Visa Inc. has grown one of the world’s most valuable financial companies by serving as the pipes help connect banks and merchants. And now it's making a bet on doing the same for data between banks and financial startups. Developer tools of Plaid help power a range of popular financial apps such as Venmo, Coinbase Inc. and Acorns Grow Inc. by channelling the banking data they need for their apps and websites. In 2012, the firm was founded with more than 200 million accounts linked on its platform, according to the presentation. Visa is the world’s largest US card network which handles $ 3.4 trillion of credit, debit and prepaid card transaction in the first nine-month in 2019, according to the media reported. The clients of the company are largely comprised of banks that issue credit and debit cards, but t

Pune based two-wheeler manufacturer Bajaj Auto has launched its electric scooter Chetak with starting price of Rs 1,00,000 (ex-showroom and inclusive of government subsidies). The electric Chetak, which has been developed and designed in-house by Bajaj, marks the revival of the company’s scooter business after about a decade and also Bajaj Auto's foray into the electric vehicle space. The company has the plan to roll out the new scooter in a phased manner, with sales beginning from Bangalore and Pune. Bajaj has selected 13 pro-biking dealerships in Bangalore and four stores in Pune which will retail the new Chetak. "We would like to first observe the demand for the electric Chetak in Bangalore and Pune to get an understanding of this emerging space," said Rakesh Sharma, executive director at Bajaj Auto Ltd.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd has planned to raise up to $200 million through US dollar-denominated bonds to refinance existing debt. For the bond issuance, the pharmaceutical firm will organize roadshows from 14-19 January covering Asia, Europe and the Middle East, it informed the exchanges. The fund-raising will happen through US dollar-denominated fixed-rate senior unsecured notes with a tenor of up to four years. The bonds are rated ‘BB/Stable’ by Fitch Ratings. “Fitch expects financial leverage - measured by adjusted net debt operating EBITDAR of 2.5x in the financial year ended March 2019 (FY19) to stay broadly stable over the next few years. Glenmark is likely to continue to incur moderate CAPEX on fixed assets and to acquire territorial sale rights for other companies' drugs, consistent with our view

Amazon will ask a federal court to temporarily block Microsoft (MSFT) from working on a $10 billion cloud computing contract for the military, according to a court. Microsoft is scheduled to begin its work on the contract on Feb. 11. But Amazon's cloud computing division will seek a preliminary injunction to ‘prevent the issuance of substantive task orders under the contract,’ the filing said. Amazon's request will be submitted by Jan. 24. The request is part of Amazon's ongoing challenge to the Trump administration over the way the contract was awarded, which it argues was influenced by President Donald Trump's dislike of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and the Washington Post, which Bezos owns. Amazon (AMZN) was widely believed to be the front runner to win the Pentagon's business before Trump vowed to take a strong

Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) has resumed operations in its direct reduced iron (DRI) plant based on coal gasification process in Odisha's Angul district. The facility, which has a production capacity of 1.80 MTPA, had halted its operations due to scarcity of coal, media reported. “The DRI plant was not operational for long due to the scarcity of coal. Now, Coal India Ltd and Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd have started selling coal in adequate quantity, therefore, gasification & DRI operations have resumed," the steel and energy producer said. JSPL set up the plant in Angul district to ensure availability of chemical and thermal energy required to produce DRI at an affordable price. The production of DRI reduces the impact of coal on the environment, in the long run, the company said. The coal gasification p

The Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza turned out to be a top-seller right from its launch in 2016 and the subcompact SUV has managed to hit a new milestone with sales crossing the five lakh mark. The Vitara Brezza managed the fest in a total of 47 months since launch, which averages to about 10,000 units sold every month. The Brezza that makes one of the strongest selling models in the segment against the likes of the Hyundai Venue, Ford EcoSport, Mahindra XUV300. Shashank Srivastava, Executive Director (Marketing & Sales), Maruti Suzuki, said thanks to customer,  to offer a complete package of class-leading features, stylish design, and outstanding fuel efficiency, the most awarded compact SUV, Vitara Brezza gained immense popularity within months of its launch. Designed and developed by the team at Maruti Suzuki

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) bought a net $6.93 billion in the foreign exchange market in November, marginally below the $7.1 billion it had purchased in the previous month, the monthly bulletin showed. The RBI bought $7.46 billion and sold $530 million in the market in November. The partially convertible rupee had moved in a wide range of 70.5275 to 72.2450 per dollar during the month. Foreign investors had bought a net $3.54 billion worth of equities and sold 319.48 million worth of bonds during the period. In the forwards market, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it had a net outstanding sell position of $6.1 billion as of end-November, down from $7.47 billion at the end of the previous month. The central bank did not buy or sell any currency in the futures market, media reported. Read EquityPandit'

Jeff Bezos CEO and Amazon Founder Walmart India has asked 56 senior executives to leave as part of its corporate restructuring process, shrugging off reports about the second round of layoffs coming in April. In a statement, the company which operates nearly 28 wholesale stores in the country, said it is looking for ways to operate more efficiently. ‘Apart from this, we have let go 56 of our associates across levels at the corporate office. All of the 56 impacted associates (8 in the senior management and 48 in the middle/lower management) have been offered enhanced severance benefits and outplacement services to support their transition,’ Krish Iyer, President & CEO, Walmart India. Walmart partnered Bharti in 2007 for its cash-and-carry business in India and went on its own in 2013. The world's largest r