eNews
Confluence Media appoints Rajeev Chaurasia as chief business officer
New Delhi: Confluence Media has roped in seasoned media professional Rajeev Chaurasia as chief business officer. He was earlier working with Viacom18 as senior media consultant.
Confluence Media, the platform agnostic media entity was founded by journalist-writer Josy Joseph in 2019 to produce deeply researched, and engaging stories from South Asia in the form of scripted series, feature films, documentaries, podcasts, and books. The entity is backed by several investors including Jim Swartz.
Confluence Media founder Josy Joseph said, “Rajeev brings his vast experience in India and abroad to strengthen our efforts in the market. He is a very valuable addition to the Confluence Media team. Over the last two years, we have created a content hub for edgy, deeply researched and engagingly told stories, and now has an advanced pipeline of a couple of dozen large projects in both India and abroad.”
In his previous role at Viacom 18, Chaurasia helped set up and scale Voot Studio, the branded content wing of Voot, bringing in large advertisers interested in brand solutions. He also delivered on conversions along with award-winning campaigns for Voot Studio.
Prior to Viacom 18, Chaurasia has consulted with Network 18, and headed Programming & TAR for MTV India, a Viacom company.
“He has extensive background in television (both GEC and Niche) and OTT space. His acute understanding of TV and OTT platforms will help his transition into the new role as chief business officer (CBO) at Confluence Media, developing new business opportunities with OTT platforms as well as brands,” the organisation said in a media statement.
Talking about his new role, Chaurasia said, there has never been a more opportune time in the history to unleash the power of gritty and untold stories based on real life incidents from India and South Asia to global audiences. “The Confluence Media team has some of the sharpest minds and exceptionally high standards of research in journalism with an uncanny ability to weave visual stories. I am looking forward to this new and exciting journey,” he said.
Apart from his professional stints, Chaurasia has directed a full-length documentary on his father the legendary flautist Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, licensed to Discovery Networks. His documentaries on the ecological imbalance in North East India and the Man-Elephant conflict have been screened by History TV Digital.
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.
