Author: Indrani Bose

Consumers think of financial services apps like a petrol pump: Kunal Shah, CRED

In 2018, Shah launched CRED, a members-only app designed to incentivize timely credit card bill payments through rewards.

One of the unicorns in the record breaking year of 2021, surfing on the pandemic-led digital wave, Kunal Shah’s startup has raised nearly $800 million since inception in 2018 and its current valuation stands over $6 billion.

Thomas Cook India partners with NPCI for RuPay Forex Card; pilot kicks off with UAE

The company also has as angel investors including Shivashish Chatterjee and Yuvraj Singh (founders of DMI Finance) and Harpreet Singh Grover (who founded and exited CoCubes). (Image via Unsplash)

The company’s prepaid card issuance is up by 228 percent YoY (FY23). RuPay Forex Card pilot starts with UAE as visitors to Dubai from India have surpassed pre-pandemic levels.

MAdtech Point: If Advertising will no longer run the Internet, then what will run the Internet?

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which leads development of the technical standards and guidelines to ensure that the web remains open, accessible, and interoperable, officially launched as a public interest non-profit ogranisation as of January 1, 2023. (Image via Unsplash) via Unsplash)

Impact of responsible use of consumer data and consent management is resetting the balance that runs the Internet.

Elon Musk’s X Corp takes on content moderation law

What has made the situation worse is that Google results of 'X Social Media' rank lower in search results as opposed to the microblogging platform that ranks at the top. (Image via Unsplash)

X, the platform once known as Twitter, said the law known as Assembly Bill 587 violates its free speech rights under the US Constitution.

Gen Z, millennials to account for 75 percent of spending on disruptors by FY28

The report showed that disruptor jewellery brands have redefined the business model. One brand that is scaling up rapidly has positioned itself as a “fast fashion destination” for gold jewellery. With over 17,000 designs and about 1,000 added every quarter, the brand still runs on close to zero finished inventory. (Representative Image: Unsplash)

Gen Z cares about confidence, fun, and well-being, while millennials care more about eco-friendly and self-expressive brands.

Monk Entertainment expands footprint in South India, onboards former core team of Fabsquad Media

Armed with proficiency in four key South Indian languages (Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada), the newly recruited team will ensure a strong presence for the company in those markets. (L to R: Aishwarya Gunjal, Viraj Sheth, Aju Philip)

Aju Philip will now be looking after the creator program and Aishwarya Gunjal will be looking into the business operations in the south division.

This is prime time for India in the global marketplace: David Kohler

David Kohler believes that the Indian consumer has passion and they are courageous. “We love the aesthetic variety that is needed in India. We also see a great appetite for leading edge smart products. Intelligent toilets or smart showers, all of these have been important in a fast-growing segment in India,” he says. (Image source: kohlercompany.com)

India is the only country in the world where Kohler has three experience centres. The brand plans to build more immersive experiences. It is adding 160 showrooms this year, growing its India network to 1,000.