Fintech startups are racing to secure licences in GIFT City as they try to build one-stop platforms for non-resident Indians (NRIs) to save and invest by combining payments, fund distribution and broking into a single regulated stack. According to reports from Company Business News, the momentum is fueled by surging demand from NRIs in the Middle East, where fintech firms report that inflows nearly doubled during March and April, with the majority directed toward dollar-denominated fixed deposits.
Belong has seen its Middle East market grow significantly, with new user additions up nearly 55% in March and another 25% in April. As reported by Company Business News, the company's assets under management (AUM) from NRIs has crossed $10 million, with the business growing 30-40% month-on-month before the West Asia conflict, which increased to 60-70% month-on-month over the past two months. The average UAE customer holds about $25,000 on the platform, while the average deposit from a resident in the region exceeds $5,000.
For both companies, their licences serve as competitive moats in the market. According to Company Business News, Belong has a payment service provider (PSP) licence apart from its distributor and broking licences, while Vested has applied for a PSP licence, which would allow it to move money, manage payments, and build a multi-currency wallet inside the app. Ankur Choudhary, co-founder and CEO of Belong, explained that owning the PSP layer removes dependence on a partner bank for the payments layer and helps control the full customer journey from foreign bank account to investment product.
Vested Finance also saw a sharp rise in NRI inflows between March and May, with the invested corpus from this segment rising 45% over the December-February period. As reported by Company Business News, the increase was particularly sharp from the Middle East and Singapore, with inflows from the UAE rising 58%, Qatar 199%, and Singapore 153%. Nearly 30% of the increase came from new customers, with the rest driven largely by higher allocations from existing users, and the average portfolio value of NRI customers on the platform is now nearing $30,000.
While GIFT City is drawing more NRI interest, market participants cautioned this appetite may be cyclical rather than permanent. According to Company Business News, the recent spike reflects a defensive posture against weak dollar returns and rupee pressure rather than a full-throated bet on Indian equities. Niharika Tripathi, head of products and research at Wealthy, noted that NRIs are moving deposits because currency levels are favourable and non-resident external (NRE) account savings rates are decent, but equities remain "a little bit of a mixed bag" because Indian markets have been weak in dollar terms of late.
