By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI – Meta Platforms Inc’s WhatsApp has won regulatory approval to more double the number of users of its payments service in India to 100 million, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.

WhatsApp has over the years told National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) that there should be no cap on users of its payments service in India, its biggest market.

Instead, the NPCI told the company on Wednesday it can increase the number of users to 100 million from 40 million currently, the sources said.

WhatsApp did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The NPCI confirmed the development in a statement to Reuters.

Though the relaxation will come as a relief, the new cap could still limit WhatsApp’s growth prospects given it has more than 500 million users in India.

WhatsApp has told the NPCI several times it wants to operate “without a cap”, but privately the NPCI is of the view that allowing all its users to access the payments service – integrated with the app and allowing contacts to send each other funds – could strain the country’s financial infrastructure, said one of the sources.

The NPCI gave WhatsApp approval to launch the payments service in 2020 after the company spent years trying to comply with Indian regulations, including data storage norms that require all payments-related data to be stored locally.

It started with 20 million users and the cap was increased to 40 million in November last year.

WhatsApp competes with Alphabet Inc’s Google Pay, SoftBank- and Ant Group-backed Paytm and Walmart’s PhonePe in India’s crowded digital market.

Online transactions, lending and e-wallet services have been growing rapidly in India, led by a government push to make the country’s cash-loving merchants and consumers adopt digital payments.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra in New Delhi; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON -The World Bank, International Monetary Fund, UN World Food Program and World Trade Organization on Wednesday called for urgent, coordinated action on food security, and appealed to countries to avoid banning food or fertilizer exports.

In a joint statement, the leaders of the four institutions warned that the war in Ukraine was adding to existing pressures from the COVID-19 crisis, climate change and increased fragility and conflict, threatening millions of people worldwide.

Sharply higher prices for staples and supply shortages were fueling pressure on households, they said. The threat is greatest to the poorest countries, but vulnerability was also increasing rapidly in middle-income countries, which host the majority of the world’s poor.

The compounding crises could fuel social tensions in many of the affected countries, especially those that are already fragile or affected by conflict, they warned.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, World Bank President David Malpass, UN World Food Program (WFP) Executive Director David Beasley and WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala issued their joint statement ahead of next week’s Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank.

They said the rise in food prices was compounded by a dramatic increase in the cost of natural gas, a key ingredient of nitrogenous fertilizer, which could threaten food production in many countries.

“Surging fertilizer prices along with significant cuts in global supplies have important implications for food production in most countries, including major producers and exporters, who rely heavily on fertilizer imports,” they said.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also expressed grave concerns about the food security crisis during a speech at the Atlantic Council think tank, noting that over 275 million people worldwide were facing acute food insecurity.

A Treasury spokesperson said the meeting would include ministers from the G7 and G20 major economies, officials from the IMF, World Bank, and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), as well as lead technical experts on food security and agriculture. “The event will bring attention to the different dimensions of the worsening food security crisis; and mobilize the (international financial institutions) to accelerate and deepen their response to assist affected countries,” the spokesperson said.

Yellen said she would meet with other leaders next week to discuss possible solutions, and underscored the need for longer-term investments to address vulnerabilities in food systems.

In their joint statement, the four leaders called on the international community to provide emergency food supplies to vulnerable countries, boost agricultural production, and keep trade flows open.

For their part, they said they would step up their respective policy and financial support to help vulnerable countries and households and mitigate balance of payments pressures.

They urged the international community to provide grants and other funding for immediate food supplies to help the poor, and small farmers facing higher input prices.

It was important to keep trade open and avoid restrictive measures such as export bans on food or fertilizer, they said, underscoring the need to avert any restrictions on humanitarian food purchases by the World Food Program.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and David Lawder; editing by Diane Craft)

By Rajesh Kumar Singh

CHICAGO -Delta Air Lines Inc on Wednesday forecast returning to profit in the current quarter, after posting a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss, on the back of a booming travel demand, sending its shares higher.

The company said robust consumer demand not only translated into a “solid” profit in March, but is also allowing it to offset soaring fuel costs with higher fares.

As a result, Delta said it expects to post a “meaningful” profit this year. In the quarter through June, it estimates to generate an adjusted operating margin in the range of 12% to 14% and “strong” free cash flow. Company revenue in the quarter is forecast to increase by about 14-18 points from a quarter ago.

“The demand environment that we have today is at a historic high,” Chief Executive Officer Ed Bastian told Reuters in an interview. “The last five weeks have been the strongest period of bookings that Delta has ever seen in our history.”

After a speed bump caused by the Omicron coronavirus variant, travel demand has roared back. U.S. passenger traffic has been averaging about 89% of the pre-pandemic levels since mid-February, according to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) data.

The Atlanta-based carrier said its domestic consumer revenues are above 2019 levels and the recovery in business travel has accelerated with the reopening of offices.

Delta’s shares were up 4.6% at $40.39 in mid-day trade.

SOARING COSTS, HIGHER FARES

A run-up in fuel costs and rising wages, however, are also driving up industry’s operating expenses. Jet fuel prices in North America have gone up by more than 30% in the past month, since Western countries slapped sanctions on Russian exports.

Delta’s fuel bill in the March quarter was 33% higher than a quarter ago and is projected to increase by at least 15% quarter-on-quarter in the three months to end-June.

Fuel is the airline industry’s second-biggest expense after labor, but major U.S. carriers do not hedge against volatile oil prices like most European airlines. Instead, they typically look to offset fuel costs with higher fares.

Airline fares were up about 24% year-on-year in March, among the biggest contributors to a jump in U.S. consumer prices. Delta’s average fares are up about 33% from a year ago, according to data from Cowen.

Some analysts are concerned that rising fares and higher inflation could dent travel spending. But Delta said higher fares have not impacted consumer demand, thus far. It expects the demand to stay strong even in the fall.

“Right now, I’m optimistic that our consumers will be in a very good place to continue to travel,” Bastian said.

Yet, the company is mindful of rising macroeconomic uncertainty and plans to be disciplined in ramping up capacity.

Its capacity in the June quarter is estimated to inch up to about 84% of the 2019 level. Bastian said the carrier is not expected to be at full capacity this year.

Adjusted loss for the first quarter came in at $1.23 per share, smaller than $1.27 per share estimated by analysts in a Refinitiv survey.

(Additional reporting by Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr and Nick Zieminski)

LONDON – Crypto lender Nexo said it has teamed up with global payments company Mastercard to launch on Wednesday what it calls the world’s first “crypto-backed” payment card.

It signals the latest move by crypto and incumbent financial networks to join forces as digital assets become more mainstream.

Nexo said the card, available in selected European countries initially, allows users to spend without having to sell their digital assets such as bitcoin, which are used as collateral to back the credit granted.

Most traditional credit cards are unsecured and have a set credit limit.

The card is linked to a Nexo-provided, crypto-backed credit line and can be used at 92 million merchants worldwide where Mastercard is accepted, allowing investors to spend up to 90% of the fiat value of their crypto assets, Nexo said.

“The card requires no minimum repayments, monthly, or inactivity fees. There are no FX fees for up to 20,000 euros per month,” Nexo said.

There are no restrictions on how much a customer can spend or withdraw from the open credit line and interest is only paid on the amount of credit actually used. Interest remains at 0% for customers who maintain a loan-to-value ratio of 20% or below.

“Mastercard recognizes that digital assets are revolutionizing the financial landscape,” said Raj Dhamodharan, Mastercard’s head of crypto and blockchain products and partnerships.

Electronic money firm DiPocket is Nexo’s card issuer.

(Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Toby Chopra)