Business
Indias Private Equity Market Rebounds 44% In Q4 2025: Report
 "Indias Private Equity Market Rebounds 44% In Q4 2025: Report")
New Delhi: India’s private equity activity strongly rebounded in the fourth quarter of 2025 with investments touching USD 3.7 billion, up 44.3 per cent from the previous quarter, a report said on Tuesday.
The report from London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) said that total equity investments in Q4 touched the highest quarterly level since Q4 2024.
Despite the late‑year surge, full‑year private equity investments eased 23.7 per cent year‑on‑year to USD 12.1 billion, underscoring the continued impact of a cautious investment environment for much of the year, the report said.
“Although the slowdown in investment activity was broad‑based, technology‑led sectors remained comparatively resilient, continuing to absorb the majority of private equity capital,” said Vianca Sanchez, Analyst, LSEG Deals Intelligence.
Internet‑specific and computer software companies attracted a combined USD 6.7 billion in 2025, representing more than half of total PE deployment, the report said.
It added that investment in these sectors still moderated 1.9 per cent year‑on‑year, reflecting heightened investment selectivity.
Fundraising was subdued, with Indian private equity fundraising falling to USD 3.8 billion in 2025, the lowest since 2017, the report said.
Fundraising activity in India remained subdued in 2025, mirroring a broader global slowdown in private equity capital formation.
Cumulative capital raised since 2022 stood at about USD 28.5 billion, which may support deal activity as investor confidence improves and valuation expectations realign, the report noted.
Another recent report from a business analytics firm projected a stable macroeconomic environment and emphasised that India’s next wave of growth will be led by digitised logistics, trusted data, clean energy, and city vitality rewire productivity.
Emerging sectors like AI, green ports and quick commerce will enhance competitiveness and create inclusive growth opportunities across regions and industries, it said.
The report highlighted the need for crowding in private capital, strengthening human capital, and leveraging policy support to fuel sustainable transformation.
Monzo says it has resolved an issue affecting its mobile banking app on Tuesday afternoon after thousands of customers reported difficulties accessing it.
Platform outage monitor Downdetector saw more than 4,000 reports from users complaining of problems shortly after 15:00 GMT.
The company earlier acknowledged an issue affecting its app – telling customers who tried to use it that it would “not be fully functional” while it investigated.
A Monzo spokesperson said “customers can now use the app as normal.”
“For a short period today, we activated Monzo Stand-in – our fully independent backup bank – while we investigated an issue,” they told the BBC.
“Customers were always able to make payments with their card, withdraw cash, freeze their card and send and receive bank transfers.”
Many attempting to open the app after 15:00 GMT on Tuesday were met with a notice telling them “we’re experiencing issues”.
This said the app would not function as normal but other services, such as viewing account details and moving money between accounts, would be available.
However, some users attempting to access the app took to social media to complain to Monzo that they could not view funds, recent payments or make bank transfers.
In posts seen by the BBC, some X users also told Monzo they had been unable to use their card or withdraw money.
The BBC has asked Monzo for comment about these complaints.
The company has more than 14 million personal and business customers across the UK.
It has previously highlighted its back-up banking infrastructure as a way it avoids large-scale outages and issues for customers – many of which were seen across other UK banks during a spate of online outages last year.
About 1.2m people in the UK were affected by banking outages occurring on what was pay day for many in early 2025.
Business
JPMorgan Chase says banks could fight Trump credit card rate cap: ‘Everything’s on the table’
JPMorgan Chase CFO Jeremy Barnum hinted Tuesday the industry could fight President Donald Trump’s demand for credit card price controls, saying “everything’s on the table.”
“If you wind up with weakly supported directives to radically change our business that aren’t justified, you have to assume that everything’s on the table,” Barnum said on a call with reporters following JPMorgan’s fourth-quarter earnings report. “We owe that to shareholders.”
Barnum was responding to a question about whether banks would choose to litigate to block Trump’s demand, made late Friday, that card companies cap interest rates at 10% for a year. Last year, the industry successfully fought efforts by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to cap card late fees.
Banks and industry insiders say that an interest rate limit would result in fewer credit card accounts for Americans and a dip in spending for the U.S. economy, as companies would simply pull accounts rather than offer them at an unprofitable level.
The average credit card rate nationally is 19.7% as of this month, according to a weekly survey from Bankrate.com, while rates for subprime borrowers and store-specific cards are typically higher.
“Our belief is that actions like this will have the exact opposite consequence to what the administration wants for consumers,” Barnum said. “Instead of lowering the price of credit, we’ll simply reduce the supply of credit, and that will be bad for everyone: consumers, the wider economy, and yes, at the margin, for us.”
The CFO declined to directly answer a question on whether JPMorgan would comply with Trump’s demand, which has a proposed Jan. 20 start date. Banks that don’t follow the directive are “in violation of the law,” Trump told reporters Sunday.
Still, it’s unclear how Trump’s mandate would be enforced. There is no U.S. law capping card rates, though a bill was introduced last year from Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont that would limit card APRs at 10% for five years. That bill is stalled in Congress.
Other voices in the corporate and political realms began addressing the possible impact of Trump’s rate cap on Tuesday.
Beyond banks, airlines and retailers rely on revenue from card partnerships to bolster profit. For instance, Delta Air Lines said Tuesday that its American Express partnership produced $8.2 billion in revenue last year.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian said on an earnings call that the cap would “upend the whole credit card industry … I don’t see any way we could even begin to contemplate how that would be implemented.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson struck a note of caution when asked about the issue at a news conference.
“We have a lot of work to go [on] consensus around it, but you got to be very careful as we go forward in that in our zeal to bring down costs — you don’t want to have negative secondary effects,” Johnson said.
— CNBC’s Emily Wilkins and Leslie Josephs contributed to this report.
Business
EPFO, India Post Launch FREE Doorstep Digital Life Certificate For EPS Pensioners — How To Book Home Visit
 "EPFO, India Post Launch FREE Doorstep Digital Life Certificate For EPS Pensioners — How To Book Home Visit")
New Delhi: In a major relief for pensioners, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has partnered with India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) to launch a free doorstep Digital Life Certificate (DLC) service for pensioners covered under the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS).
The new initiative is aimed at helping elderly pensioners, particularly those with mobility issues, avoid repeated visits to banks, post offices, or EPFO service centres to submit their annual life certificate. Submission of a valid Digital Life Certificate is mandatory every year to ensure uninterrupted pension payments.
What Is the Doorstep DLC Service?
Under the doorstep facility, trained postal staff—such as postmen or Gramin Dak Sevaks—will visit pensioners at their homes and assist in generating the Digital Life Certificate using Aadhaar-based biometric authentication. The certificate is generated digitally and uploaded directly to the EPFO system, ensuring real-time verification.
Importantly, the entire service is free of cost for pensioners, as EPFO bears the service charges payable to IPPB.
The Digital Life Certificate, commonly known as Jeevan Pramaan, confirms that the pensioner is alive and eligible to continue receiving monthly pension benefits. Earlier, pensioners had to physically visit designated centres, which often caused inconvenience, especially for senior citizens and those living in remote areas.
Who Can Avail the Service?
The facility is available for EPS pensioners whose life certificate is:
Due for submission, or
Likely to expire within the next 30 days
This proactive approach is expected to significantly reduce delays and pension disruptions.
How to Book a Doorstep Visit
Pensioners or their family members can book a home visit by calling the IPPB helpline number 033-2202-9000. Once the request is registered, a postal representative equipped with biometric devices will be assigned to complete the process at the pensioner’s residence.
EPFO’s Instructions to Field Offices
EPFO has directed its zonal and regional offices to widely publicise the doorstep service and assist pensioners in choosing the most convenient mode of life certificate submission. Pensioners are also encouraged to explore alternatives such as self-submission using mobile phones through face authentication.
The initiative reflects EPFO’s broader push towards digital inclusion, ease of living, and pensioner-centric governance, ensuring that age or physical limitations do not become barriers to accessing rightful pension benefits.
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