Rupeeflo is targeting a reduction in NRI account opening time from about 60 days to 24 hours. The digital onboarding effort covers bank, demat and trading accounts used by Non-Resident Indians investing in India.
The company says the faster process could address paperwork and verification delays that cause applicants to abandon plans to invest in Indian stocks or deposits.
Rupeeflo targets faster NRI account opening
Zerodha founder and CEO Nithin Kamath described NRI onboarding as “a pain,” saying attractive financial products can lose their appeal when account activation takes weeks. He said investment opportunities may pass while applicants are still completing paperwork.
Kamath also referred to FCNR deposits, saying the Reserve Bank of India is effectively bearing the currency hedging cost under the scheme he discussed. That structure can allow NRIs to seek fixed deposit-like returns while keeping savings in U.S. dollars and limiting exposure to rupee exchange-rate movements.
Manual checks and paperwork create delays
Rupeeflo founder Dharmendra Maurya said the existing process is fragmented across banks, brokers, local authorities and, in some cases, chartered accountants. Documentation and verification standards may differ among institutions.
Applicants can be required to submit physical forms with wet signatures and courier them to India. Some documents may also need notarization or consular attestation. Signature mismatches, incomplete forms and limited visibility into an application’s status can result in rejection or resubmission.
Maurya estimates that 60% to 75% of prospective customers abandon the onboarding process as their investment intent fades.
One digital process for bank, demat and trading accounts
Rainmatter-backed Rupeeflo has partnered with several banks to build a single digital process for NRI bank, demat and trading accounts. Its goal is to cut onboarding from about two months to 24 hours.
The initiative could test whether faster account activation leads more overseas Indians to invest in India. Success would also give banks and brokers a more efficient way to serve the global Indian diaspora.
