In Banking sector it’s not possible to turn profitable without a lending business.
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Agree. The partnership with other NBFCs is hampering Jupiter’s ability to offer loans at competitive rates as well as it eats into their margins.
Me too. Switching salary account with other reasons.
Niranjan, whenever you make the switch; I will hope that the Jupiter team is able win you back as a salary account user.
I completely agree that there are a few reasons why neo-banks may charge debit card fees and the rationale of charging may be any of these or all:
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Firstly, unlike traditional banks, neobanks do not have a large physical branch network or existing customer base. This means that they may have higher operational costs related to acquiring new customers and maintaining their accounts. In order to cover these costs, some neobanks charge fees for certain services, including debit cards.
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Secondly, neobanks may offer more advanced or innovative features compared to traditional banks, such as real-time spending notifications or budgeting tools. These features require investment in technology and development, which can lead to higher costs for the neobank. By charging fees for their debit cards, neobanks can generate revenue to invest in these features and continue to improve their overall offering.
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Lastly, some neobanks may offer rewards or cashback programs for using their debit card. These programs can be costly for the neobank to maintain and fund, and charging a fee for the card can help offset these costs.
I am interested in knowing the age group that primarily uses Jupiter. My assumption is that it is the 20-30 age group. Jupiter’s zero balance account and free debit card features have been particularly appealing to younger customers. In fact, I have recommended Jupiter to several of my students and friends, many of whom have opened an account with Jupiter. Although they use it as a secondary account, they still take advantage of its reward and cashback programs. However, many of them cannot meet the criteria or requirements to have the fees waived, and some even go unnoticed.
Therefore, my suggestion is to waive the fees for students or a particular age group.
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At this point I have become accustomed to Jupiter and frankly don’t want to leave it. Charges or no charges, I love this product and I am happy with what it is.
Hopefully one day Jupiter becomes big enough to get its own banking license.
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Abdul, while the thought of waiving fees for students is noble, it will not go down too well with other category of users who are not able to meet the requirements for the fee waiver and are charged the fee.
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Neobanks are bleeding🔻
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one thing also to add here, there are lot of negatives around jupiter too go to any social media (twitter, youtube) you can see 100s of people complaining about account freezing by neo banks which decreases trust around jupiter or other neo banks. keeping hard earned sums needs jupiter to gain trust from users . cs is not that responsive when needed users are unable to access there funds for months things like these filled on social medias.
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That’s a valid point. It’s true that there have been several negative reports about neobanks, including Jupiter, regarding account freezing, which can lead to trust issues among users. It’s crucial for neobanks to prioritize the security of their customers’ funds while also ensuring that their processes for account verification and fraud prevention do not result in undue inconvenience for their customers.
It’s important for Jupiter to continue to improve its customer service and responsiveness to ensure that any issues are addressed in a timely and effective manner. In addition, Jupiter and other neobanks can also work to increase transparency around their account-freezing policies and procedures. By clearly communicating the steps they take to prevent fraud and protect customer funds, they can help to build trust among users.
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I find this article on account freeze in Neobanks very interesting, it’s about international Neobanks. Don’t know whether it’s similar case for Indian Neobanks or not but definitely gives a new perspective.
Why ‘account freezing’ is a bigger problem for neobanks compared to incumbents
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It does. It seems it is the chicken and the egg problem.
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in most cases banks calls customer after any big transaction happening on their account and ask them it’s source.
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In Jupiter’s case they seem to completing this step by triggering an email.
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but the process is lengthy and complicated if some gets stuck into this what happens to him or her
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Pratyay, what needs to be considered is the need to automate these processes as far as possible as manpower costs can be really high.
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But there are some things that only humans can do best there is no other way, even latest advanced AI is not capable of doing these things effectively up until now. I think this is such an issue which can only be handled by well trained manpower and it should be, as the end goal is convenient and transparent banking for the customers, if we are paying for services to traditional banks we can definitely pay for that here also. Only thing is what kind of customers a platform is acquiring and what value the customers are seeing. Convenience and safety in money related matters becomes a deal make or break issue.
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Second your point that AI may not be complete solution. It starts the process. I am sure, the responses sent are reviewed by human beings on the basis of an SOP that has been drawn up in consultation with the partner bank
Again, I would like to take a moment to kindly request everyone to please try to stay on thread topic. While conversations can take unexpected turns, respect the original purpose of the thread to keep the discussion focused.
Thanks 
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Really a poor decision to charge existing customers for virtual card even. At worst they should have waived off virtual card fee for existing customers till card expiry and then start charging after that. Also none of the banks I know are charging for a virtual card. This all comes after basically a promise that debit card will be free. Looks like Fi made a better business decision here. Existing customers will not leave them. I have a reminder set for Jan’24 and will close the account by then if these charges are not reversed. It just doesn’t make any business sense for Jupiter or for customers to charge for a virtual debit card.
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