eNews
William V takes charge as CFO of Jio Blast Esports
MUMBAI: William V has been appointed chief financial officer of Jio Blast Esports, the joint venture between Reliance’s Jio Platforms and Denmark’s Blast ApS. He will oversee financial strategy, governance and operational efficiency as the company pushes into India’s fast-growing esports sector.
A chartered accountant by training, William has more than two decades in senior finance roles. He currently also serves as CFO at JioAds. Before joining Reliance, he spent seven years at Dentsu Aegis Network as director of finance and group treasury, following a decade at Star India where he handled US GAAP reporting, Sox compliance and project evaluation. Earlier stints included Darashaw and L&T Finance.
At Jio Blast Esports, William is tasked with driving financial planning, compliance and automation while supporting long-term value creation in an industry that sits at the crossroads of gaming, sports and entertainment.
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.
