Swadesh

Active

We setup Immigrants with a free US Bank Account, Credit Card, SIM…

Summer 2019Founded 201910 peopleNew York, NY, USA; New Delhi, DL, India

www.swadesh.co ↗LinkedIn ↗X ↗See on the Idea Map Fintech momentum

About

We offer a free US FDIC Insured Checking account, Free Credit Card (no interest rate, collateral, fees), Free AT&T SIM Card shipped to home with 40%+ cheaper plans than retail, and save thousands of dollars in remittances to our customers - all by opening a free Swadesh Account. We enable new to America expats become "American" in the eyes of the US Financial system. We're starting by serving the 150,000+ Indian expats migrating to the US each year. We have a comprehensive solution that covers banking, credit building, communication, remittance, as well as value-add services such as insurance, housing etc. along with all the standard bells and whistles of neobanks.

From their website

as of Jun 7, 2026www.swadesh.co ↗

Fintech

Swadesh is a fintech neobank offering an FDIC-insured US bank account, a US debit card, SIM cards delivered to India, and affordable international remittance. The service targets Indian students and immigrants moving to the US, aiming to simplify banking, credit building, and connectivity before and after arrival.

Swadesh provides: 1) US checking accounts opened from India in under 5 minutes with no annual fees or minimum balance, onboardable with a passport or visa; 2) a US debit/credit experience via a Swadesh-issued card with no security deposit required for credit-building; 3) an affordable remittance service to send money abroad with favorable exchange rates; 4) a SIM card delivered to India (AT&T/T-Mobile) to stay connected before/after arrival; 5) FDIC-insured funds up to $250,000 and personalised 24/7 support.

Who it’s for: Indian students and immigrants moving to the United States

Features

US checking account opened from India
No annual fees or minimum balance
Build credit score without security deposit
FDIC insured up to $250,000
US SIM card delivered to India
Affordable international remittance
Debit card and virtual card access

Y Combinator-backed; mentions funding/investor association

Founders · 2

Prateek SwainFounder

Microsoft

Princeton🎓 Princeton University

Building the US Bank for the Indian diaspora at Swadesh. Previously worked at Microsoft, Reactive Robotics, and Westbridge Capital. Started HackIndia (India's largest hackathon) and MakeVenturesPrinceton (Princeton's first student run incubator). Princeton University Computer Science '19.

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