IN · INR

India digital banks

India is one of the densest digital-finance markets on earth. UPI made account-to-account payments free and instant, so the neobanks that survive here win on credit, metal cards, US investing, and UX — not on transfers. RBI does not issue a generic “neobank licence.” Most consumer apps are either scheduled banks (Fi via Federal Bank / Axis-era partners, Jupiter via Federal Bank) or NBFCs with a partner bank. That partner-bank name is the question Indian users actually search. This register lists who holds the money, what the card network is, and which apps are still taking new customers in 2026.

16Live on the desk

Regulator

Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

Deposit scheme

DICGC covers bank deposits up to Rs 5 lakh per depositor per bank

In this market

Licence still sits on the product

Product	Score	HQ	Monthly	FX	Users	Licence
Interactive Brokers	8.6	Greenwich, United States	No inactivity on many accounts	Institutional-grade FX; a reason people open it	3.3M accounts	Broker-dealer / FCM
Wise	8.6	London, United Kingdom	Free personal	Mid-market plus a transparent conversion fee — the category benchmark	16M+	EMI (personal)
Revolut	8.6	London, United Kingdom	Free	Fair-usage weekday mid-market; weekend markup on Standard	50M+	UK bank (eligible customers)
Trust Wallet	7.6	Global, United States	Free	Swap aggregator	200M+	See review
Binance	7.6	Global / remote, United Arab Emirates	VIP fee tiers	Spot/futures fees; tight on liquid pairs	200M+	VASP / exchange licences by country
Scapia	7.5	Bengaluru, India	Nil joining / annual on the core travel card (confirm live offer)	0% forex markup on the travel card — the whole pitch	3M+	Credit card issued by a scheduled bank
RedotPay	7.5	Hong Kong, Hong Kong	Free virtual	Stablecoin to fiat conversion + scheme FX	2M+	Card programme + VASP stack
MetaMask	7.4	New York, United States	Free	MetaMask Swaps aggregator fee	100M+	See review
Kast	7.3	Singapore, Singapore	Free virtual	Stablecoin conversion + scheme FX	Tens of thousands of firms	Stablecoin account + Visa BIN
Niyo Global	7.3	Bengaluru, India	Product-dependent; forex often zero annual	Live-rate pitch vs high-street; a spread still exists	4M+	Forex + partner-bank stack
Bybit	7.3	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Derivatives fee schedule	Trading fees	50M+	VASP by market
Niyo	7.1	Bengaluru, India	Product-dependent; forex cards often zero annual	Core pitch — live rates vs banks, still a spread	4M+	Forex / partner-bank
Fi	6.9	Bengaluru, India	Free core	On US-investing FX conversion	5M+	Partner-bank fintech
Jupiter	6.9	Bengaluru, India	Free core	N/A on domestic UPI; card FX on overseas spend	8M+	Partner-bank / NBFC stack
FamApp	6.7	Bengaluru, India	Low / plan-based	N/A	1M families	PPI / UPI stack
Slice	6.3	Bengaluru, India	Card-dependent	Domestic UPI; overseas on card tariff	10M+	Credit / partner-bank

Questions

Are Indian neobanks RBI licensed?+

The app brand usually is not. The deposit sits at a scheduled commercial bank or is an NBFC product. Always read the issuer line on the card and the account-opening T&Cs. DICGC protection applies to the partner bank, not to the brand.

Why do so many Indian apps pitch US stocks and metal cards?+

UPI already solved payments. Differentiation moved to credit, lifestyle cards, and GIFT City / overseas investing. Score those features separately from whether the current account is a real bank account.

Other desks

Cross-check the scoring weights and the graveyard before you treat a leftover landing page as live.