Best Wio alternatives

#1 alternative

Liv

active

Emirates NBD digital brand. CBUAE. AED 25/mo unless waived. Not a separate digital-bank licence.

4.6

Dubai · ENBD digital-scale · Emirates NBD

7.1Solid

Liv is Emirates NBD’s digital brand, launched 2017. CBUAE. The deposit sits at Emirates NBD Bank PJSC. Account maintenance is free with salary of AED 5,000+, card spend of AED 2,500, or average balance of AED 3,000 — else AED 25 a month on the published 2026 schedule. Mashreq NEO is another incumbent skin. Wio is a separate digital bank. Read the parent.

Best for: UAE residents who want Emirates NBD in a black app and can hit a waiver.

Licence

Digital brand of Emirates NBD Bank PJSC. Not a separate CBUAE digital-bank licence

Protection

UAE bank-deposit protection follows Emirates NBD as a CBUAE licensed bank. Liv is a brand — shared with other ENBD deposits. Confirm the live scheme copy.

Monthly

AED 0 if salary ≥ AED 5,000 or spend/balance waivers; else AED 25/mo

#2 alternative

Mashreq NEO

active

Mashreqbank PSC digital brand. CBUAE. Not a separate digital-bank licence. Not Liv.

4.8

Dubai · Mashreq digital · Mashreqbank PSC

7.3Solid

Mashreq NEO is Mashreqbank PSC. CBUAE. The deposit sits at Mashreq. NEO BIZ and the July 2026 NEO On Arrival visitor SKU are products, not a second charter. Liv is Emirates NBD. Wio is a digital bank. Three UAE objects. Directories call NEO a neobank because the letters are Latin. This desk writes Mashreqbank PSC.

Best for: UAE residents and firms who want Mashreq in an app, not Emirates NBD’s Liv.

Licence

Digital brand of Mashreqbank PSC. Not a separate CBUAE digital-bank licence

Protection

UAE bank-deposit protection follows Mashreqbank PSC as a CBUAE licensed bank. NEO is a brand — shared with other Mashreq deposits. Confirm the live scheme copy.

Monthly

Digital SKUs including NEO BIZ — confirm live

#3 alternative

Zand

active

UAE’s first fully licensed all-digital bank, on its own homepage. CBUAE. Dubai.

Dubai · UAE digital bank · Private — confirm live

6.9Mixed

Zand Bank PJSC is licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE. Its own homepage calls it the UAE’s first fully licensed all-digital bank. Address on the footer: Emaar Square, Building 6, Level 1, P.O. Box 62593, Dubai. That is a bank file, not a crypto-card file. Digital-asset partnerships sit beside the deposit — they are not the deposit. Wio is the Abu Dhabi peer. Liv is Emirates NBD’s skin. Read the statement entity. Eligible deposits follow the UAE licensed-bank scheme; this file does not invent a dirham cap the homepage did not print.

Best for: UAE firms and residents who want a CBUAE digital bank rather than an incumbent skin.

Licence

Licensed bank — Zand Bank PJSC

Protection

Zand Bank PJSC is licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE. Eligible deposits follow the UAE scheme for licensed banks — confirm the live CBUAE guarantee cap. Not a crypto exchange with a bank sticker.

Monthly

Confirm live tariff

#4 alternative

Aspire

active

Southeast Asian business account, cards, and bill pay.

4.5

Singapore · 25k businesses · ~$90M raised

7.7Solid

Put Aspire on Singapore and UAE country pages. Do not call it a bank.

Best for: Singapore and SEA companies that need cards and payables, not a US start-up stack.

Licence

Payments with partner banks

Protection

Partner-bank / safeguarding — not SDIC retail deposits

Monthly

Free starter · paid growth plans

#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

Brex

active

US start-up cards and spend. Not a bank, on purpose.

3.9

San Francisco · Tens of thousands of firms · $1B+ raised historically

7.3Solid

Brex is a card and spend platform. Ramp is the rival. Mercury is the checking account you put underneath.

Best for: US start-ups that want Ramp-class cards with a slightly different religion.

Licence

Commercial card + treasury partners

Protection

Treasury/cash sits at partner banks or money-market — cards are credit/charge

Monthly

Card program; rewards-funded for eligible start-ups