Recent 6 months news in Banking

SBI Life Insurance has signed a strategic corporate agency agreement with the Jammu & Kashmir Bank (J&K Bank) to distribute comprehensive life insurance products across India.

The partnership will offer solutions including protection, savings, retirement, and child plans through a network of over 1,000 J&K Bank branches. This collaboration aligns with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) vision of ‘Insurance for All by 2047’.

The Department of Financial Services (DFS) under the Ministry of Finance (MoF) has launched India’s first sovereign-backed Protection & Indemnity (P&I) insurance product under the Bharat Maritime Insurance Pool (BMIP) in New Delhi.

The insurance product provides third-party liability coverage of up to $1.5 billion.

The RBI has deferred the implementation of the revised Basel Pillar III disclosure framework for banks by 6 months, setting the new effective date for April 1, 2027. The decision was taken in response to implementation challenges raised by stakeholders.

The revised framework, applicable to Commercial Banks (CB), Small Finance Banks (SFB), and Payments Banks (PB), was initially scheduled for implementation by the quarter ending September 30, 2026. The RBI has aligned these disclosure requirements with the Expected Credit Loss (ECL) framework for capital charge for credit risk under the standardised approach, which is also effective from April 2027.

The SEBI has extended the deadline for Regulated Entities (RE) to complete the Accessibility Audit of digital platforms and the remediation of audit findings under its Digital Accessibility framework to October 31, 2026.

SEBI has also launched the GARUDA framework to simplify and accelerate the filing process for Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) schemes.

SBI Cards and Payment Services Ltd has partnered with Google Pay to launch a co-branded credit card named 'Google Pay Flex SBI Card'. The card is designed to make daily spending more rewarding for users.

The Government of India has approved the RBI proposal to conduct field trials of polymer banknotes in ₹10 and ₹20 denominations. The trial involves introducing 100 crore banknotes of each denomination, amounting to a total value of ₹3,000 crore.

This proposal was submitted by the RBI, upon the recommendation of its Central Board, in accordance with Section 25 of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. It is to be noted that polymer banknotes are printed on non-fibrous and non-porous polymer material.

The National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX) has launched a mutual fund (MF) transaction platform named 'NCDEX Nidhi'.

The platform aims to increase MF penetration in rural and semi-rural India by leveraging its network of 800 Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and certified local MF distributors. It has initially onboarded 6 Asset Management Companies (AMCs).

Eroute Technologies Pvt Ltd has launched India's first 'Flexi Benefits Basket' on the UPI via its OmniCard platform.

It is an employee-controlled digital wallet designed for tax-efficient spending across multiple benefit categories. The platform is built on a RBI-licensed Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI) infrastructure and is accepted at 60 million UPI-enabled merchant outlets.

Hyderabad-based VIYONA Fintech, a fintech infrastructure startup, has received approval from the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS), now rebranded as Bharat Connect, to operate as a Customer Operating Unit (COU).

This authorization enables the startup to provide interoperable digital bill payment services across India.

Axis Finance Ltd (AFL) has launched an in-house Business Rules Engine (BRE) and digital platform named 'Axis Finance Drishti'.

It is designed to strengthen credit decision-making and risk management in the retail and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) lending sectors by enabling faster, data-driven, and scalable credit assessments.

Union Minister Amit Shah virtually inaugurated 'Sahakar Bhavan', the new headquarters of the Jamnagar District Cooperative Bank in Jamnagar, Gujarat. The project was completed at a cost of Rs 25 crore.

EbixCash World Money Ltd has become the first Authorised Dealer Category-II (AD-II) entity in India to receive authorization from the RBI to facilitate trade and family maintenance remittances, a domain previously dominated by banks.

The enhanced licence permits EbixCash to process trade remittances up to ₹25 lakh per transaction. Furthermore, the entity has received authorization to maintain Nostro accounts, enabling the direct settlement of international transactions without routing them through intermediary correspondent banks.

SEBI has granted approval to the Mumbai-based Carnelian Asset Management & Advisors Pvt Ltd to commence its Mutual Fund (MF) business.

This authorization allows the firm to provide a wide range of active and passive equity, debt, and hybrid mutual fund schemes to retail investors.

DBS Bank Ltd, a Singaporean multinational banking and financial services corporation, was awarded the 'World's Best Corporate Bank' at the 2026 Global Bank Awards by 'Global Finance' magazine. It is the first time a Southeast Asian bank has received this accolade since the category was established in 2005.

Other recognitions at the 2026 Global Bank Awards included Santander (Spain) being named 'World's Best Bank' and the State Bank of India (SBI) being recognized as the 'World's Best Consumer Bank'.

Policybazaar has launched US dollar-denominated term insurance plans for Non-Resident Indians (NRIs). These products are offered in collaboration with partner insurers and operate out of the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in GIFT City, Gujarat.

RBI has approved the acquisition of the fraud-hit Aviom India Housing Finance by the Areion Group for ₹936 crore, marking a milestone in the company's insolvency resolution process.

The RBI has also granted 'fit-and-proper' approval to Manish Lalwani, the promoter of the Areion Group. It is to be noted that this approval is mandatory for changing the control of a regulated financial institution.

The Department of Land Resources (DoLR) under the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) held a meeting with the Reserve Bank of India Innovation Hub (RBIH) to explore the integration of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for land governance and digital lending.

The initiative aims to create a secure land-credit ecosystem to improve institutional credit access for farmers and rural citizens. The meeting was chaired by DoLR Secretary Narendra Bhooshan and RBIH CEO Sahil Kini.

Enkash, a business payments and spend management platform, has become the first company in India to launch UPI-based payments on meal cards.

This feature allows employees to make direct payments from their meal card balance by scanning eligible UPI Quick Response (QR) codes at food and grocery merchants.

RBI has released the composite Financial Inclusion Index (FI-Index) for FY26, which increased to 70 in March 2026 from 67 in March 2025.

RBI has also issued new "Prudential Norms on Specified Non-Financial Asset (SNFA) acquired by Regulated Entities" to tighten regulations governing the resolution of distressed loans. This framework will come into effect on October 1, 2026.

Delhivery Financial Services Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Delhivery Ltd, has received the Certificate of Registration (CoR) from the RBI to operate as a Type-II Non-Banking Financial Company-Non-Deposit Taking (NBFC-ND).