eNews
CNN goes dark on Apple News in hardball play for better terms
ATLANTA: CNN has pulled the plug on Apple News. Over the weekend, the cable news giant quietly removed its content from the popular aggregator, ending a distribution deal that had funnelled millions of readers to its stories each month.
The split is temporary—for now. The two companies are locked in talks over a new agreement that would bring CNN back to the platform. But the move signals a harder line from the news network, which is determined to squeeze more money out of its digital operations.
Apple News has become crucial real estate for publishers as social media platforms retreat from news. The app drives enormous traffic and, through its $10-a-month subscription service Apple News+, generates millions in annual revenue for participating outlets. Publishers like People and Condé Nast have embraced it enthusiastically, building bespoke content for the platform.
Yet others remain skittish about handing over their audience to yet another tech giant. The memory of digital media’s Facebook era—when startups bet everything on the platform only to watch it abandon news—still stings.
CNN’s gambit reflects its broader pivot towards direct monetisation. Earlier this month it launched a paid subscription offering and began tucking more stories behind a paywall. The network is betting it can extract better terms from Apple—or prove it doesn’t need the tech titan’s traffic at all. The question now is who blinks first.
eNews
PNB partners Kiwi to launch credit-enabled UPI for users
Targets 180 million customers; RuPay card offers 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent cashback
MUMBAI: Swipe, tap, or scan credit is quietly slipping into the rhythm of everyday payments, and Punjab National Bank wants in on the action. The state-run lender has partnered with Kiwi to roll out credit-enabled UPI payments for its 180 million customers, marking a significant push to blend traditional banking with India’s fast-evolving digital payments ecosystem.
At the centre of the collaboration is the launch of the PNB Kiwi Credit Card on the RuPay network. The card is designed with a digital-first approach, offering fully online onboarding and seamless integration with UPI, allowing users to transact via scan-and-pay while accessing credit.
The offering also brings in a rewards layer, with cashback ranging from 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent on online transactions, positioning the product as both a convenience play and a spending incentive.
The move comes as UPI continues to dominate India’s digital payments landscape, increasingly blurring the lines between debit-led transactions and credit access. For PNB, which operates over 10,000 branches around 60 per cent in semi-urban and rural areas, the partnership signals a targeted effort to extend formal credit to segments that have traditionally remained underserved.
The collaboration also reflects a broader industry shift, where banks and fintech platforms are converging to embed credit directly into payment flows, reducing friction while expanding access.
With RuPay credit cards gaining traction and UPI evolving beyond peer-to-peer transfers, the PNB–Kiwi tie-up positions both players at the intersection of scale, accessibility, and the next phase of digital finance in India.
