Uphold, a cloud based financial services platform, has announced partnerships with two major banks in India, in order to bring the benefits of cloud money, including free foreign exchange and almost instant access to funds, to the world's largest remittance-receiving country.

“We are excited to announce two monumental banking partners IDFC Bank and YES BANK allow Uphold to bring a more affordable, accessible and innovative solution to the 1.2 billion people of India who rely on money transfers as part of their daily financial lives”, said Jayaraj Mehta, Executive Director at Uphold, in a blog post.

With its partnership with IDFC Bank and YES BANK, Uphold will enable the $72 billion annual market to leverage free, instant currency exchange and money transfers. Mehta said that by opening its services to the India Uphold is taking a major step towards its mission to bring the 2.5 billion underbanked accessible and affordable financial service solutions for fast, free, and easy movement of money.

“YES BANK is proud to partner with Uphold to bring affordable, accessible and innovative solutions for transferring money from 174 countries into India. This proposition will provide great convenience to Uphold’s customers by sending money instantly at any time in a safe and secure environment and is a reinforcement of YES BANK’s commitment to providing a superior banking experience through innovation and digital technologies,” said Arun Agrawal, Group President – International Banking and MNC Relationship Management at YES BANK.

Uphold members can fund their account via bitcoin, bank transfer (EU, U.S. and China), debit or credit card, then instantly transfer the preferred amount into an Uphold Rupee card instantly and with no conversion fee. When ready to withdraw, members provide specific bank account information and the funds will be deposited and available the same or next day.

“We believe the benefits of today’s digital money ecosystem should be available to just about everyone, across geographies and customer segments. Our partnership with Uphold will help us achieve that. It enables customers of IDFC Bank, as well as non-customers, to receive funds in a secure and simple manner”, said Dr. Rajiv Lall, Founder MD & CEO, IDFC Bank.

The programs with IDFC Bank and YES BANK will go live across India in Q2 2016. Available now, any Uphold member can instantly convert any currency, in any amount of value into Indian Rupee for free.

“Now, Uphold creates a safe, easy and more affordable way to send money to anyone in India, from any device, knowing it is redeemable through any bank”, said Anthony Watson, President and CEO of Uphold.