The Weekly Wrap: all you need to know by Friday COB | December 29th

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 (RBI) has warned banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) about using risk models created in collaboration with FinTech companies. The RBI says these models need to be strong and regularly tested to ensure they work well. The central bank is telling these regulated entities to be cautious about any risks that might build up because of missing information, which could weaken the standards for lending money.

The Central bank said in a report that the models used by banks and financial companies must be strong and regularly checked to ensure they work well. The RBI also pointed out that using artificial intelligence and machine learning can have problems like biases and lack of transparency. It suggested that lenders should use ethical AI to protect customers and be open about how it works.

The RBI emphasized the need to balance the benefits and risks of using these technologies. It recommended that banks and financial companies improve their skills and be watched by regulators. The RBI also mentioned the importance of having clear laws and rules for using these technologies, involving stakeholders to identify possible issues, and educating consumers about them.

Deals of the week

• LawFi partners with Capital Q Ventures for its $1.5m pre-seed funding round
• Blackstone set to acquire Sony Payment Services in Japan
• Hakbah taps open banking platform Tarabut to modernise its savings platform
• Digital ID firm Yoti secures £12.5m debt funding from HSBC
• IndusInd Bank unveils ‘eSvarna’, a Corporate Credit Card on RuPay network
• Geidea & Giift to offer integrated loyalty and payment solutions in Egypt
• SimplePin, a cloud-based payments infrastructure, bags Axis as new client
• Fingerprints launches biometric payment cards powered by Thales

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