Bengaluru: Niyo Solutions Inc., among India’s first digital-only banks, or neobanks, is on its way to turn profitable this year, and then plans to list its shares on stock exchanges in 2025, chief strategy officer Swapnil Bhaskar said in an exclusive interview.
Niyo was among the first few neobanks in India. The others include Jupiter and Fi. If Niyo does go public, it would be the first neobank to do so.
The company, which began operations in 2015, is also looking to raise funds in the second half of this year to expand its travel-banking business as well as for acquisitions in the foreign exchange and lending segments, he said. Niyo had entered the travel-banking segment last year, with the launch of the Niyo Global card, which facilitates overseas transactions at zero foreign exchange charges.
On the acquisitions front, Niyo, run by parent company Finnew Solutions Pvt. Ltd, acquired personal finance startups Goalwise in 2020 and Index in 2021. It was in talks to acquire personal loans platform Smartcoin, but the talks fell through due to reasons that were not disclosed.
“I am always looking out to see which particular company or entity has done something really well on their core competence part, and how that strategically fits with Niyo,” Bhaskar said. “Our search is forever on the lending side because our vision is to enable more travellers who are in India to travel abroad. Lending has always been on our radar, but finding a really good fit is difficult.”
Bhaskar added that Niyo’s main goal for this year is profitability. In 2022-23, the company’s losses narrowed to ₹177 crore from ₹205.6 crore in 2021-22, as per regulatory filings sourced from Tofler. Its revenue from operations ballooned to ₹131.4 crore from ₹47.4 crore in the same period.
The company has been navigating a complex regulatory environment where third-party banking entities are under constant scrutiny. However, Bhaskar said the Reserve Bank of India’s concept of a self-regulatory organization for fintech companies provides comfort as there is constructive dialogue and makes regulatory aspects less of a challenge.
Last week, RBI issued a draft framework outlining broad functions, governance standards, and eligibility criteria for setting up a self-regulatory organization for fintech companies.
Founded by Vinay Bagri and Virender Bisht, Niyo has two lines of business—global banking and mass banking. Its investors include Accel and Lightrock.
The company offers its digital banking services in partnership with DCB Bank, Equitas Small Finance Bank, Yes Bank, ICICI Bank, and State Bank of Mauritius.
Niyo is also working with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to enable QR-code based payments for merchants as well as facilitate UPI-based international payments, Bhaskar said.
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Published: 22 Jan 2024, 06:19 PM IST