Abound, the financial super-app for Indians abroad developed by The Times of India Group, has revealed plans to build an AI-powered ‘Financial Autopilot’ in collaboration with NEAR AI. This next-generation capability is designed to help Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) seamlessly automate, manage, and grow their financial lives across borders.
Developed in partnership with NEAR AI—an initiative focused on building confidential and verifiable AI infrastructure—the Autopilot system is being positioned as a sophisticated, AI-driven agent. Rather than simply facilitating transactions, the system is designed to proactively monitor foreign exchange rates, bank balances, bills, and investments, subsequently executing optimal actions behind the scenes based on user-defined goals.
Moving from recommendationsto execution
Currently serving over 800,000 NRIs and processing more than $300million in remittance volume, Abound is leveraging AI to expand its services into a comprehensive cross-border ecosystem.
Once launched, the AI Financial Autopilot is expected to introduce several powerful features tailored for cross-border users:
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Smart Remittances: Automatically executing money transfers when exchange rates hit user-defined targets.
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India Banking and Investment Management: Actively monitoring Non-Resident External (NRE) and Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) accounts, identifying better returns, and managing fixed deposits.
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Autonomous Bill Payments: Learning and automatically handling recurring financial obligations such as EMIs, utility bills, and school fees.
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Unified Net Worth View: Providing users with a consolidated, real-time snapshot of their assets across multiple geographies.
Nishkaam Mehta, CEO of Abound by The Times of India
Nishkaam Mehta, CEO of Abound by The Times of India, emphasized that the future of finance lies in automated outcomes rather than simply offering better dashboards.
“For millions of NRIs, managing finances in India is fragmented and time-consuming,” Mehta explained. “With our AI Financial Autopilot, built in partnership with NEAR AI, we are building toward a world where users can simply set their goals, and their financial life runs itself. Our goal is simple: to become the default financial operating system for Indians globally, replacing faster transactions with smarter systems that work for you.”
Sunit Agarwal, product lead at Abound, echoed this sentiment, noting the significant operational shift. “We are building a system that does not just inform users, but actually acts on their behalf, whether that is optimizing a remittance, managing an investment, or taking care of routine financial tasks.”
Building on a secure intelligence layer
To execute these automated actions safely, Abound is developing the system with security and user trust as foundational priorities. The platform will incorporate strong safeguards for sensitive financial data, require clear user approvals for critical actions, and provide transparent visibility into all AI-driven activities.
The partnership with NEAR AI is critical to delivering this secure infrastructure. George Zeng, chief product officer and general manager of NEAR AI, highlighted the importance of a reliable intelligence layer for the next generation of financial automation.
“Our partnership with Abound is a commitment to powering this vision, moving cross-border finance beyond simple transactions toward smarter, goal-driven systems that deliver genuine outcomes for millions of Indians around the world,” Zeng stated. “We are proud to combine our expertise in secure, reliable AI with Abound’s deep understanding of NRI financial needs.”
The rollout of the AI Financial Autopilot will proceed in a phased approach, prioritizing intelligent remittance optimization before integrating deeper into banking, investments, and bill payments.
