“Can a neobank survive in India when it can't hold deposits or originate credit on its own balance sheet?”
Founded 2019 by ex-Google Pay founders as a millennial-focused neobank for India, partnering with Federal Bank for the underlying savings account. Expanded into investing (mutual funds, US stocks) and loan distribution, but the lending business — which was meant to be the revenue engine — failed to scale, triggering a cash crunch and layoffs in 2024. By 2026 Fi is being wound down as a standalone banking app: new account opening has stopped and existing customers are being migrated to Federal Bank's own FedMobile app, signaling an existential pivot away from neobanking toward AI-financial-data products like Fi MCP.
Fi Money discloses Federal Bank (sponsor bank partnership) as its banking provider, with Federal Bank as its sponsor bank, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
Fi Money does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through Federal Bank.
Fi Money moves money over UPI.
Fi Money's cards are issued through Federal Bank (in-house issuing).
Fi Money's lending and capital products are provided by Multiple RBI-registered NBFC lending partners (loan service provider / DLG model).
Fi Money connects to bank accounts through OneMoney (Account Aggregator) and Finvu / VIA (Account Aggregator framework).
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 6 layers in Fi Money's stack: Money movement (UPI); Banking / BaaS (Federal Bank (sponsor bank partnership)); Card issuing (Federal Bank (in-house issuing)); Lending (Multiple RBI-registered NBFC lending partners (loan service provider / DLG model), Instant Personal Loan (up to ₹10 Lakhs) and Loan distribution via Fi app on behalf of RBI-registered lenders); Open banking (OneMoney (Account Aggregator) and Finvu / VIA (Account Aggregator framework)); Sponsor bank (Federal Bank).
Fi Money was founded by Sujith Narayanan, Sumit Gwalani, Arvind TP, Neeraj Bhope and Prasanna R and is founded in 2019, headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
Fi Money has raised $137M in total (latest round: Series C, $61.5M).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Fi Money and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.