Can Revolut make a case for neobanking in India?

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Editor's note: Banking in India is a cutthroat market, with well-entrenched incumbents. New York-headquartered Citibank just last month announced it will be exiting its consumer banking business here after more than three decades of operations. A week later, South Africa’s second-largest bank, FirstRand Bank, told its employees in India that it would also be pulling out, according to The Economic Times. That hasn’t stopped a slew of fintech startups from launching as neobanks—a somewhat nebulous term referring to banking led by digital operations. And now, they’re joined by one of the biggest neobanks in the world, Revolut, which announced that it was setting up a team in India two weeks ago. The UK-based company has hired former Lendingkart chief business officer Paroma Chatterjee as its India CEO. The move, founder Nikolay Storonsky said in media interviews, was the start of Revolut’s planned expansion across markets in the Asia-Pacific and Latin America. The announcement has sparked interest across the industry. Revolut, reportedly in talks to raise fresh capital at a valuation of $10 billion to fund its growth spree, will likely spend heavily …