FINANCEOUTLOOKINDIA8 AUGUST, 2026REPORTAPPLE CARD PAYMENTS RETURN TO INDIA; APPLE PAY TO LAUNCH SOONINDIAN STARTUP FUNDING HITS $383.5 MN IN THE LATEST WEEKSTOCK EXCHANGES PROPOSE STRICTER NORMS FOR AUTHORIZED PERSONSDEBT MUTUAL FUNDS LOSE MARKET SHARE DESPITE 35% AUM RISE IN LAST 6 YRSIFSC REGULATED BULLION EXCHANGE IIBX CEO ASHOK KUMAR GAUTAM RESIGNSApple card payments are set to make a long-awaited comeback for App Store and iCloud purchases in India, ending nearly five years in which Indian users had no option but to rely on UPI, net banking, or a prepaid Apple ID balance to make such purchases. The development is coming on the heels of Apple Pay as a standalone digital payments business, which is also separately preparing to launch in India by October, a much faster-growing market than others where the company already operates, such as the United States and the United Kingdom.Apple has embarked on testing credit/debit card payment facility with a handful of users in India, according to reports. This comes as Apple was reported to be following the Reserve Bank of India's card tokenisation guidelines which had originally prompted the ban on card payments from Apple platforms. For now, this is still a "Testing Phase" news as there has been no official comment publicly made by Apple regarding the development. Indian startups funding saw $383.5 million in the latest week across 28 rounds, including five growth-stage rounds, 21 early-stage rounds and one undisclosed round. The week also saw 8 key leadership hires, 2 new funds launched and 3 M&A deals, which was a huge turnaround in terms of startup funding activity from the last week.Electric mobility startup River Mobility led the round with $120 million raised as part of a Series C funding round, followed by other growth-stage companies, which raised a combined total of nearly $273.7 million in six deals this week. Stock exchanges have proposed a major overhaul of the regulatory framework governing authorized persons (APs), raising entry barriers through stricter eligibility criteria, mandatory certifications, net-worth requirements and tighter supervision by stock brokers. Industry executives say the changes are expected to significantly increase compliance costs. APs are broker-appointed agents who acquire and service clients on behalf of stock brokers.In a consultation paper released, the stock exchanges, along with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), proposed introducing minimum net-worth criteria for APs. Individual APs would be required to maintain a minimum liquid net worth of Rs 5 lakh, while companies would need a minimum net worth of Rs 25 lakh. Ashok Kumar Gautam, the India International Bullion Exchange IFSC Ltd.- IIBX CEO has resigned citing personal reasons. Ashok Kumar Gautam had led the platform since its launch in 2022. The CEO is currently serving a three-month notice period that will end in November. Ashok Kumar Gautam did not respond to messages and calls seeking comment, and the exchange also did not respond to queries on the development.Debt mutual funds have lost significant market share in India's mutual fund industry over the past six years, even as their assets under management grew 35% and the category added nearly 19 lakh investor accounts. This move does not necessarily imply that investors are giving up on fixed income in their portfolios, rather it is an increasing trend to get fixed income exposure in hybrid funds and other alternative investment products, through which investors can diversify their fixed income allocation, according to industry executives.According to data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) and MFI360 Explorer, debt-oriented schemes had 50.97% of the average AUM of all the mutual funds in the country in June 2020 with Rs 12.99 lakh crore out of Rs 25.49 lakh crore. Ashok Kumar Gautam's departure raises fresh questions about the future of IIBX, which has struggled to scale up meaningfully since its inception. Created to provide India with a formal, organised bullion importing channel, the bourse took nearly three years to surpass the 100-tonne mark in cumulative gold trading - a fraction of the roughly 700 tonnes India imports annually through other channels, including banks.
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