bets pay off?“Our growth strategy today is built on a multi-platform content ecosystem.

on Tuesday to the Department of Consumer Affairs and some of the leading jewellery retailers, such as Tanishq, remained unanswered till press time.Tightening the framework will strengthen consumer trust, bring greater transparency and accountability in the hallmarking system, and ensure declared purity matches the product sold, said Ashim Sanyal, chief executive officer, Consumer Voice, a consumer rights’ advocacy organization.In October 2025, the Department of Consumer Affairs, through its quality standards arm BIS, launched a pilot project in 25 districts to digitally capture jewellery details. BIS recorded the photograph and weight of each hallmarked jewellery item on its portal using integrated cameras and weighing systems, reducing manual errors and improving transparency.“The pilot was a huge success, and based on its outcome, a stricter framework is now being planned for rollout across the country,” the second person said.Hallmarking was introduced in 2000 and made mandatory in phases from 2021, now covering about 400 districts.

Masaan, is now backing theatre productions, Adarsh Gourav will soon be seen in a docu-series titled The Tribal Voice, while Ridhi Dogra will feature in a travel series for National Geographic Channel.Industry experts say that for film actors, the shift toward theatre, documentaries and other formats is both creative and strategic. Cinema is inherently project-driven, so these avenues allow actors to stay engaged between releases while continuing to build their craft.From a brand perspective, diversification helps actors evolve from being seen purely as performers to more rounded creative voices.

Mint that the compliance requirement is especially important for digital personal loans, buy now, pay later (BNPL), and other frequently disbursed unsecured products, where borrowing patterns can shift within days rather than months.“In a traditional monthly reporting cycle, the lifecycle of a 15-day BNPL transaction or a 30-day micro-loan is essentially a blind spot…it begins and ends before the data ever reaches the bureau,” said Aditya B. Chatterjee, managing director of credit bureau Equifax India.And borrowers “used to exploit this particular window of a blind spot in the (bureau reporting) system”, said Sugandh Saxena, chief executive of self-regulatory organization Fintech Association for Consumer Empowerment (FACE), adding that “fintechs would greatly benefit” from fresher bureau data.That is because digital NBFCs dominate the personal-loan market by volume, accounting for 78% of sanctioned loans in the first nine months of 2025-26, even though their share by value was only 19%, according to FACE data.Credit data from banks, NBFCs, and fintech lenders used to be updated with bureaus on a monthly cycle, but in practice, taking 30-45 days from disbursal to reflection in a borrower’s file.

Mint explains.From 1 April, all digital transactions must be verified using at least two independent authentication factors—such as a personal identification number (PIN), a one-time password (OTP) or biometric—with at least one factor being dynamic.The requirement applies across payment modes, including cards, UPI and wallets, standardizing security protocols across platforms. The tighter framework is aimed at reducing vulnerabilities and strengthening safeguards in digital payments.Many transactions today rely on a single authentication factor, typically a PIN or an OTP.

fintech space.“We are a well-capitalized and profitable organization, built on a disciplined and conservative approach to managing growth and expenses. Following our recent fundraise of ₹240 crore, we are not in immediate need of additional capital,” a spokesperson for the company told Mint in an emailed statement.