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

Yuh

active

Yuh is not a bank. Swissquote Bank Ltd is. esisuisse cover is CHF 100,000, shared.

Gland · Swiss all-in-one app · Swissquote (100% after July 2025)

7.6Solid

Yuh is not a bank. The English homepage says it in one paragraph: Swissquote Bank Ltd provides the banking, FINMA authorises that bank, and esisuisse cover is CHF 100,000 shared with Swissquote. July 2025 ended the PostFinance joint venture. If you already hold cash at Swissquote, do not count CHF 100,000 twice. Zak is Bank Cler. Neon sits at Hypothekarbank Lenzburg. Read those files separately.

Best for: People who live in Switzerland and want spend plus invest, and who accept Swissquote as the bank.

Licence

Fintech app — not a bank

Protection

Yuh itself is not a bank. Banking sits at Swissquote Bank Ltd, FINMA-authorised. esisuisse covers eligible deposits up to CHF 100,000. Yuh and Swissquote are one entity, so the cap is shared.

Monthly

No fees whenever possible — live list on yuh.com/en/pricing

#6 alternative

Chase UK

active

J.P. Morgan Europe Limited trading as Chase. UK bank, PRA/FCA, FSCS up to £120,000.

London · UK digital bank · JPMorgan Chase

7.6Solid

Chase UK is a bank. The legal name is J.P. Morgan Europe Limited. PRA-authorised, FCA-regulated, FSCS up to £120,000. It is a useful UK current account with honest travel spend. It is not Revolut’s multi-country stack and not a US Chase login. UK tax residents only.

Best for: UK residents who want a JPMorgan current account in an app, with FSCS, and cheap travel spend.

Licence

UK bank

Protection

FSCS up to £120,000 per depositor per bank (Chase UK FSCS page) at J.P. Morgan Europe Limited.

Monthly

£0