This week’s version of Finovate International appears at current fintech headlines from India.
CRED raises $900 million in spherical led by Meta
CRED, a membership-based, credit score rewards platform that provides options throughout funds, lending, insurance coverage, wealth, and life-style, has secured $900 million in Sequence H funding. The spherical was led by Meta, and will likely be structured via a mix of major and secondary share purchases. Meta will be part of the CRED cap desk as a minority investor; CRED will earn a post-money valuation of $4.5 billion.
With 1.7 million members participating with its platform each month, CRED processes greater than 40% of bank card invoice funds in India, and has seen its lending enterprise develop to greater than $2.5 billion in managed property. The funding will allow the corporate to speed up progress, construct “institutional muscle,” and lengthen its management throughout verticals. The corporate introduced that its founder, Kunal Shah, will transition from his working function as CEO to go WhatsApp internationally. India is WhatsApp’s largest market, with greater than 500 million customers. Miten Sampat, who has led technique and finance for CRED since 2020, will take the helm as interim CEO.
“I began CRED in 2018 with a perception that creditworthiness deserves to be rewarded,” Shah stated. “In underneath eight years, that perception has changed into a brand new class: tens of millions of members, $325 million in income, profitability, a full stack of licenses, and a robust model. On this basis, with further capital and a very proficient crew, CRED is poised to turn into a permanent establishment for many years to return.”
CRED is headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. The corporate’s funding announcement comes because the agency launches a brand new AI-powered credit score teaching answer for CRED members. The AI credit score coach offers personalised, real-time steerage primarily based on the person’s credit score profile to assist them higher perceive their credit score standing and enhance their credit score well being.
Navi UPI enhances fraud safety capabilities
Navi UPI, a well-liked UPI app, has unveiled Navi Safe, a brand new unified framework that mixes the platform’s current fraud prevention, threat monitoring, and person safety capabilities. The providing is designed to assist retailers and customers cope with the proliferation of more and more subtle fraud assaults that leverage social engineering, compromised units, false retailers, and extra.
With clever threat indicators, contextual alerts, and preventive safeguards embedded within the buyer journey, Navi Safe helps companies scale back threat throughout a spread of fraud situations, together with scam-driven funds and manipulation-based fraud; compromised units and apps; unsafe networks and environments; and high-risk entities and transaction habits.
“Given digital funds have turn into central to on a regular basis life, fraud prevention must be actual time and contextual. Navi Safe displays our dedication to constructing trust-first monetary infrastructure, the place security is embedded into each transaction, not added as an afterthought,” Navi Restricted MD and CEO Rajiv Naresh stated. “By combining superior threat intelligence with user-friendly safeguards, we’re guaranteeing that clients can use UPI with confidence, figuring out that Navi is actively working within the background to guard their cash.”
Navi UPI is among the many quickest rising monetary companies firms in India. The corporate’s UPI transaction volumes grew from greater than 709 million to greater than 824 million between January and Could 2026. The corporate presently has 3.6% of India’s UPI market share; a market dominated by PhonePe (46.2%) and Google Pay (32.7%).
Bengaluru-based Navi is a monetary companies firm that gives private and residential loans, insurance coverage, mutual funds, and gold investing, in addition to UPI, India’s flagship on the spot real-time funds system (Unified Funds Interface). Navi UPI is the corporate’s cash switch answer, which leverages UPI to ship cash transfers anytime, wherever. Navi was based in 2018.
Indian paytech Skydo expands to Canada
Funds platform Skydo has received its first regulatory approval outdoors of its native India. The Bengaluru-based firm has secured a world fee license in Canada that can allow the corporate to supply two-way fee flows, together with native collections and payouts, between India and Canada.
“Securing our first worldwide license marks Skydo’s evolution from an India-focused cross-border funds platform to a multi-country funds operator,” Skydo CEO and Co-Founder Srivatsan Sridhar stated. “With Canada, we’re increasing past collections to allow seamless two-way fee flows and help rising India-Canada commerce.”
Based in 2022, Skydo is a cross-border B2B funds specialist, lowering international change prices for companies by greater than 50%. The corporate companions with main banks world wide, offering companies with their very own international digital accounts to allow them to obtain funds with out tax or compliance problems. Supporting greater than 150 international locations, Skydo’s platform processes greater than 200,000 funds a yr and is utilized by 40,000+ Indian exporters.
Skydo has referred to Canada as a strategic market, given the size of commerce exercise between India and Canada. In 2025, India and Canada reached $10.9 billion in bilateral merchandise commerce. Each international locations have indicated that they wish to greater than double two-way commerce, presently at simply over $30 billion yearly, to $70 billion by 2030.
“Our ambition is to construct for the world, from India,” Skydo Co-Founder Movin Jain stated. “Canada strengthens our international footprint, allows native collections and payouts, and creates a robust basis for future enlargement throughout North America.”
Skydo’s regulatory win in Canada comes only a month after the corporate acquired in-principle approval to function as a Fee Service Supplier (PSP) within the Worldwide Monetary Providers Centre (IFSC) at Gujarat Worldwide Finance Tec-Metropolis.
Right here is our take a look at fintech innovation world wide.
Asia-Pacific
Japanese monetary large SBI Holdings agreed to amass crypto change Bitbank for $298 million.
Singapore-based fintech platform Airwallex earned a valuation of $11 billion after securing $320 million in Sequence H funding.
Mynt, the father or mother firm Philippine cell funds and finance superapp GCash, has filed for an $1.5 billion IPO on the Philippine Inventory Alternate.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Nigerian fintech Daya secured $2.4 million in pre-seed funding to broaden its stablecoin funds know-how for African companies.
Kenya-based fintech WapiPay acquired a Cash Providers Enterprise license from Canada’s Monetary Transactions and Studies Evaluation Heart (FINTRAC).
Pan-African fintech DigiPay and French fintech Belmoney launched DigiTransfer, a cell app that permits cash transfers between France, Belgium, the Republic of the Congo, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Central and Japanese Europe
Albania launched its first totally digital financial institution, Jet Financial institution.
Mastercard and PrivatBank introduced completion of Ukraine’s first fee executed by AI agent.
Austrian-Swiss international payout infrastructure startup Talentir raised €4 million in seed funding in a spherical led by Redstone.
Center East and Northern Africa
Egyptian fintech MNT-Halan introduced plans for an IPO that would give the corporate a valuation of $1 billion.
Lean Applied sciences and Ziina teamed as much as launch the UAE’s first One-Faucet Pay by Financial institution expertise.
Israeli fintech Payoneer agreed to be bought to Canadian agency Nuvei for $2.7 billion.
Central and Southern Asia
Indian fintech Cred secured $900 million in Sequence H funding in a spherical led by Meta.
Karachi-based easypaisa digital financial institution inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Binance to “discover revolutionary alternatives” in fintech, digital financial savings, and funding options.
Indian UPI app Navi UPI, unveiled a brand new unified security framework, Navi Safe.
Latin American and the Caribbean
CSU Digital, the most important impartial card processor in Latin America, has embarked upon its US enlargement.
Iupana checked out how new governments in Colombia and Peru are searching for to bolster the fintech sectors of their respective international locations.
Payward, monetary infrastructure platform and father or mother firm of Kraken, secured a Digital Asset Service Supplier (VASP) registrations from the British Virgin Islands Monetary Providers Fee (BVI FSC).
Photograph by Shiv Prasad on Unsplash
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