StartupTalky

Tag: Neobanking

  • Mayank Goyal, Founder and CEO, moneyHOP, Revolutionizes Cross-Border Banking With Innovative Neo-Banking Solutions

    StartupTalky presents Recap’22. This is a series of interviews in which we conduct in-depth discussions with founders & industry leaders to understand their growth in 2022 and their predictions for the future.

    Neobanking, also known as “challenger banking,” is a type of digital banking solution that uses technology to offer banking services through a mobile app or online platform rather than through traditional brick-and-mortar branches.

    A full-stack cross-border neo-banking solution is a type of digital banking solution that offers a wide range of banking services and features to customers, including account opening, money transfers, bill payments, debit/credit card services, and other financial services. Additionally, this type of solution provides cross-border capabilities, allowing customers to make transactions and access banking services in multiple countries.

    The neobanking market in India is expected to grow at a significant rate in the coming years. The market for neo-banking in India is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 40% during the forecast period of 2021–2026, according to a report by Mordor Intelligence.

    For this Interview, we invited Mayank Goyal, Founder & CEO of moneyHop, and we talked about the growth, challenges, insights, and future opportunities in the Neobanking industry.

    StartupTalky: Mayank, what does your company do? What was the motivation/vision with which you started?

    Mayank: moneyHOP is a full-stack cross-border neo-banking solution that enables individuals to send and spend money conveniently and economically across the globe. The company provides a Multi-currency bank account and a Visa card via a mobile app through which users can seamlessly exchange currency on-app, in real-time at near zero markups, spend abroad in respective local currencies, and also do cross-border remittance entirely digitally via the app.

    moneyHOP aims to simplify cross-border banking and provide borderless banking solutions to global citizens. moneyHOP’s instantaneous, cost-effective, and user-intuitive contactless remittance service offers complete transparency and significantly reduces the total transaction costs of sending money abroad. All in all, moneyHOP’s state-of-the-art, tech-centric, customer-focused solutions are designed explicitly to build the next-generation digital banking platform that promises a never-seen-before cross-border banking experience.

    StartupTalky: What is/are the USP/s of your products?

    Mayank: USPs of the HOP App are:

    • One Multi-currency bank account for all international transactions.
    • Real-time currency exchange (GBP, Dollar, Euro)
    • Lightning speed Account set up
    • One app for all domestic and international transactions.
    • Debit+ FX cards are all available as One Global Card
    • Smart card controls
    • Best interest rates up to 6%
    • App-based digital remittances

    StartupTalky: How has the neobanking industry changed in recent years, and how has your company adapted to these changes?

    Mayank: The cross-border banking industry in India has undergone significant changes in recent years due to various regulatory and technological developments. Some of the key changes that have occurred include:

    Increased use of technology:

    The adoption of digital technologies has led to an increase in online banking and cross-border transactions, resulting in faster and more efficient services.

    Regulatory reforms:

    The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has implemented various reforms to improve the regulatory framework for cross-border banking, including the introduction of the Liberalized Remittance Scheme (LRS) and the External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) framework.

    Increased focus on compliance:

    The RBI has implemented stricter regulations to ensure compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws, leading to increased compliance costs for banks.

    • Increased collaboration between banks and fintech to provide state of the art
      user experience for the end users at an economical price.
    • Increased transparency and digital experience for the end user.

    moneyHOP came into being at the cusp of the COVID-19 pandemic and hence
    everything that we have built is paperless, presence less, and cashless. It also happens to be one of the principles that we abide by and the vision that we want to propagate for cross-border banking in India. COVID-19 has acted as a catalyst in the digital adoption of cross-border banking including currency exchange, outbound remittance, etc because people wanted a product that they can use from the comfort of their homes and don’t want to expose themselves to the risk of catching the virus by visiting branches and filling in paperwork. We believe what demonetization did for the betterment of digital domestic banking, COVID-19 has done the same for the cross-border banking space.

    Mayank: There are a few things I do to be updated on the latest developments and trends in the net banking sector.

    Reading industry news and publications: Many trade publications and websites provide updates on the latest developments in the cross-border banking industry.

    Attending conferences and events: Conferences and events focused on fintech
    and neo-banking space provide valuable opportunities to learn about the latest
    trends and developments, as well as network with other professionals in the
    industry.

    Participating in professional organizations: Joining professional organizations, such as IAMAI or TIE can provide access to industry updates, educational resources, and networking opportunities.

    Upskilling: Continuing education courses and certifications to keep up with the latest technology and trends.

    StartupTalky: What key metrics do you track to check the company’s growth and performance?

    Mayank: Different business units within the organization have different KPIs to teach but overall we track month-on-month growth in transactions volume, total unique users acquired, repeat rate, cost of customer acquisition, profitability per channel, revenue growth, month-on-month fixed and variable costs, etc.

    StartupTalky: What were the most significant challenges your company faced in the past year and how did you overcome them?

    Mayank: One of the biggest challenges that moneyHOP faced last year is building our flagship product with the highly regulated nature of the financial services industry. In order to operate in this industry, one must navigate a complex web of regulations, including those related to licensing, data privacy, and financial inclusion. This can be a significant barrier to entry and can limit the ability of these startups to scale their businesses.

    To overcome this challenge moneyHOP took can a number of steps:

    • Partner with established financial institutions: In order to ensure credibility and avoid any regulatory hurdles we have partnered with established financial institutions like Visa and SBM bank. These partnerships provide the best of both worlds for the user: regulatory coverage of the bank and agility of the fintech.
    • Seek support from industry associations and accelerators: We have
      partnered with a number of fintech associations and accelerators such as IAMAI which provides us with guidance on regulatory issues and helps to connect startups with potential partners and investors
    • Invest in compliance and regulatory affairs: We have hired a team of legal professionals in order to ensure that the company and products meet regulatory requirements and avoid any potential legal and reputational risks.

    StartupTalky: What are the different strategies you use for marketing? Tell us about any growth hack which you pulled off.

    Mayank: moneyHOP has seen a 30% month-on-month growth over the last year and a half. We were able to achieve this growth through the combination of offline and online sales channels. moneyHOP not only uses digital channels like Google ads and social media for awareness and conversion campaigns but it has also partnered with several foreign education and foreign travel ecosystem partners across pan India, through which we obtain a high level of conversions.

    StartupTalky: What are the important tools and software you use to run your business smoothly?

    Mayank: There are a number of important tools that we use for our work are:

    • Customer relationship management (CRM) software: We use HubSpot as a CRM, to manage customer interactions and to collect data that can be used to track sales leads, customer inquiries, and customer service issues.
    • Project management software: We use Jira as a project management tool to, track, and collaborate on projects, assign tasks, set deadlines, and monitor
      progress.
    • Accounting and financial management software: We use Zoho books to manage financial transactions, including invoicing, billing, and payroll. It can also be used to generate financial reports and analyze business performance.
    • Human resources (HR) software: We use RayzorpayXPayroll to manage
      attendance, employee data, and benefits, and also to track employee time off,
      performance, and training.
    • Marketing/Product automation software: We use a lot of automation tools in the marketing and product side like Hubspot, Botspace, Mixpanel, etc to automate marketing tasks like push notifications, email campaigns, social media posts, and lead generation.
    • Collaboration and communication tools: We use Slack and Gmail for
      collaboration and communication with team members and partners remotely

    StartupTalky: What opportunities do you see for future growth in your industry in India and the world?

    Mayank: Following are the top 4 opportunities I see in the industry:

    Better Payment Rails: Fintech companies are leveraging faster payment
    mechanisms to offer seamless cross-border banking services. For instance, India
    and Singapore are working to link their payments system to enable low-cost
    digital transfers via UPI.

    With UPI, cross-border transactions can be completed quickly and securely, without the need for intermediaries such as banks or payment gateways. This can greatly reduce the costs and complexity of international payments, making it easier for individuals and businesses to conduct cross-border transactions. Additionally, UPI has the potential to facilitate cross-border trade and commerce, which can contribute to the growth of the Indian economy.

    Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT): Distributed ledger technology, also
    known as the blockchain, has the potential to revolutionize cross-border payments by providing a secure and transparent platform for financial transactions.

    By using a decentralized database, distributed ledger technology allows for the creation of a tamper-proof record of transactions that can be accessed by all parties involved.

    This eliminates the need for intermediaries thus facilitating the transfer of funds
    between countries, which can significantly reduce the cost and time required for
    cross-border payments.

    In addition, the use of smart contracts, which are self-executing contracts with the terms of the agreement between buyer and seller being directly written into lines of code can further streamline the payment process.

    While there are still challenges to be addressed, such as scalability and regulatory compliance, the adoption of distributed ledger technology in cross-border payments has the potential to greatly improve the efficiency and security
    of global financial transactions.

    Emerging markets: As economies in emerging markets continue to grow, there is an opportunity for cross-border banks to expand their operations and tap into new markets. This includes providing financial services to individuals and businesses in these markets, as well as partnering with local banks to offer joint products and services.

    New products and services: The cross-border banking industry is constantly evolving, and there is an opportunity for banks to innovate and offer new products and services to meet the changing needs of their customers. This could include the development of new payment methods, investment products, or financial education and literacy programs.

    StartupTalky: What kind of difference in market behavior have you seen within states in India?

    Mayank: The level of financial literacy is directly correlated to the adoption of digital financial services. This is less dependent on states but rather on cities where the overall education level is higher.

    We have also observed that in cities where primary education is better, the adoption across the age spectrum is high since the younger generation help the older population migrate to digital solution.

    StartupTalky: What lessons did your team learn in the past year and how will these inform your future plans and strategies?

    Mayank: One key learning we have had in the last few years is that the key to building a successful business is having deep conviction in the vision and following it with perseverance and grit. The market conditions will change over the course of the business but it’s important to follow your vision supported by the data.

    We started this business in Jan 2020, not knowing that it could possibly be the worst time in the last century to start a cross-border business but we stuck to our conviction and have seen a big turnaround in our business.

    StartupTalky: How do you plan to expand the Customers, product, and team base in the future?

    Mayank: We want to offer a truly a global banking experience for consumers and businesses in emerging markets and to that end, we want to hire folks who believe in this vision and can help us make this vision a success.

    We are expanding our teams in London and Dubai to make sure we have global coverage for our global products.

    Lastly, we want to do more work around direct-to-consumer marketing in order to build brand awareness and become a household name for cross-border banking products.

    StartupTalky: One tip that you would like to share with people reading this article who want to get into entrepreneurship?

    Mayank: Starting a business can be a challenging but rewarding experience. Here are some tips that may be helpful for those who are considering entrepreneurship:

    1. Do thorough research and planning before launching your business
    2. Be willing to take risks and be persistent.
    3. Network and seek out mentors
    4. Stay up to date on industry trends and changes
    5. Find solutions to problems, not the other way around

    But most importantly don’t chase valuations. Build a sustainable and profitable business and money will follow. Be true to your vision.

    We thank Mayank Goyal for spending his valuable time and sharing his learnings with all of us.

    You can read other Recap’22 Interviews here.

  • The Success Story of Open: What makes them as the Asia’s first neo-banking platform?

    Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Open.

    Time and again, online services have been proving to be beneficial for many people. To ponder, is there anything left that is not available on the internet or cannot be utilized online? The answer is no. Yes, because we are living in the digital world.

    Whenever we have something do to with banks, we always go to its nearest branch to get the work done, right? What if the same services can be availed through an online platform? That’s right, it can be operated digitally, and that is called a neo-banking platform.

    Open is Asia’s first neo-banking platform based in Bengaluru. Founded in 2017, the company offers banking services for SMEs and startups under RBI’s regulations and policies.

    Here is the story of Open which will tell you about its founders, how it works, its revenue and growth, its business model, funding and investors, and more.

    Open – Company Highlights

    Headquarters Bengaluru, India
    Legal name Open Financial Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
    Sector Financial Services
    Founder Anish Achuthan, Mabel Chacko, Deena Jacob and Ajeesh Achuthan
    Founded 2017
    Valuation $1 billion
    Revenue $135.8 million (Approx.)
    Total Funding Raised $190.8 million
    Website open.money

    Open – About and how does it work?
    Open – Industry details
    Open – Founders
    Open – Mission and Vision
    Open – Business & Revenue Model
    Open – Revenue Growth
    Open – Funding and Investors
    Open – Mergers and Acquisitions
    Open – Partners
    Open – Awards and Achievements
    Open – Competitors

    Open – About and how does it work?

    As a neo-banking platform, Open provides a business account backed by fellow banks that allows small company owners to accept payments, auto-reconcile them, and make smooth disbursements. It offers a VISA card that permits to operate the banking activities in one place.

    Not to get confused, Open is a digital technology platform, and not a bank or has any license related to banking. All the services such as VISA Cars, business current accounts, loans, and other related financial services offered by Open are provided by RBI-licensed banks and financial institutions.

    Open is India’s 100th Unicorn startup as it had a valuation of more than $1 billion. The company has helped more than 25 lakh businesses just in India.

    Unlike a traditional bank account, Open neobank’s platform has accounts that are designed to cater to the needs of small-scale businesses. It also serves freelancers, startups, developers, etc.

    The intelligent and effective features of Open business accounts help any business to have a seamless and hassle-free banking experience.

    Businesses can have better results with Open’s features like Collect Payments, Automate Accounting, Expense Management, Send Payouts, and Even integrate banking into their business workflow through powerful APIs. Along with these features, it offers tools to easily track and collect payments.

    Through Open’s banking platform, a business can benefit in multiple ways. For instance, a business can directly make payments from its account without adding beneficiaries. It also gives the liberty to have separate personal & business spending.

    Banking companies like Yes Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, Smart Banking by SBM Bank, etc are partners of Open. The company boasts of empowering around 50,000 new SMEs and startups every month.

    Open – Industry details

    The financial services industry is one of the most important industries because it provides various offerings within the financial sector. The Indian financial sector has experienced tremendous growth over the last few years.

    The worldwide financial services industry was predicted to develop at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.8% from $23,319.52 billion in 2021 to $25,839.35 billion in 2022.

    Open – Founders

    Anish Achuthan, Mabel Chacko, Deena Jacob and Ajeesh Achuthan are the founders of Open.

    Mabel Chacko,Deena Jacob,Aneesh Achuthan & Ajeesh Achuthan
    Mabel Chacko,Deena Jacob,Aneesh Achuthan & Ajeesh Achuthan

    Anish Achuthan

    Anish Achuthan is also the CEO of Open Financial Technologies. He has worked in the financial business for over 17 years. Other than Open, he co-founded Zwitch, which is India’s first developer-focused payment platform, in 2013, which was eventually bought by Citrus Payments. Anish was also a founding member of PayU India, serving as Vice President (New Initiatives) and business head (Payu Money- SME). The first company founded by him was Ifuturz Technologies, an internet & wireless value-added service provider.

    Deena Jacob

    Deena Jacob started her career as an Assistant Manager at Deloitte & Touche. She has an experience of more than 15 years of working in different roles in areas such as finance operations, purchase operations, HR and performance management systems, business strategy, financial planning & analysis, treasury, tax, pricing, legal, and compliance in companies like – ICICI Bank, Ernst & Young GSS, Aditya Birla Minacs, etc. Deena is presently the CFO at Open. She is the recipient of the CIMA Most Influential CFOs award in 2016 and the CFONEXT 100 in 2013, recognizing the top 100 finance executives in India, and being named to CFO India’s top 100 CFO roll of honor in the category of management controls in 2017.

    Mabel Chacko

    Mabel Chacko has a strong passion for startups and entrepreneurship and has over 15 years of experience in the field of financial technology space. Before, founding Open, she played a key role in starting many other companies. The first company co-founded by her is Touch2pay in 2006, which was a biometric payment start-up that worked in the area of financial inclusion in the remote villages of Gujarat. Mabel has worked in companies like Citrus Payment Solutions Pvt. Ltd and PayU. She graduated from IIM Bengaluru. Mabel Chacko was named “Startup Leader of the Year” in 2019 by MEITY and Nasscom, as well as being recognized in the financial field.

    Ajeesh Achuthan

    After graduating from the University of Kerala with a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Ajeesh Achuthan has been listed in Forbes 30 Under 30. He is presently the CTO of Open Financial Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Ajeesh co-founded his first company called InLoc8, which was an indoor location-based ad-tech platform. He has been associated with companies like PayU and Citrus Payment Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

    Open – Mission and Vision

    Open’s mission statement is, “To deliver a truly seamless business banking experience and make managing finances a breeze.”

    Open – Business & Revenue Model

    Open operates on a dual business model – B2B and B2C model.

    The company’s business operates on a neo-banking platform that offers various banking and financial services to small businesses or startups. Currently, Open serves more than 15,00,000 SMEs and processes $24 Billion in transactions annually. With the exception of assisting businesses in properly managing their client’s money, the platform also provides APIs for developers to incorporate banking and payments into their company activities.

    It offers various products and solutions like – Current Accounts, Payment Gateway Solutions, Business Credit Cards, Corporate Cards, Accounting Automation Solutions, and Virtual Cards to manage online subscriptions, UPI Autopay, Cash Management Services, Invoice Management Systems, and Simplified Payouts. The latest addition to these services, Open has also started offering an integrated payroll system for companies to manage their payroll and TDS payments in just a few clicks without much hassle.

    Open – Revenue Growth

    The company reported having generated sales revenue of Rs 5.6 crores in FY21. The approximate revenue Open generates on a yearly basis is around $135.8 million.

    Open – Funding and Investors

    Over the course of eight rounds of investment, Open has raised a total of $190.8 million of funds. Their most recent funding came in the form of a Series D round on May 2, 2022. So far, 18 investors have contributed to the funding of Open. The most recent investors are Temasek Holdings and 3one4 Capital. A few other investors also include such as SBI investment, Google, Recruit, Bettercapital Angelist Syndicate, Tanglin Ventures, Tiger Global Management, and IIFL Finance.

    Here are the details of funding of Open:

    Date Funding Round Funding Amount Investors
    May 2, 2022 SERIES D $50 million –
    September 9, 2021 SERIES C $100 million Temasek Holdings
    June 15, 2021 Debt Financing ₹250 million Trifecta Capital Advisors
    June 1, 2019 SERIES B $30 million –
    February 12, 2019 SERIES A $5 million 3one4 Capital, BEENEXT, Speedinvest
    May 17, 2018 Seed Round $2 million Unicorn India Ventures
    December 27, 2017 Pre Seed Round $150K ISME ACE – FinTech Accelerator
    July 13, 2017 Angel Round $250K Amrish Rau, Jitendra Gupta

    Open – Mergers and Acquisitions

    Open has bought two companies. The details are:

    Date Organization Name Amount
    December 14, 2021 Finin $10 million
    February 18, 2021 Optotax $5 million

    Open – Partners

    Open is the official digital banking partner of three IPL Teams – Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kolkata Knight Riders, and Sunrisers Hyderabad.

    Open – Awards and Achievements

    The awards and achievements of Open Financial Technologies are:

    • Open was the winner of the Startup of the Year Award at the Dhanam Business Summit and Award Nite 2022.
    • Open is India’s 100th unicorn startup company
    • Open is the world’s largest SME neo-banking platform
    • Open has been featured in Leading BFSI Startup 2021, Potential BFSI unicorns, and List of Startups with the most M&A deals in 2021.

    Open – Competitors

    Some of the competitors of Open are:

    1. Cashfree Payments
    2. Razorpay
    3. NTT Data
    4. SETU
    5. Chqbook.com
    6. DadeSystems

    FAQs

    Who is the CEO of Open?

    Anish Achuthan is the CEO of Open.

    Is Open Asia’s first Neo Bank?

    Yes, Open is Asia’s first Neo Bank for SMEs and Startups.

    Is Open like a traditional bank?

    Open doesn’t claim to hold a banking license.

    Is Open a Unicorn?

    Yes, Open is 100th Unicorn from India.

  • muvin: India’s Teen-centric Pocket Money App

    Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by muvin.

    Neobanking services are revolutionising both the financial and Fintech sectors in India. Fintech ecosystem is gearing towards better usage of Artificial Intelligence and improving customer satisfaction with popular neobanks in India like- RazorPayX, Jupiter, and Kotak811, to name a few. muvin is an emerging startup that enables a seamless experience for teens which includes pocket money management, financial literacy, and understanding savings from a young age, amongst others. It is a pocket-money app that encourages children to learn to manage finances.

    Read the startup story of muvin and know about its founders, business model, challenges, and growth.

    muvin – Company Highlights

    Startup Name muvin
    Headquarters Bengaluru
    Industry Fintech
    Founder Mukund Rao and Vineet Gupta
    Founded 2020
    Total Funding Raised $4.5 Million
    Website muvin.in

    muvin – About
    muvin – Industry
    muvin – Founders and Team
    muvin – Startup Story
    muvin – Name, Tagline, and Logo
    muvin – Vision
    muvin – Products
    muvin – USP
    muvin – Business and Revenue Model
    muvin – Customer Acquisition
    muvin – Customer Retention Strategy
    muvin – Challenges Faced
    muvin – Funding
    muvin – Growth

    muvin – About

    As India’s teen-centric pocket money app, muvin, offers a safe & secure platform to conduct online & offline transactions in an effortless manner- through its wallet, physical prepaid card and industry’s first RuPay powered contactless keychain.

    While parents/guardians can create an account to enable their dependents/children with an independent wallet, muvin also empowers India’s college going students to set up their own wallets to conduct transactions.

    As part of their focus on amplifying financial literacy amongst India’s teens, the muvin app offers an exhaustive library of enriching content to demystify concepts related to managing finance. They have onboarded Monika Halan, an entrusted Author and Speaker to curate and address theme-based topics in an easy, fun, and simplified manner. From taxes to what banking truly is, muvin is covering the fundamentals and more via rich byte-sized video and short blogs that are relevant for teens.

    muvin – Industry

    With new players entering this space, teen-centric pocket money apps and neobanks have become a competitive digital banking landscape in a short period of time. The space has grown exponentially in the last five years. In terms of transaction value, the Indian Neobanking ecosystem is expected to clock US$47.94bn in 2022 setting the foundation for substantial growth potential in the coming years.

    muvin – Founders and Team

    Mukund and Vineet have known each other for over 20 years from their time at Mindtree in the early 2000’s. They share a passion for enabling access to banking services for the youth and believe that finance is a life skill that everyone should acquire by the age of 21.

    Mukund Rao, Co-founder

    Mukund Rao, Co-Founder, muvin

    Mukund is an accomplished business leader with experience across financial services and technology. Former Capital Markets Head at Mindtree, Mukund founded derivIT in 2007 and grew it across 7 countries with a team of 400+ employees. He subsequently exited derivIT to Luxoft in 2017.

    After graduating from Bangalore University, he pursued his MBA from Ecole des Ponts Business School.

    Vineet Gupta, Co-founder

    Vineet Gupta - Co-founder of muvin
    Vineet Gupta, Co-founder, muvin

    Vineet has over 25 years of experience spread across technology and financial businesses, driving innovation and digital business models. Vineet moved on from Mindtree in 2015 after building out their Digital Business and subsequently founded a tech enabled NBFC focussed on business credit.

    He graduated from IIT-Delhi and went on to pursue his MBA from IIM-Lucknow.

    While both co-founders are actively engaged in all aspects of the business, Vineet looks after the Product, Operations, Finance & Technology functions at muvin, while Mukund looks after Marketing, Strategy and Business Development functions.

    muvin – Startup Story

    Despite India’s adoption of digital banking and contactless payments, the digital native generation still conducts over 80% of their transactions in cash. Both the co-founders, Mukund and Vineet, have teenage children who were using cash or their cards while spending money. They found the process of opening bank accounts for their kids and teaching them how to operate it within the restrictions on bank ATM/debit cards, rather cumbersome. The most common resort for parents like them was to hand over pocket money to their children. No wonder, teens often end up entering adulthood with little or no knowledge of financial management.

    They saw an opportunity in enabling digital payments and offering financial products for this young consumer base- in an easy-to-understand, intuitive and friction-free manner. This is how muvin came into being.

    They validated the hypothesis by empanelling Ipsos to conduct independent primary research of children and parents across 8 cities.

    muvin logo
    muvin logo

    muvin is a play on the word “moving”, where they would like their target audience to get moving and keep moving. The co-founders of muvin believe that Gen-Z is always on the go and they would like teens to get moving with their financial lives as soon as possible. The tagline, “payments for students”, addresses their audience and the core functionality of muvin, thereby avoiding any ambiguity.

    muvin – Vision

    muvin’s vision is to empower India’s 250 million youth with digital financial inclusion and financial literacy. muvin is unwaveringly moving forward in positioning the management of personal finance as an essential life skill and the need to inculcate it from an early age. muvin believes that India’s teens must be empowered to experience independence in their financial transactions and decisions in their day-to-day life.

    muvin – Products

    Bolstered by the pandemic, there has been widespread adoption of digital banking and contactless payments across the country which led to a permanent shift towards wallets, contactless cards, digital payment apps and other financial products. However, over 250 million teenagers and young adults in India are still precluded from not just financial education but banking services as well, conducting the majority of their transactions in cash. Gen Z are becoming financially aware and independent a lot earlier than a few decades ago. Pocket money apps for the teens are ideal in addressing their financial needs.

    Deployment of new-age technologies like AI, big-data analysis and cloud computing is helping it to offer an easy-to-understand, intuitive, friction-free and education-powered experience to the teens.

    muvin has partnered with the parent community towards its larger vision of amplifying financial literacy amongst India’s digitally savvy teens. It has also understood some other critical issues that matter to parents, such as tracking of their household expenditure.

    Parents now have the freedom to transfer pocket money allowance (one time /scheduled weekly / monthly) directly in their child’s wallet who can then spend the money through the app or through their own prepaid card. Parents no longer have to stress over tedious banking roadblocks. Monitoring their child’s spending habits was never this easy.

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    muvin – USP

    These are early days for teen-centric apps and they are in the first lap of a marathon. It is a new category and competition helps in both, creating and growing awareness about the product’s relevance and need amongst the key target user base. All the market players are addressing varied gap areas through their products, services and customer experience.

    muvin is the first pocket money app to offer a RuPay co-branded keychain targeted at India’s teens. The keychain presents the most convenient and secured contactless payment mode with a simple ‘tap and pay on-the-go’ feature. The contactless keychain can be used across all RuPay NFC enabled merchants for fast processing and seamless transaction experience each time.

    muvin also offers chat based banking on their website and whatsapp without the need of downloading the app. This allows customers to check their balance, view recent transactions, block their card etc.

    muvin – Business and Revenue Model

    There are no charges levied on customers for using the muvin services. muvin makes money from the interchange fees incurred by the merchant for card based transactions. Within the first six months of its product launch, muvin witnessed over 150,000 installs. Currently, the figures stand at approximately 50k app downloads every month.

    muvin – Customer Acquisition

    muvin’s journey started with the launch of its app and the ‘muvin card’ for teens in October 2021. In the same month, muvin onboarded Ace cricketer Hardik Pandya as their brand ambassador to propel its multi-channel marketing campaigns- a move which helped the brand to garner immediate attention and much-needed impetus from its target customers.

    Teens need validation and approval from their parents/guardians and since its inception, muvin is consistently engaging with the parent community. Parents need to be assured on the trust front. muvin’s partnership with industry prominent players like RuPay has also helped it to strike a trust-worthy chord with the parents. Imparting financial responsibility as a trait has to be a consistent and an on-going approach. Parents are appreciating the educative, short videos and blog format content for their children which muvin offers on its digital platform. The early adopters of the muvin app have played an important role in expanding its reach amongst newer adopters.

    muvin has adopted a multi-pronged approach in reaching out to potential customers. Developing a strong presence on social media has been key to building the muvin brand, as this is where Gen-Z spends a high percentage of their time. muvin is building itself out to be a young brand that teenagers can approach as an elder sibling or friend. They have also curated financial content in byte sized formats that is easy to understand and comprehend in under a minute. They have also partnered with multiple brands to serve their customers with offers and cashbacks relevant to their age group.

    muvin – Customer Retention Strategy

    To drive retention, muvin has partnered with multiple brands to serve their customers with offers and cashbacks relevant to their age group. They also run engaging contests and offers on the app which are refreshed on a weekly basis to keep their customers and audience engaged consistently. Through their insights led customer engagement platform and social media channels, they keep their users updated on the latest happenings on the app.

    muvin – Challenges Faced

    Neobanks and teen-centric pocket money apps like muvin have carved a niche category to address crucial consumer pain points which had not been addressed before. They have consistently channelised their energies to get their key consumer audience to shift from cash to digital transactions- which still continues to be a challenging affair.

    Players like muvin get to interact with their customers digitally only which makes trust building especially amongst digital-savvy parents, a tedious and slower process. This requires utmost transparency and in this regard, muvin’s partnership with RuPay has helped them tremendously.

    Top 12 Neobanks in India – 2022 | About Neobank Industry
    Neobanks Industry is getting popular and successful in the new digital world. Know about top Neobanks. Here is a list of best Neobanks in India.
    StartupTalkyRia Puneyani

    muvin – Funding

    Date Stage Amount Investors
    January 2022 Pre-Series A $3 Mn Alteria Capital and Krishna Bhupal, Co-Founder, Rational Pricing Technologies and board member of GVK Power & Infra
    April 2021 Seed $1.5 Mn HNI’s Krishnakumar Natarajan (Managing Partner, Mela Ventures), Ambar Maheshwari (CEO, IndiaBulls Asset Management), Gani Subramaniam (Partner, WRVI), Shajikumar Devakar (Executive Director, IIFL Asset Management Limited), Sandeep Jethwani, and others

    Earlier in January 2022, muvin raised USD 3 million in a pre-Series A round which was led by WaterBridge Ventures, with participation from India’s largest Venture Debt fund Alteria Capital and Krishna Bhupal, Co-Founder, Rational Pricing Technologies and board member of GVK Power & Infra.

    Prior to that in April 2021, muvin raised a seed round of $1.5+ million from HNI’s Krishnakumar Natarajan (Managing Partner, Mela Ventures), Ambar Maheshwari (CEO, IndiaBulls Asset Management), Gani Subramaniam (Partner, WRVI), Shajikumar Devakar (Executive Director, IIFL Asset Management Limited), Sandeep Jethwani, and other prolific angel investors from the financial services industry.

    muvin – Growth

    muvin’s platform caters to India’s teens spread across leading cities in India. The brand is gearing towards engaging with one million registered users in the next 12 months. Its ambition is to enable 100 million financially literate students in the next 10 years- prepare them to confidently make the right financial choices by the age of 25 years.

    With regular communication and feedback from their early adopters, muvin team plans to steadily enhance its product and introduce new features over the next two-three quarters that will substantially upgrade their users’ experience. To achieve additional scale, muvin is open to raising an additional round of funding towards the later half of this year.

    FAQs

    When was muvin founded?

    muvin was founded in 2020.

    Who is the founder of muvin?

    Mukund Rao and Vineet Gupta are the founders of muvin.

    Has muvin raised funding?

    Yes, muvin has raised a funding of $4.5 million.

    Is muvin app available on Google Play store?

    Yes, muvin app is available on the Google play store and Apple app store.

    Who is the brand ambassador of muvin?

    Hardik Pandya is the brand ambassador of muvin.

  • Neobank Industry | List of Top 12 Neobanks in India – 2022

    Whenever we talk about savings, finances, and growing wealth, the banks are the first things that come to mind. These institutions have been serving customers and clients all around the world since times immemorial but in their physical offices, complete with the traditional queues. However, with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the world of our outdoor activities has seen an unprecedented halt. Everything including our mandatory bank visits has taken a tumble and digital adoption has been the norm of the new normal. All of these gave enough reasons for the digital banking services to pave their own path holding the hands of the neobanks. These are digital banks for all the customers to reduce the hassles of the physical banking services.

    Both the digital banks and neobanks have been getting a lot of support from the Indian government also in the world canvas. Speaking on digital banks and digital banking in the Union Budget 2022, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that 100% of the post office banks will be grouped into the core banking umbrella. This will mean that the post office banks and bank accounts would now be accessible through net-banking, mobile banking and ATMs. Furthermore, this would also extend the facility to transfer funds between post office accounts and bank accounts to the users online, with an aim of boosting the overall financial inclusion. Besides, Sitharaman has also mentioned that the government has also decided that it would mark 75 years of India’s independence by 75 digital banking units in distinct districts, which will be set up by scheduled commercial banks, thereby empowering the digital banking ecosystem further.

    What are Neobanks?
    Why are Neobanks rapidly becoming popular?
    The Neobanking Industry
    Top 12 Neobanks in India

    1. Jupiter
    2. Fi Money
    3. Niyo
    4. OcareNeo
    5. ZikZuk
    6. Open
    7. Finin
    8. Kotak 811
    9. InstantPay
    10. RazorpayX
    11. North Loop
    12. Digibank

    About Neobanks

    What are Neobanks?

    Neobanks are direct banks that operate online and without physical banking offices. Neobanks offer all the banking services that the physical banks offer but are operated digitally or with the help of mobile-only platforms. Though the concept of Neobanks started to come into the limelight somewhere between 2013-15, it was only in 2017 that the term “neobank” was first coined.

    Referred as “challenger banks” in the UK, neobanks are often distinguished from the “digital banks” in that the primary kind of banks or banking startups do not have any registered physical office and are entirely online or mobile-based. The digital banks, however, are mainly developed as a part of their physical banking parents. However, the terms digital banks and neobanks are generally used interchangeably. Neobanking is thus, a virtual banking experience in which the bank’s entire service offering is virtual, from client onboarding to the most basic banking services.

    Why are Neobanks rapidly becoming popular?

    Neobanks are powered by the latest technology and digital platforms and are disrupting the banking system ever since they came into being. Here’s what steers it past the traditional banking institutions:

    • Neobanks are cost-effective
    • They are convenient
    • They are streamlined to remove all the hassles
    • They bring in numerous rewards and other benefits
    • These banks ensure instant banking
    • The neobanks are future-proof
    • They are nearly infallible or at least keep the human errors to a minimum
    • They are powered by 24/7 customer service.

    The Neobanking Industry

    The global market size of neobanks and other alternative banks was valued at $35 billion in 2020, which is estimated to grow at an annual average rate (CAGR) of 47.7% to be valued at around $722.6 billion in 2028.

    Though the first neo-banks to open in India were aimed to serve corporate companies and users, many fintech companies have introduced them to the retail market, aimed to serve the retail users. So, without further ado, here are India’s top 12 neobanks.

    Top 12 Neobanks in India

    Here’s listed the top 12 Neobanks that are operating in India:

    Jupiter

    Founders – Jitendra Gupta

    Founded in – 2019

    Jupiter - Top Neobanks in India
    Jupiter – Top Neobanks in India

    Jupiter is a bank that is built to serve the digital customers of today with a banking service that keeps pace with them. Founded by fintech veteran Jitendra Gupta, with Jupiter the users can create bank accounts in a flash. Furthermore, they can put their savings on auto-pilot mode in pots. They can also get real-time insights along with a comprehensive breakdown of their spending. Jupiter claims to have zero balance account facilities and extends instant supports for its users. Moreover, it also helps the users gain rewards on each transaction, which are equal to 1% of their debit card and UPI purchase value.

    Fi Money

    Founders – Sujith Narayanan and Sumit Gwalani

    Founded in – 2019

    Fi Money - Top Neobanks in India
    Fi Money – Top Neobanks in India

    With the tagline “Banking Just Got Smarter”, Fi Money is designed as a neobank with secure digital banking services for the working professionals of today. Founded by the co-founders of GPay, Sujith Narayanan and Sumit Gwalani Fi offer smart zero balance savings account for the customers in a way that they can manage their money better. Along with easy savings options that help the users get interests up to 5.1%, Fi Money also brings them an assistant that can solve almost any of the user queries. Secure banking services and exciting rewards are some more benefits that the users can avail of with the help of Fi Money.

    Niyo

    Founders – Vinay Bagri

    Founded in – 2016

    Niyo - Top Neobanks in India
    Niyo – Top Neobanks in India

    Founded in 2015 by the banking industry and payments expert Vinay Bagri Virender Bisht, Niyo boasts of “Making Banking Smarter, Safer and Simpler”. Niyo brings a suite of useful banking products:

    • Niyo X – An efficient app that offers the customers the facilities of savings and helps them manage wealth without hassles.
    • Niyo Money – Empowered by robo-advisory, Niyo Money helps the customers grow and manage wealth.
    • Niyo Global – With Niyo Global the customers need not worry about round-the-clock support along with earning upto 5% interest against their savings.
    • Niyo Bharat – Marketed as an open banking platform Niyo Bharat is an app that ensures salary cards for the employees.

    OcareNeo

    Founders – Dr. Neeraj Sheth

    Founded in – 2015

    OcareNeo - Top Neobanks in India
    OcareNeo – Top Neobanks in India

    Driven by the tagline “Your Digital Health Passport”, Dr. Neeraj Sheth founded OCareNeo to help this generation focus on their medical needs. OCareNeo helps its customers dive into their digital health journey with which they can get instant access to their own health and that of their families along with the financial information. The company offers the unique facility of the Digital QR code that keeps the owner’s health history and insurance details, along with Digital Card and Digital Piggy Bank to pay for the medical expenses and save for the health. Furthermore, OCareNeo also helps customers ensure their health via a list of secure and easy insurance policies.

    ZikZuk

    Founders – Raj N

    Founded in – 2020

    ZikZuk - Top Neobanks in India
    ZikZuk – Top Neobanks in India

    ZikZuk is an Indian SME neo banking startup founded in 2020 by Raj N that is built with the aim of fostering the growth of Indian SMEs. Among its products and services, ZikZuk offers founderscard, a credit card that empowers business founders/entrepreneurs with the best credit scores by bringing numerous exciting rewards. Furthermore, ZikZuk also helps the company founders get unsecured credit to satisfy their immediate capital requirements. With ZikZuk the entrepreneurs can also get an easy way to manage their business finance. Connected banking is yet another facility that ZikZuk offers.

    Open

    Founders – Ajeesh Achuthan, Mabel Chacko

    Founded in – 2017

    Open – Top Indian Neobanks

    Open is a well-recognized digital business banking solution that is trusted by 20,00,000+ Indian businesses. Headquartered in Bengaluru, Open aims to simplify business banking. Founded in 2017, the Open business accounts offer VISA business cards that help in banking, payments management, accounting, and more. The company acquired another neobanking startup Finin on December 14, 2021, for $10 mn.

    Finin

    Founders – Suman Gandham and Sudheer Maram

    Founded in – 2019

    Finin – Indian Neobanks 

    Finin is a modern neobanking startup founded in 2019 that strives to bring “a new approach to banking.” The first-ever consumer-facing neobank offers easy account opening and management facilities via a comprehensive app. Powered by the latest Artificial Intelligence technology Finin also helps the users with clever insights to improve their finances. The company has recently been acquired by Open on December 14, 2021, and will result in adding value to Open and its band of SMEs.

    Kotak 811

    Founders – Uday Kotak

    Founded in – 2016

    Kotak 811 - Top Neobanks in India
    Kotak 811 – Top Neobanks in India

    811 by Kotak or Kotak811 is a neobank-based banking concept that offers personal accounts with debit cards for individuals. Opened after November 8, 2016, the day of demonetization, which changed everything, Kotak Mahindra came up with this new concept of easy, online banking services for its customers via Kotak811, where the numbers reflect the date of demonetization. With the help of Kotak811, the residents of India can open mobile bank accounts that can be instantly opened and are paperless, easy to use, and can be easily handled.







    Explore More about Kotak 811 Zero Balance Savings Account



    InstantPay

    Founders – Shailendra Agarwal

    Founded in – 2013

    InstantPay - Top Neobanks in India
    InstantPay – Top Neobanks in India

    Billed as India’s largest neobanking platform, InstantPay offers full-stack digital banking services for businesses and individuals. Empowered with the slogan, “Banking for the New India”, InstantPay extends easy banking options via which the users can spend, save and manage money online. Founded by Shailendra Agarwal in 2012, InstantPay strives to make banking an experience for the customers instead of an obligation that it seems like!

    RazorpayX

    Founders – Harshil Mathur

    Founded in – 2013

    RazorpayX - Top Neobanks in India
    RazorpayX – Top Neobanks in India

    RazorPay X is a powerful and simple business banking alternative founded by Harshil Mathur, Founder, and CEO, in 2014. With a completely digital account, automatic payments, and payables, corporate cards, and deep financial insights all in one place, RazorPay X is built to supercharge the banking and finance of Indian companies.







    Simplify Business Banking with Razorpay



    North Loop

    Founders – Tahem Veer Verma

    Founded in – 2019

    North Loop - Top Neobanks in India
    North Loop – Top Neobanks in India

    North Loop is known as “The financial hub for India”. Headquartered in San Francisco, US, and founded by Tahem Veer Verma in 2019, North Loop offers digital NRI banking facilities, being the first of its kind. The NRI banking startup brings all finance-related facilities under one app. With North Loop, the NRI customers can open their accounts easily within 5 minutes and get a wide range of banking services with enormous security.

    Digibank

    Founders – Government of Singapore

    Founded in – 2019

    Digibank - Top Neobanks in India
    Digibank – Top Neobanks in India

    Digital banking services startup, Digibank was founded in 2019 by DBS Bank to help customers get all the banking services online. Billed as the world’s best digital bank, Digibank lets users keep their money safe. Digibank also offers a unified platform for all banking customers to minimize the hassles. With Digibank the users can avail all these benefits and more with the help of a minimum average balance of Rs 5000.

    FAQs

    What are neo banks in India?

    Neo-banks are digital banks that do not have any physical branches. They provide financial services through apps on smartphones.

    Who has founded Jupiter neo bank?

    Neobank Jupiter was founded by Jitendra Gupta in 2019.

    What are the top Neobanks in India?

    Some of the top Neobanks in India are:

    • Jupiter
    • Fi Money
    • Niyo
    • OcareNeo
    • ZikZuk
    • Kotak 811
    • InstantPay
    • RazorpayX
    • North Loop
    • Digibank

    Which Neobank acquired Finin?

    Google-backed Neobank Open acquired Finin on December 14, 2021, in a cash and stock deal valued at $10 mn on December 14, 2021.

    What is Neo banking Open?

    Also known as Asia’s first neo banking platform, Open brings business banking ease that comes with a VISA business card and blends banking, payments,
    accounting, expense management and taxes, all in one place.

    What is Niyo?

    Niyo bank is often referred to as India’s leading fintech company that is founded in 2015, and brings smarter, safer and easier banking for all. Niyo bank has served over 2mn customers now, as of March 2022.

  • Are Neobanks Really The Future of Banking?

    In this fast-pacing era where really nobody has the time or the interest to walk over to a bank branch to do banking or business, “Neobanks” are a change and, in a good way, but are they really a promising future? Let’s find out.

    What is Neobank?
    Difference Between Neobanks and Traditional Banks
    What Do The Neobanks Offer That Traditional Banks Don’t?
    How Does Neobanks Work?
    Are Neobanks The Future of Banking?
    Pros and Cons of Neobanks
    FAQs

    What is Neobank?

    Neobank
    Neobank

    Neobanks are financial institutions or digital banks that exclusively operate online and do not have any physical branches. Neobanks provide services and products that are not found in traditional banking systems and are also, very efficient. They work either directly with service providers or with already established banks as they don’t have regulatory licenses, in the Indian context. Neobanks are a wide umbrella of financial services such as faster deposits, transfer of payments, credit cards, etc.

    Neobanks had a customer base of around 7.7 million in 2018 and nearly tripled it to 20 million in 2020. In 2019, in India alone, Neobanks raised a big amount of 90 million dollars. And are expected to raise an amount of 394 billion dollars globally by 2026, according to reports of lead squared. Globally there are more than 200 Neobanks and more than 10 in India and the numbers are rapidly increasing.

    In India, the growth of Neobanks are not that fast compared to the growth around the globe, but looking at how vast the Indian Market it can take over by a storm.

    Difference Between Neobanks and Traditional Banks

    • Neobanks mostly press on solving banking issues faced by customers but lack in better overall customer experience.
    • The onboarding process of Neobanks is very simple, paperless, and less time consuming compared to traditional banks.
    • Neobanks are beneficial for small businesses whereas traditional banks prove to be very useful to millennials.

    What Do The Neobanks Offer That Traditional Banks Don’t?

    In the past few years, there’s a lot of change in the finance industry and with the introduction of UPI in India, which recorded over 4 billion transactions in October 2021, and the mobile wallets in the US and Europe we have seen tremendous amounts of transactions digitally.

    Neobanks use innovative new technologies such as AI, Cloud analytics and for their audiences, they are merely an app, unlike the traditional banks which rely on financial products and expand their large network of branches for the customer base.

    Neobanks mostly come in handy to the people who do not have much time to handle the hassles of visiting physical branches and have a busy living. They are way different than other financial institutions in certain ways such as,

    • Reduced timeline of acquiring customers and provide seamless customer services and paperless operations
    • Removing the challenges that are faced in the traditional banking system and thus, providing a brilliant user experience.
    • They have fewer regulations and are easy for customers to set up their accounts and also ensure advanced security and privacy.
    • They provide accounts and money transfers, seamless international payments. They also provide better interest rates than traditional banks because of their fewer costs and easy processes.

    How Does Neobanks Work?

    Neobanks work on the “Banking as a service” module and fix the gap between traditional banks and customer expectations. Banking as a service is an end-to-end process of operation of financial services on the internet and allows digital banks or third parties to connect with banks for better financial and banking services.

    They are completely digital and online as there are no physical branches. Neobanks have modernized platforms that help them collect data of their target audience and based on the data collected they customize their marketing strategies accordingly as a result successfully creating a cohort of customers.

    Are Neobanks The Future of Banking?

    They are changing the face of the Fintech community and one day maybe replace traditional banks but it’s not easy and one can never be sure. Neobanks are mostly like digital banks but remember “mostly”. They are much recognized as companies than banks.

    In India, the RBI still doesn’t allow banks to be 100% digital and have some physical presence. The defining and most important reason for this is and the difference between Neobanks and traditional banks is funding and not forgetting customers’ trust. Traditional banks may find it hard to compete in this tech-savvy world still the legacy can’t be weighed down so easily.

    Pros and Cons of Neobanks

    Pros of Neobanks

    • Adapting technology and no presence of credit base makes them low cost and convenient for the low-salaried customer base.
    • Neobanks are convenient as allow operations through an app from basic banking to investing and other finances.
    • Better services and benefits. Quick processing for loans and speeding other requests by ditching paperwork.

    Cons of Neobanks

    • Limited services compared to traditional banks and less regulated. No physical presence may hinder customers’ trust.
    • Keeping up with technology and advancements in trends.
    • No physical bank branches and In-person assistance access.

    What changes we might see in Banking after the pandemic?
    As Technology and innovation has transformed every industry lets take a look at how will it transform the banking industry post pandemic.
    StartupTalkyPooja Uniyal

    Conclusion

    Neobanks have emerged as a buzz wave in the fintech community and have been doing great in maintaining their spotlight on a global level and every day more and more businesses and banks are signing up with them. We see a new player everybody whose intention is to simplify financial services and provide additional benefits with them.

    Though it’s going to be hard to revolutionize the whole industry of banking and finance it’s gonna take time and real hard work for tech geeks. As the saying goes, “it’s the little changes that make the most important changes”.

    FAQs

    Are Neobanks banks?

    Neobanks are not banks and do not have a bank charter. Instead, these institutions generally partner with a bank to ensure their products. Before signing up with a neobank, make sure it’s FDIC insured by a partner bank.

    What is Neobank?

    Neobanks are digital banks that do not have any physical branches and provide all financial services to their consumers through apps that can be accessed through a smartphone.

    Is Neobanks secure?

    Money deposited in a neo-banking account is as secure as it would be in a regular bank account in India.

    When did Neobanks start?

    The term neobank has been in use since at least 2016 to describe fintech-based financial providers that were challenging traditional banks.

    Talking about the neobanks in the Indian context, neobanks are not directly regulated by the banking regulator. This is mainly due to the fact that RBI does not grant licenses for operating virtual banks in India.