Brands
Brewing love and blooms as FNP and Starbucks toast to mums with meaning
MUMBAI: There’s no Wi-Fi strong enough to match a mother’s connection and this Mother’s Day, FNP and Tata Starbucks are making sure that love gets a cosy seat at your coffee table. From 9–11 May, select Starbucks outlets in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru will become mini sanctuaries of sentiment, where every coffee ordered comes with a little something extra, a delicate dried flower bouquet and a heartfelt keepsake, courtesy of India’s favourite gifting brand, FNP.
It’s not about the grandeur, it’s about that quiet “you matter” between sips. Whether it’s a mum-and-me catch-up or a solo breather for the woman who wears a hundred hats, the initiative wraps affection in fragrance and warmth, turning a caffeine fix into a celebration of care.
FNP chief marketing officer Avi Kumar said, “At FNP, we’ve always believed that the simplest gestures carry the deepest meaning. This collaboration with Starbucks is our way of honouring those everyday expressions of love that mothers gift us, often without a word. A flower, a warm coffee, a shared smile – sometimes that’s all it takes to say what matters most. As India’s most loved gifting brand, we’re delighted to make those moments even more personal and memorable.”
Tata Starbucks head of product and marketing Mitali Maheshwari said, “This year, for Mother’s Day at TATA Starbucks, we wanted every mom to feel even more special with something that could be remembered, and taken home. Our partnership with FNP brings that intention to life through simple, thoughtful tokens of love and appreciation. Just like our stores are built for connection over a cup of coffee, this collaboration is a quiet celebration of the little things that make the mother-child bond so meaningful.”
In a world that rarely pauses, FNP and Starbucks are inviting customers to do just that: slow down, sip, and share a quiet moment of gratitude with the woman who made it all possible.
Brands
Reserve Bank of India cancels Paytm Payments Bank licence
Central bank cites compliance failures; curbs tighten as wind-up looms
MUMBAI: India’s banking watchdog delivered its sharpest blow yet to Paytm Payments Bank, cancelling its licence and effectively ending its ability to operate as a bank under the law.
The Reserve Bank of India said the entity can no longer conduct banking business under the Banking Regulation Act, citing concerns that its affairs were not being run in the interest of depositors or the public and that it had failed to meet licence conditions.
The move escalates a crackdown that has been building for months. The bank had already been barred from onboarding new customers since March 11, 2022, and later faced restrictions on deposits, credit and wallet top-ups. In January 2024, the central bank ordered it to stop accepting fresh deposits, pointing to persistent non-compliance, including lapses in customer due diligence, use of funds and technology systems.
Operationally, the bank is now on a tight leash. It may process withdrawals of existing deposits and facilitate loan referrals through banking correspondents, but it cannot take fresh deposits.
The central bank said it would apply to the high court to wind up the bank.
Paytm sought to ringfence the fallout. In a regulatory filing, it said the licence cancellation applies to Paytm Payments Bank Limited, a separate entity, and should not be attributed to One 97 Communications. It added that there is no exposure or material business arrangement with the bank and that it operates independently, without Paytm’s board or management involvement.
“As informed earlier, Paytm (One 97 Communications Limited) and its services, which have been operating without interruption, will continue to operate uninterrupted. These include the Paytm app, Paytm UPI, Paytm Gold and all other services offered by its subsidiaries and associated companies,” the company said.
The distinction may reassure users of the app ecosystem, but the regulator’s verdict is unequivocal. After years of warnings, caps and curbs, the payments bank experiment at Paytm is being shut down—decisively, and with little room left to manoeuvre.
