Best Fino Payments Bank alternatives

#1 alternative

Airtel Payments Bank

active

RBI payments bank. Scheduled. DICGC. Bharti Airtel. Not a universal bank, not a wallet.

Gurugram · India payments bank · Bharti Airtel

6.7Mixed

Airtel Payments Bank Ltd is an RBI payments bank (licence under Banking Regulation Act s.22; first payments-bank licence in 2016; scheduled-bank status January 2022). Registered office on their contact page: 5th Floor, Sewa Towers, Udyog Vihar Phase-IV, Gurgaon 122015. DICGC lists Airtel Payments Bank Limited. Eligible deposits follow DICGC up to Rs 5 lakh per depositor per bank. RBI payments-bank rules also cap the end-of-day balance — read the live deposit policy; this file does not invent the rupee figure. Fi and Jupiter sit at partner scheduled banks. Niyo is travel. IPPB and Fino are the other payments-bank files. Use Airtel Payments Bank as a UPI / small-deposit bank. Do not treat it as HDFC.

Best for: Indian residents who want an RBI payments bank for UPI and small deposits — not a salary-plus-loan home.

Licence

Payments bank — Airtel Payments Bank Ltd. Scheduled bank (Jan 2022). Banking Regulation Act s.22

Protection

Airtel Payments Bank Ltd is an RBI-licensed payments bank and a scheduled bank. DICGC lists Airtel Payments Bank Limited. Eligible deposits are DICGC-insured up to Rs 5 lakh per depositor per bank. RBI payments-bank rules also cap how much you may hold — read the live deposit policy on airtelpayments.bank.in. This is a bank class, not a PPI wallet. It is not a full commercial bank: credit/lending is restricted.

Monthly

Confirm live tariff

#2 alternative

India Post Payments Bank

active

RBI payments bank. DICGC. India Post. Doorstep banking. Not a wallet, not a universal bank.

New Delhi · India Post payments bank · Government of India / Department of Posts

6.5Mixed

India Post Payments Bank Limited is the Department of Posts’ RBI payments bank. The footer on ippbonline.bank.in links DICGC Deposit Insurance; DICGC lists the legal name. Eligible deposits follow DICGC up to Rs 5 lakh per depositor per bank. Payments-bank rules still cap the end-of-day balance — read IPPB’s deposit policy. Doorstep banking, POSA linkage with Post Office savings, DBT and bill pay are the product. Airtel and Fino are the private payments-bank peers. Fi is a partner-bank current account. IPPB is a public payments bank with a postman. Use it for inclusion rails. Do not expect a neobank card.

Best for: Indian residents who want a payments bank that actually shows up at the door, not a metal-card app.

Licence

Payments bank — India Post Payments Bank Limited

Protection

India Post Payments Bank Limited is an RBI payments bank. IPPB’s own footer links DICGC Deposit Insurance. DICGC lists India Post Payments Bank Limited. Eligible deposits follow DICGC up to Rs 5 lakh per depositor per bank. Payments-bank end-of-day balance limits still apply — IPPB’s deposit policy restates RBI’s cap. Doorstep banking is distribution, not a second licence.

Monthly

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#3 alternative

Jupiter

active

Indian money app on a partner-bank current account.

4.3

Bengaluru · 8M+ · ~$130M raised

6.9Mixed

Buy Jupiter for the app. Read the partner-bank line for the deposit. Same rule as Fi.

Best for: Urban Indian users who want a prettier Federal Bank account.

Licence

Partner-bank / NBFC stack

Protection

DICGC on the partner scheduled bank, up to ₹5 lakh — not on the Jupiter brand

Monthly

Free core · metal/credit extras paid

#4 alternative

Fi

active

Indian neobank that bet on US stocks and a Federal Bank account.

4.1

Bengaluru · 5M+ · ~$140M raised

6.9Mixed

Useful if the US-stocks sleeve is why you opened it. For a plain salary account, a scheduled bank app is safer and duller.

Best for: Indian millennials who want US stocks next to a salary account.

Licence

Partner-bank fintech

Protection

DICGC on the partner scheduled bank

Monthly

Free core · Fit Rules / US stocks extras

#5 alternative

Kestrl is a habit layer. Keep a Monzo/Starling/high-street account for the actual deposit. Halal branding does not move FSCS.

Best for: UK Muslims who want a money app that speaks their constraints, with a real bank still underneath.

Licence

App + partner EMI/bank rails

Protection

If a spending account exists, it is partner-EMI or bank — not Kestrl-as-bank

Monthly

Freemium / subscription SKUs — confirm live

#6 alternative

Found

active

US banking for the self-employed: taxes, invoices, and a debit card.

4.8

San Francisco · Self-employed base · Series-era (Allianz x others)

7.3Solid

Found is the freelancer current account. Novo is generic SMB. Relay is multi-entity ops.

Best for: US freelancers who hate QuickBooks more than they hate banks.

Licence

Fintech with partner banks

Protection

FDIC via Piermont Bank and partners

Monthly

Free core