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Real-time news from fintech, payments, transit & India's digital infrastructure — curated for builders, operators, and investors.

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16B+ UPI transactions/month NPCI 2025
600M+ RuPay cards in circulation NPCI
$2.4B India fintech funding in 2025 Inc42
20+ Operational metro systems MoHUA
3rd India globally in fintech deals CB Insights
10K+ Daily Frog8 kiosk transactions Frog8 / BMRCL
99.9% Frog8 kiosk uptime since Apr 2024 Frog8
₹261T India digital payments vol 2024 RBI
16B+ UPI transactions/month NPCI 2025
600M+ RuPay cards in circulation NPCI
$2.4B India fintech funding in 2025 Inc42
20+ Operational metro systems MoHUA
3rd India globally in fintech deals CB Insights
10K+ Daily Frog8 kiosk transactions Frog8 / BMRCL
99.9% Frog8 kiosk uptime since Apr 2024 Frog8
₹261T India digital payments vol 2024 RBI
Industry Commentary

RBI's New e-Mandate Framework

Our Director and investor Sunil KulkarniSunil Kulkarni on NDTV Profit, unpacking what the RBI's latest e-mandate rules mean for recurring payments in India — and where the structural gaps still lie.

Perspective on the RBI e-mandate framework
View on LinkedIn →

Proud to see our friend, investor and fellow Director at Frog8, Sunil KulkarniSunil Kulkarni, on NDTV Profit this week on the RBI's new e-mandate framework.

What's new

  • No OTP for recurring payments up to ₹15,000
  • No-AFA up to ₹1 lakh for insurance, SIPs, credit card bills
  • UPI, cards, PPIs — domestic and cross-border
  • One-time AFA setup; 24-hr pre-debit alert; opt-out preserved
As Sunil said — this is progressive, a work in progress, a stress test. Friction must fall.

But here's the worry

Once a mandate is authenticated, a 24-hr SMS is the only safety net. SMS in India is imperfect. Cross-border chargebacks are weaker.

A real example

Last week I OTP-authorised a $10 App Store trial. What went through was $10 (OTP was taken) — plus a $49 'upgrade' bundled into a follow-up auth. No fresh OTP. It went through. I'll be charged $49 next month, unless I cancel.

Open questions

Is this 'unauthorised' or a 'dispute'? Does zero-liability cover engineered consent? What's the chargeback path?

If it's fuzzy at ₹850, it's a structural gap at ₹1 lakh.

Media Coverage

Frog8 in the Press

From a global-first WhatsApp ticketing launch to PM Modi using our kiosk — here's how the world has covered our work with BMRCL and Namma Metro.

The Hindu The Hindu
Aug 10, 2025

Modi in Bengaluru LIVE: PM inaugurates Namma Metro Yellow Line

The Hindu's live coverage of PM Modi trying the QR-enabled kiosk at Ragigudda and flagging off the Yellow Line — a landmark for Bengaluru's transit infrastructure.

Read article →
The Print The Print
Aug 10, 2025

PM Modi inaugurates Bengaluru Metro Yellow Line, lays ₹15,000 cr Phase 3 foundation

The Print covers the full inauguration — PM Modi tried the QR code-enabled TVM kiosk, rode the inaugural service with school students and Metro workers, and laid the foundation for Phase 3.

Read article →
TechCrunch TechCrunch
Oct 31, 2022

Bengaluru launches QR train ticketing service on WhatsApp

TechCrunch covers Bengaluru Metro becoming the first transit agency in the world to enable end-to-end QR ticketing on WhatsApp — a global first, backed by Frog8's AFC integration.

Read article →
The Hindu The Hindu
Jan 2025

Namma Metro tickets now available on 9 more apps via ONDC

BMRCL expands QR ticketing to EaseMyTrip, Rapido, Redbus, Namma Yatri and five more platforms — deepening the ecosystem Frog8 helped build.

Read article →
Deccan Herald Deccan Herald
Nov 2022

Namma Metro QR ticketing on WhatsApp — how it works

Deccan Herald covers how commuters buy tickets via the WhatsApp chatbot, with Frog8's kiosks enabling physical QR print-outs at stations for cashless entry.

Read article →
Yellow.ai Case Study Yellow.ai Case Study
2022

Bengaluru Metro — Industry-First QR Ticketing for 380K Daily Commuters

Yellow.ai's case study documents how the WhatsApp chatbot + Frog8 AFC integration scaled to 380,000 daily commuters with AI-driven automation.

Read article →
Zee Business Zee Business
Nov 2022

Namma Metro WhatsApp QR ticketing — step-by-step guide

Zee Business covers the nationwide buzz around Bengaluru Metro's WhatsApp ticketing launch, calling it a landmark in India's digital transit story.

Read article →
📰 Print Media 2022–2025
Newspaper coverage of Frog8 TVM 2000 at Namma Metro
📰 Print Media 2022–2025
Print media coverage of BMRCL QR ticketing launch
Frog8 Perspectives

Deep Dives from the Inside

Long-form analysis from the team operating at the intersection of transit, banking & payments in India. Fully sourced. Publishing soon.

🚌
Transit · Policy

Dignity by Design: Solving India's Women's Free Transit Verification Problem

5+ crore women board India's buses free every day — yet every boarding is a potential site of humiliation. Frog8 analyses how self-service kiosks and 45-second NCMC card issuance can fix a ₹10,000 crore problem.

~18 min read Read Now →
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Transit · Payments

NCMC: Why India's One-Card Vision Is Still Waiting at the Platform

India has 20+ metro systems across 18 cities — each a payment silo. The NCMC mandate has existed since 2019. Seven years later, interoperability remains largely theoretical. Frog8 breaks down what's actually blocking it: not technology, but procurement fragmentation, issuer incentives, and the missing last-mile kiosk infrastructure that makes card adoption possible at all.

~14 min read Coming Soon
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Fintech · Banking

The BC Banking Bet: Kiosks, Correspondents, and India's 400 Million

120 crore Indians have Jan Dhan accounts. 50 crore use UPI. But 65% of financial transactions still happen within 2 km of a branch — leaving 400 million people dependent on cash and agents. Business Correspondents and self-service kiosks are how India's banking infrastructure reaches beyond the branch. Frog8 maps the gap, the unit economics, and why unattended kiosks change the equation.

~11 min read Coming Soon