Niyo Bank – A new age bank for the people of tomorrow

Traditionally, banking has been perceived to be an old-school business. With too many forms, extensive to-and-fro, and not so amazing customer service, banking is a notorious industry. However, in recent times, technology has penetrated deeply into banking. This has led to the birth of some amazing products and services – Niyo Bank being one of them.

What is Niyo Bank & how is it different from traditional banking?

Neo banking platforms are new age banking solutions that operate on a 100% digital mode. The platforms usually partner with traditional banks to offer banking services albeit with a much larger focus on customer experience and digitization.

In the same way, Niyo bank is not a bank. It is a Fintech company whose aim is to provide banking services that are smarter, simpler, and safer. Founded in 2015, the platform has onboarded 2+ mn customers till date and is gaining momentum thanks to increased focus on digital banking.

The firm has partnered with DCB, ICICI, IDFC First Bank, Yes Bank, and Equitas Small Finance bank to offer a variety of innovative products.

They have amalgamated technology with finance in order to create products that are easy to use for the customers. They follow an approach of “customer first” and that is one of their USP’s.

All in all, Niyo Bank differs from traditional banks in the following ways –

1. 100% digital – no branches, no long queues and no “lunch hours” (yes, I know how frustrating that is)
2. Partnering with multiple banks helps in offering the best solutions for all sorts of products which is not possible with a traditional bank
3. Niche features with a profound focus on being “customer centric”
4. A plethora of offers and benefits to ensure better returns as compared to traditional banks

Products & services offered by Niyo Bank

The Niyo platform offers 4 main banking services to its customers which are detailed below –

NiyoX – The New Age Savings Account

Offered in partnership with Equitas Small Finance, NiyoX is a savings account with enhanced benefits.

The account offers up to 7% interest, is 0 balance, and charges 0% commission on mutual fund investments.

Additionally, the account is guaranteed under RBI’s deposit insurance scheme, making it safe for you to park your funds.

The onboarding is fully digital and you can apply for an account by clicking here.

Niyo Money – The smart investing app

Another offering from Niyo is the smart investing app. It allows the customers to invest in equities and mutual funds from one app itself.

Their USP on this app is zero transaction charges and commissions on mutual funds & no AMC.

While on the equities fund, they offer flat brokerage plans and lowest AMC charges.

While this does sound quite exciting, we believe that there are other players in the market who might be offering a better deal when it comes to investing.

Niyo Global – Zero Markup Forex Card

Now this might be difficult to digest, but Niyo Bank offers a forex card in partnership with DCB bank that offers zero markup fees.

That’s right, they allow you to load INR in your forex card and pay in as much as 150+ currencies globally.

The features don’t end here. There are many other benefits of the Global card such as –

• No cost of loading funds
• Zero hidden charges
• Real time currency rates for conversion

Niyo Bharat – Prepaid Card for New India

A niche offering by Niyo is the prepaid card called Bharat. This is aimed at providing banking services to the blue collar employees of the country.

The service is offered in partnership with Yes Bank, ICICI bank & DCB bank. It is a lifetime free prepaid card that can be used across any payment channel.

Competitors & Challenges

Their direct competitors include new players like FI, InstantPay, and industry veterans like PayTM. All these platforms are into providing financial services and their mode of operation is mostly digital.

While Niyo is positioned well and has seasoned banking partners, it does not have the required awareness in the market. Neo banking is nascent in India and needs a lot of awareness for people to adopt it as mainstream. Thus, in addition to lucrative offers, the platform needs to have a well laid out plan of creating awareness in the market.

The absence of physical channels might affect the pace of adoption, with hybrid players like the Payments Bank from PayTM, Airtel, etc. having a slight edge.

Is Niyo Bank worth it? Final word

While it might take a while before people get used to 100% digital banking, we feel that Niyo is doing things right.

Their offerings are relevant and their UX / UI is attractive. The onboarding process is seamless and digital, making it easier and simpler for the tech savvy youth of the country.

Additionally, with features like better rates on savings and direct mutual funds investments, Niyo has an edge over the traditional banks.

So, if you’re ready to take a plunge for those extra rewards and benefits, then we would surely recommend that you check out Niyo Bank today.

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Want to know more about Neobanks in India? Read out detailed guide on Neobanking.