Jitendra Gupta’s neobank Jupiter wants to be Swiggy for banking: Will it work?

Jupiter wants to be the go-to banking app for all smartphone users

Jupiter, the neobank started by fintech veteran Jitendra Gupta said on June 23 that it has got 30,000 sign ups in three weeks, an encouraging response for one of the most audacious bets by internet startups in recent times.

Jupiter wants to be the go-to banking app for all smartphone users, providing a savings account, helping decode and analyse savings and spending patterns. It wants to upend the slow and outdated apps that banks currently provide to users.

“The app is more than a bank account. It is a day to day finance app- a single view of all your finances and bank accounts, the ability to make transfers using any other bank account to this app. Customer service at many banks is archaic. We want to deliver an experience that is completely on chat, the experience will be instant and the benefit of the doubt will be given to customers,” Gupta told Moneycontrol in an interview.

Jupiter is Gupta’s second startup, after he sold payments gateway Citrus Pay to Naspers-owned PayU for $130 million, one of the larger startup exits at the time. On the idea of Jupiter, Gupta raised $25 million from top venture funds such as Sequoia, Matrix Partners, former Tiger Global head honcho Lee Fixel and others.

Gupta wants Jupiter’s customer experience to be similar to food delivery firm Swiggy, whose customer resolution via live chat has become an industry standard.

“When customers come to the app, they don't have to deal with traditional banks. We resolve the issue for you using a combination of human and automated systems, so everything gets solved in real-time. It's like the Swiggy service and chat experience, you don't have to wait days for an issue to get resolved,” Gupta said.

Jupiter has partnered with Federal Bank for users to be able to have accounts, given that Jupiter and other neobanks don’t have banking licenses. It expects to onboard over 100,000 accounts in the next 4-6 months.

Neobanks have been touted to be the next big thing in the Indian technology scene for two years now, and startups including Jupiter, Epifi and others were able to raise money only on an idea. Some neobanks such as Niyo and RazorpayX cater largely to small businesses, while others cater exclusively to consumers.

Gupta says that all smartphone users- 700 million of them- are Jupiter’s target customers, but initial focus will be on young working professionals between 18-35, a category of people who are more technologically savvy, experiment with new apps and have relatively more disposable income.

Jupiter will make money via commissions if a customer uses his debit card, takes a loan or an insurance policy using Jupiter. Gupta did not provide any revenue projections but said, “Monetisation is there in every transaction.”

Gupta said that Jupiter’s biggest challenge currently is to ensure that customer experience remains superior and the company can iterate and improve the experience as it grows bigger.