A longer trek to find an ATM in 2019; WhatsApp says hello to new India chief

Soon, you may have to walk longer to find an ATM. A large number of ATMs may be shut down due to higher costs because of new regulatory guidelines, claimed the Confederation of ATM Industry, the apex body of the domestic ATM industry, adding that service providers may be forced to close down almost 1.13 lakh ATMs across the country by March 2019. These numbers include approximately one lakh off-site outlets and a little over 15,000 white label ATMs.

WhatsApp picks Ezetap Co-founder as India head

Abhijit Bose, the co-founder of merchant payments platform Ezetap, will take over as the Head of WhatsApp India. Having co-founded Ezetap in 2011, Abhijit has more than 15 years of experience in building mobile software products. Ezetap was the third mobile product he launched in India. In his new role, Abhijit and his team will focus on helping businesses, both large and small, connect with their customers.

MobiKwik launches digital insurance

Gurugram-based financial services startup MobiKwik on Wednesday announced that it will be providing digital insurance to users on the app. This is the third big launch in the financial services domain by MobiKwik this year, after the launch of ultra-short instant loan offering in partnership with Bajaj Finserv, and the launch of the digital gold category in October.

Indian online entertainment market poised to reach $5B by 2023

Over the top (OTT) content platforms, or entertainment services delivered over the internet, are serious business now. On Tuesday, the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) released a new study that estimates India’s OTT market to reach $5 billion by 2023 from its current $0.5 billion. Indian content including Bollywood, cricket and music are most consumed. These genres have a large following in the Indian diaspora too.

Engineer.ai raises Series A of $29.5 M

Engineer.ai, the human-assisted AI that helps companies build and operate custom-made software, has raised Series A funding of $29.5 million, led by Lakestar and Jungle Ventures with participation from Softbank’s DeepCore. Led by serial entrepreneur Sachin Dev Duggal, Engineer.ai will use 65 percent of the fresh capital for engineering and rest for customer acquisition.

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