Wallets/niyo
Niyo
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Overview
Niyo is India's leading travel-and-global-spending-focused neobank, with ~4 million customers + 10,000+ new users daily [1, 2, in-cro]. Cumulative funding: $179M across 7 rounds.
Distinctive Niyo Global [3]: Neobank product offered in partnership with Equitas Small Finance Bank + DCB Bank providing a Visa Signature debit card with zero forex markup for international transactions + up to 7% interest on savings balance — distinctive Indian-traveler-abroad positioning.
February 2022 — $100M Series C [3]: Led by Accel + Lightrock India with Beams Fintech Fund + Prime Venture Partners + JS Capital.
Recent product expansion: fully digital salary account; launching personal loan products + credit cards + integrated forex platform.
Note on bank partnership exposure: Niyo users have experienced impact from partner bank regulatory issues (e.g., SBM Bank India RBI radar) — distinctive neobank risk in IN where neobanks don't hold their own banking license [4].
History
2015 — Niyo founded [2] by Vinay Bagri (CEO) + Virender Bisht (COO).
2017-2021 — Mass IN adoption [2]: 4M+ customers.
February 2022 — $100M Series C (Accel + Lightrock India lead) [3].
2022-2023 — SBM Bank partner issues [4]: IN regulatory exposure to partner-bank-rails dependency.
2024-2025 — Recovery + product expansion: salary account + personal loans + credit cards + integrated forex.
Ownership & operator
Operating entity: Finnew Solutions Private Limited (Niyo).
Co-founders: Vinay Bagri (CEO) + Virender Bisht (COO).
Major investors: Accel (Series C lead Feb 2022), Lightrock India (Series C lead), Beams Fintech Fund, Prime Venture Partners, JS Capital, Tencent (historical).
Partner banks: Equitas Small Finance Bank + DCB Bank (post-SBM transition).
Regulator: RBI + partner-bank-rails.
Technical integration
| Layer | Description |
|---|---|
| Channels | Niyo mobile app (iOS + Android) + Visa Signature debit card |
| Identifiers | Phone + email + card number |
| IN rail | [[upi]] (NPCI national A2A rail) |
| Account model | Neobank-fintech operating on partner-bank-rails (Equitas Small Finance Bank + DCB Bank; not own banking license) |
| Distinctive | Niyo Global Visa Signature debit card with zero forex markup + up to 7% interest on savings |
| Sub-products | Niyo banking + Niyo Global travel + salary account + personal loans + credit cards + integrated forex |
Users & growth
2025 baseline [1]:
- Customers: ~4 million
- Daily user additions: 10,000+
- Cumulative funding: $179M across 7 rounds
- Series C (Feb 2022): $100M (Accel + Lightrock India lead)
Use cases
IN travel-and-global-spending neobank (Niyo Global Visa Signature with zero forex markup); UPI + Indian retail banking via partner-bank-rails; up-to-7%-interest savings; fully digital salary account; planned personal loans + credit cards + integrated forex.
Implementations & partners
Operator: Finnew Solutions Private Limited (Niyo).
Co-founders: Vinay Bagri (CEO), Virender Bisht (COO).
Major investors: Accel (Series C lead Feb 2022), Lightrock India (Series C lead), Beams Fintech Fund, Prime Venture Partners, JS Capital, Tencent (historical).
Partner banks: Equitas Small Finance Bank + DCB Bank.
Major Indian neobank competitors:
- [[jupiter-money]] (covered Batch 10; IN neobank Federal Bank partner)
- [[fampay]] (covered Batch 10; teen-focused IN)
- Fi Money (IN salary-account neobank; Federal Bank partner)
- InCred (IN consumer lending + neobanking)
- OneCard (IN credit-card-led neobank)
Regulator: RBI + partner-bank-rails.
Fun facts
- 2015 founding by Vinay Bagri (CEO) + Virender Bisht (COO).
- 4M+ customers + 10,000+ new users daily.
- Distinctive Niyo Global Visa Signature: zero forex markup for international transactions + up to 7% interest on savings.
- Travel-and-global-spending positioning — distinctive IN neobank vertical.
- $179M cumulative funding across 7 rounds; $100M Series C (Feb 2022) Accel + Lightrock India lead.
- Partner banks Equitas Small Finance Bank + DCB Bank (post-SBM transition).
- Note: Neobank risk from partner-bank-rails dependency — SBM Bank India RBI issues affected Niyo users in 2022-2023.
Comparison
| Feature | Niyo | [[jupiter-money]] (IN neobank rival) | [[fampay]] (IN teen-neobank) | Fi Money (IN salary-account rival) | [[revolut]] (global travel-forex analogous) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | Finnew Solutions Private Limited / Niyo (Vinay Bagri CEO; Accel + Lightrock + Tencent backed) | Jupiter Money (Federal Bank partner) | FamPay | Fi Money (Federal Bank partner) | Revolut Group |
| Type | IN neobank with travel-and-global-spending focus | IN neobank | IN teen-focused neobank | IN salary-account neobank | Global digital bank + travel multi-currency |
| Country | India | India | India | India | Global |
| Users | 4M+ + 10K daily new | Major IN | Major IN teens | Major IN salaried | 50M+ |
| Distinctive | Niyo Global Visa Signature zero forex markup + up to 7% savings + travel focus; partner banks Equitas + DCB | Federal Bank partner; neobank-with-bank-rails | Teen + UPI-on-card focus | Federal Bank partner; salary-account vertical | Global multi-currency Borderless |
Status
Active, India's travel-and-global-spending-focused neobank [1, 3]:
- Finnew Solutions Private Limited (Niyo) since 2015.
- ~4M customers + 10,000+ daily new users.
- Niyo Global Visa Signature zero forex markup + up to 7% savings interest.
- $179M cumulative funding + $100M Series C (Feb 2022) Accel + Lightrock India lead.
- Partner banks Equitas Small Finance Bank + DCB Bank.
- RBI + partner-bank-rails regulated.
Sources
- 1 Niyo $100M + 4M customers — TechCrunch
- 2 Niyo — Tracxn
- 3 Niyo $100M Series C — Fintech Futures
- 4 Niyo users SBM Bank RBI radar — Inc42
- in-cro In-corpus:
reports/countries/IN-india.md
Source
Biography extracted from niyo.md. See matrix.md for standards-support matrix if present.