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Neobank census finds 368 live operators, with only 127 holding full banking licenses
Report says two-thirds of neobanks lack full banking licenses, with AI in production at just 18%
Neobanks
2026-07-28 11:55:14

368 neobanks, 1.46 billion users, and the hidden failure risk under the surface

Francesco Andreoli, head of developer relations at Consensys and MetaMask, says he verified 368 neobanks still operating as of July 2026 after spending six months tracking the sector. His dataset, published on neobankbeat.com, points to an industry with roughly 1.46 billion reported users, but also one with deep structural fragility. Asia accounts for 817 million of those users, with WeBank alone serving more than 400 million. Nubank has 131 million customers, while Revolut has more than 50 million. Andreoli also breaks the market into 254 traditional challenger banks, 58 fiat-crypto hybrid apps, and 56 web3-native apps, supported by 106 infrastructure providers and backed by 219 investors. The striking number in his analysis is not just the size of the sector, but how much of it sits on rented infrastructure. Of the 368 companies, only 127 hold full banking licenses. The rest depend on sponsor banks, e-money licenses, or card issuers. Andreoli points to WaveCrest in 2018, Wirecard in 2020, Synapse in 2024, and Ready in 2026 as reminders that when the infrastructure layer breaks, customers often face frozen funds and bankruptcy queues rather than direct deposit insurance protection. He also reviewed AI claims across the sector and found that only 67 companies, or 18%, had evidence in financial filings, regulatory disclosures, or live production deployments. In his view, the most effective AI lenders are often in emerging markets such as Nigeria, the Philippines, Mexico, and Bangladesh, where underwriting models fill gaps left by weak credit systems.

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368 neobanks, 1.46 billion users, and the hidden failure risk under the surface