Niyo: global connectivity for borderless banking

Niyo is a Bengaluru-based fintech founded in 2015 by Vinay Bagri and Virender Bisht. Its best-known product, Niyo Global, is a Visa Signature debit card issued in partnership with SBM Bank India that carries zero forex markup on international transactions — a direct alternative to the 2-3% markup most Indian banks charge on foreign spending. The company has scaled to more than 6 million users, and says it has helped over 2 million Indian customers save as much as 5% on international transactions by removing that markup. Niyo has raised roughly $179 million across seven funding rounds from investors including Accel, Horizon Ventures, and Tencent, with a $130 million Series C round in 2022. Every Niyo Global customer is, by definition, someone actively spending money outside India — which makes them functionally the same audience a travel eSIM is built for. The pairing is straightforward: a zero-markup card solves the cost of moving money across a border; a travel eSIM solves the cost and hassle of moving data across the same border. Presented together, "borderless payments" and "borderless data" describe the same trip from two different angles. Niyo is a real, independent company, and the facts above about its scale and funding are public and verifiable. Niyo partners with Zetexa through Zetexa's API integration to bring travel eSIM connectivity to Niyo Global cardholders. Fintech and neobank partners interested in a similar model can start with Zetexa's API integration.