According to TechCrunch, Sequoia-backed fintech Aspora is launching bill payments for the Indian diaspora, letting NRIs pay utility bills and mobile recharges directly without transferring money to Indian accounts. The startup has integrated with India’s Bharat Bill Payment System through Yes Bank, enabling payments to over 22,000 billers including BSES, BESCOM, Jio, and Airtel. Aspora isn’t charging any fees for these payments and offers competitive exchange rates paid in foreign currency. The feature has been tested with thousands of users and is now available in the UK, with US and UAE launches coming soon. Aspora recently raised $50 million in Series B funding at a $500 million valuation and has reached 800,000 customers who’ve processed $4 billion in transactions while saving $25 million in fees.
Solving the bill payment headache
Here’s the thing about being an NRI – you’re constantly juggling financial responsibilities across borders. Until now, paying your family’s electricity bill or keeping their phone topped up meant either wiring money and hoping someone handles it, or using foreign cards with ridiculous fees and frequent failures. Aspora’s basically cutting out all that friction. Founder Parth Garg told TechCrunch this solves a “large-scale problem at the tap of a button,” and honestly, that’s not just marketing speak. For millions of Indians overseas, this is a genuine quality-of-life improvement.
The stickiness strategy
Now here’s where it gets interesting from a business perspective. Garg admits bill payments might reduce remittance volumes by 4-5%, but he’s playing the long game. Remittances are typically once-or-twice-a-month transactions. But bills? People pay those constantly. Mobile recharges alone could have users opening the Aspora app weekly or even daily. That’s what he means by “increasing velocity” – turning occasional users into daily engaged customers. And in fintech, engagement is everything.
The partnership play
What’s clever about Aspora’s approach is how they’re handling the gaps in BBPS coverage. The Bharat Bill Payment System doesn’t support mobile recharges for foreign payers, so they’ve partnered with Ding, an international mobile recharge company. That shows they’re thinking comprehensively rather than just checking boxes. They’re building a complete solution, not just a partial one. And with plans to launch NRE and NRO accounts next year, they’re clearly building toward becoming the primary financial platform for NRIs, not just a remittance tool.
Big market, bigger ambitions
Let’s talk about the opportunity here. The US alone accounts for nearly 28% of India’s inward remittances according to the Reserve Bank of India. That’s massive. And Aspora just expanded to the US market in July. So they’re going after the biggest piece of the pie with a more comprehensive offering than pure remittance players. At 800,000 customers and $4 billion in transaction volume, they’re already substantial. But if they can become the go-to app for everything financial that NRIs need to handle back home? That’s a much bigger story than just moving money.
