About YouBankingBuddy — India's Calm Comparison Desk Since 2020

Our story

It started with a spreadsheet and a bad loan

In 2020, our founders spent a weekend helping a relative in Pune untangle a home loan. The advertised rate was one number; the rate after processing fees, insurance cross-sell and a compulsory savings account was quite another. The only honest comparison anyone had was a spreadsheet built by hand, late at night, from twelve banks' published schedules.

That spreadsheet became YouBankingBuddy. We started with home loans, added savings accounts, then credit cards, deposits, personal and business loans, and finally the calculators that let a reader run the arithmetic themselves. Six years on, we list 42 banks and NBFCs and compare 47 credit cards, all from a small office in Greater Kailash, New Delhi.

What has not changed is the discipline: publish the number that actually applies, name the charge people miss, and never let a commission decide an order of results.

How we make money Talk to a buddy

In one paragraph

What we are, and are not

We are an independent comparison and information platform. We are not a bank, an NBFC, a broker, a SEBI-registered investment adviser or an IRDAI-licensed insurance intermediary. We do not lend, take deposits, issue cards, sell schemes or manage anyone's money. We compare, we explain, and we introduce you to the institution you choose — nothing more.

Illustrative only. The curve marks the growth of comparisons run through our tools from 2020 to 2026, not any financial return.

Why we exist

Our mission, and the three rules under it

To help every Indian household and small business choose a financial product with the same information a bank's own staff would have — for free, in plain language, and without a sales target attached.

The reader comes first

If a product is wrong for you, we say so, even when saying so earns us nothing. We would rather lose a referral than a reader's trust.

The number that actually applies

Not the headline rate, but the rate after fees, on your profile. We show the true cost, and we date every figure so you know how fresh it is.

Commission never sets the order

Our referral fee is flat across every partner on a given product. Ranking follows cost and suitability, and we refuse paid placement outright.

The awkward question, answered plainly

How we make money

We are free for you because our partner institutions pay us. When you compare a product, choose to proceed, and the bank or NBFC disburses that application, the lender pays YouBankingBuddy a flat referral fee — a commission. That is the whole business model, stated without euphemism.

Three things keep that commission from corrupting the comparison:

The fee is identical across every partner on a given product. A home loan referral pays us the same whether you pick a public sector bank or a private one, so we have nothing to gain by nudging you.
We do not accept payment for placement or ranking. If a lender offers to buy a higher position, we decline, and we will say so publicly.
We are paid only on disbursal, never on a click or an enquiry. We are not rewarded for volume of applications, so we have no reason to push you towards borrowing you do not need.

We also earn nothing from the calculators, the articles or the newsletter. Those exist to help you decide, including deciding against a product entirely.

The referral fee, in numbers

Flat & disclosed

Indicative structure. Fees are set by each partner and are the same for every reader choosing the same product.

Cost to youNil Paid byThe lender Paid whenOn disbursal Paid for placementNever

Referral-fee disclosure YouBankingBuddy is a comparison and lead-generation platform operated by Catalyst Web Trendz Pvt. Ltd. We may receive a flat referral fee from a partner bank, NBFC or issuer if an application routed through us is disbursed. This fee is the same across every partner on a given product and never affects the ranking, content or wording of any comparison. We do not accept payment for placement, and we are not a bank, an NBFC, a broker or an investment adviser. All rates and figures on this site are indicative and subject to change without notice.

How the numbers get here

Editorial and data-integrity policy

Every rate, fee and figure on this site is sourced, dated and reviewed on a fixed cycle by the research desk. Here is exactly how that works, and where we draw the lines.

Where the data comes from

Rates and charges are taken from each institution's own published schedules and Most Important Terms and Conditions, never from an aggregator we cannot verify.
Every figure carries a source date. When you read as on 21 Jul 2026, that is the day the desk last checked it.
Benchmark references — the RBI repo rate at 6.25%, the deposit-insurance cover of ₹5 lakh — trace to the regulator's own notifications.

How often we review it

Headline lending and deposit rates are reviewed at least once a fortnight, and immediately after an RBI policy announcement.
Product features, fees and eligibility criteria are audited every quarter, line by line, against the source document.
A reader flagging a stale figure triggers a same-week recheck. We would rather be corrected than wrong.

The wall between editorial and commercial

The research desk writes and ranks. It does not see, and is not told, what any partnership is worth.
No partner reviews, approves or edits our comparisons before publication. None has a veto.
Where we hold a commercial relationship with a listed institution, that relationship is disclosed and is identical to every other on the same product.

What we will not do

We will not promise a rate, an approval or a return. Those rest entirely with the lender or the market.
We will not display a real bank, regulator or card-network logo, or imply an affiliation we do not have.
We will not bury a charge, round a rate in our favour, or write a headline the fine print contradicts.

A note on accuracy We work hard to keep every figure current, but rates and terms change constantly and errors are possible. All information is indicative and subject to change without notice, and you should confirm the final terms with the institution before you act. Nothing on this site is financial, investment, tax or legal advice.

The research desk

The people who check the numbers

A small team of writers and analysts, several of whom have worked inside banks and NBFCs. We call them the research desk, and every figure on this site passes through them.

Meera Raghunathan Personal finance & rate movements

Tracks lending and deposit rates across the market and writes the fortnightly rate review. Formerly a retail-banking product manager.

Aditya Bhargava Lending & credit

Eleven years in lending, formerly a credit officer. Leads our loan and eligibility content and reviews every worked EMI example.

Sneha Kulkarni Investments & mutual funds

Explains SIPs, index funds and the NPS without the jargon, and insists every projection carries its market-risk caveat.

Rohit Menon Credit cards & payments

Models reward rates on real spending patterns and is the reason our net-value figures subtract the fee before they impress anyone.

Kavya Deshpande Insurance & tax

A chartered accountant who reads the exclusions so you do not have to, and flags the waiting periods brochures prefer to hide.

Vikram Salunke Banking policy & regulation

Reads RBI, SEBI and IRDAI notifications so our benchmark figures move the day the regulator does, not a month later.

The road so far

Six years, one principle

We have added products steadily and slowly, only once the research desk could stand behind every figure. Here is how the desk grew.

2020 — The comparison begins

YouBankingBuddy launches from New Delhi with a single product: an honest home-loan comparison across a handful of lenders, built on published schedules.

Founded

2021 — Savings, deposits and the first calculators

We add savings and current accounts, fixed and recurring deposits, and ship the EMI and interest calculators that run entirely in your browser.

Products widen

2022 — Credit cards, judged on net value

The credit-card comparison launches with a rule that still holds: model the reward on a real spend, then subtract the fee before calling anything a benefit.

Cards added

2023 — The eligibility checker

We publish the FOIR-based eligibility checker so a reader can see what they qualify for before a bank ever sees their name — with no credit-bureau pull.

Tools deepen

2024 — The Money Memo

Our weekly newsletter begins, landing every Wednesday at 8:00 AM IST. Rate moves, one product explained, and nothing sold.

Readership grows

2026 — 42 institutions, still independent

We now list 42 banks and NBFCs and compare 47 credit cards, having run more than 4,18,000 comparisons — and having never sold a placement.

Today

Who we compare

Our partner network

We compare products from public sector banks, private banks, small finance banks and NBFCs. The institutions below are among those on our shelves; the same flat referral terms apply to every one.

Rates sourced from published schedules of institutions such as Public sector banks Private banks Small finance banks NBFCs

Marks above are neutral authored glyphs, not any institution's logo. YouBankingBuddy is independent and has no regulatory affiliation with, or endorsement from, any bank, NBFC or regulator.

Public & private banks

State Bank of India
HDFC Bank · ICICI Bank · Axis Bank
Kotak Mahindra Bank · Yes Bank
Bank of Baroda · Punjab National Bank · Canara Bank

Digital-first & small finance

IDFC FIRST Bank
IndusInd Bank
Federal Bank
AU Small Finance Bank

Cards & NBFCs

SBI Card
Bajaj Finserv
… and other listed lenders, 42 in total
All on identical flat referral terms

Your data, handled carefully

Security and data-protection posture

We collect as little as possible, and what we do collect we protect. Our calculators never send your figures anywhere — they compute on your device and store nothing.

Encrypted in transit

Every page is served over HTTPS. Any detail you send through a form travels encrypted to our server and no further than the institution you choose.

Calculators stay on your device

The EMI, SIP, interest and eligibility tools run entirely in your browser. Your income, loan amount and figures are never uploaded or logged.

Shared only with your choice

Enquiry details go only to the institution you ask us to introduce you to. We do not sell contact lists, and we run no advertising trackers.

Data minimisation by default

We never ask for a PAN, OTP or document to compare. We collect only what an introduction genuinely needs, and you can ask us to delete it.

Full details of what we collect, why, and your rights are set out in our Privacy Policy. We never store the numbers you type into a calculator.

By the numbers

Who we have helped, and by how much

Figures cover 1 April 2020 to 30 June 2026 and are reviewed each quarter by the research desk. None represents money lent or disbursed by us — we do not lend.

4,18,000+ Comparisons run Across all nine calculators

42 Banks & NBFCs listed Public, private and small finance

₹1,240 Cr Loan value compared Cumulative, not disbursed by us

4.7/5 Average buddy rating From 6,842 post-call surveys

In readers' words

Why people trust the desk

We are proudest of the calls that end with us telling someone not to borrow. Here is what a few readers said afterwards.

They compared four home loans for me and then pointed out that a balance transfer would save more than any of them. No pressure to apply through anyone. That is rare.

Ananya KrishnanBengaluru

I was about to take a personal loan for a wedding. The buddy walked me through the real cost and I decided to wait six months and save instead. They talked me out of a sale.

Devendra PatilPune

The FD rate table saved me a trip to three branches. Everything was dated, the senior-citizen premium was spelt out, and the TDS note meant no surprises at maturity.

Farhan SheikhHyderabad

Have a decision to make? Bring us the numbers.

A buddy from the research desk will talk it through with you, free and without a sales target. We will happily tell you the product you are eyeing is the wrong one. Monday to Friday, 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM IST.

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Free · No obligation · We are not a bank, an NBFC or an adviser

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Important disclaimer YouBankingBuddy is an independent comparison and lead-generation platform operated by Catalyst Web Trendz Pvt. Ltd. We are not a bank, an NBFC, a broker, a SEBI-registered investment adviser or an IRDAI-licensed insurance intermediary. We do not lend, take deposits, issue cards, sell schemes or provide financial, investment, tax or legal advice. All rates and figures on this site are indicative, subject to change without notice, and rest on the lender's or issuer's approval. We may receive a flat referral fee from a partner institution if an application is disbursed; this fee is identical across every partner on a given product and never affects the ranking or content of any comparison. Mutual fund investments are subject to market risk; read all scheme-related documents carefully. Jurisdiction: New Delhi.

A comparison desk that answers to readers, not to lenders