The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday asked banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) to give customers the option to choose from multiple networks when they issue credit cards.

The regulator’s directive will be effective from September 6, six months later. Existing cardholders may be given the option at the time of their next renewal, the RBI said in a communication to banks, NBFCs, and payment system providers.

Shares of Mid and Smallcap companies were under sharp selling pressure on Wednesday with the BSE Smallcap and Midcap indices sinking up to 2 per cent intra-day.

In comparison, there was a 0.11 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. With today's decline, the BSE Smallcap index has slipped 5 per cent from its record high level touched on February 7.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) announced on Tuesday that it has provisionally attached assets valued at Rs 12.78 crore belonging to suspended Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Shahjahan Sheikh, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA).

The ongoing investigations were initiated based on multiple first information reports (FIRs) filed by the West Bengal Police, covering various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Act, Arms Act, SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, and the West Bengal State Highways Act against Shahjahan Sheikh and others.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday barred JM Financial Products Ltd from providing any form of financing against shares and debentures, including sanction and disbursal of loans against initial public offering, with immediate effect.

The company can, however, continue to service its existing loan accounts through the usual collection and recovery process, the RBI said in a statement.

Tata Sons Ltd. may fetch a valuation of as much as 8 trillion rupees ($96 billion) in an initial public offering that could potentially take place within the next 18 months, according to Mumbai-based investment banking firm Spark PWM Pvt.

The Indian conglomerate — which owns stakes in software major Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. and Jaguar Land Rover maker Tata Motors Ltd. — was classified as an “upper-layer” non-banking financial company by the central bank in September 2022. The category, among other requirements, mandates that such firms seek a public listing within a period of three years.

India's first listed AI-powered fintech company, Infibeam Avenues, on Tuesday received the final authorisation from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as a payment aggregator for its payment gateway brand, CCAvenue.

The company announced in a press release that it received final authorisation from the RBI on March 4 to operate as a payment aggregator (PA), following the in-principle approval granted in October 2022.

The government launched an online digital platform named "e-Upaja Kisaan Nidhi" to empower farmers with access to pledge finance against harvested commodities. This initiative enables farmers to store their agricultural produce with the Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA) and secure post-harvest loans from banks. The announcement was made by Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister Piyush Goyal during the launch ceremony of "e-Kisan Upaj Nidhi" (Digital Gateway) of the WDRA in New Delhi on Monday.

Banks in India are gearing up to further enhance their Know Your Customer (KYC) protocols by integrating additional verification layers aimed at bolstering the identification of both accounts and account holders, according to a report by the Economic Times. Financial institutions are devising plans to upgrade all existing accounts, with particular attention directed towards those tethered to a single phone number that is associated with multiple or joint accounts.

Additionally, banks are poised to demand heightened verification from individuals maintaining multiple accounts opened with varying sets of documentation.

Exicom Tele-Systems (Exicom) made a healthy stock market debut with its shares listing 85 per cent higher at Rs 270.30 against its issue price of Rs 142 per share on the BSE on Tuesday. The stock was listed at Rs 270 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Post listing, the stock moved higher to Rs 274.30, a premium of 93 per cent over the issue price. At 10:02 am, it was quoting at Rs 271.50 on the BSE. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.39 per cent at 73,586.

Shares of IIFL Finance slumped 20 per cent to the lower circuit on BSE at Rs 595 in Tuesday's intra-day trade after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) barred the NBFC from sanctioning or disbursing gold loans or assigning/ securitising/ selling any of its gold loans.

The regulator has, however, allowed IIFL to service its existing gold loan portfolio through the usual collection and recovery processes.

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