Bank of America to Buy Up to 49.9% of Jio Credit for Roughly $1.9 Billion

Bank of America is buying into India's fastest-growing lending shop. On Wednesday, Jio Financial Services Limited and Bank of America Corporation signed a definitive agreement giving BofA the right to acquire up to 49.9% of Jio Credit Limited, the digital lending arm of Mukesh Ambani's financial services empire, according to a joint statement carried by PR Newswire.

BofA will invest up to ₹18,268 crore, roughly $1.9 billion, through a preferential allotment of equity shares and warrants, according to the companies' statement and confirmed by Livemint, The Hindu, and Morningstar's Dow Jones Newswires report.

Per Livemint's reporting on the regulatory filing, NB Holdings, a Bank of America subsidiary, will first subscribe to 4.29 crore equity shares for cash worth up to ₹6,613 crore, about $770 million, buying a 26.5% stake in Jio Credit. It will then subscribe to 7.56 crore warrants worth ₹11,655 crore. Each warrant converts into one equity share within 18 months. If BofA exercises all of them, its stake climbs from 26.5% to 49.9%.

This is not a controlling stake, and it is not meant to be. Jio Credit's existing management team stays in charge of day-to-day strategy and operations, and the company will keep being consolidated as a subsidiary in JFSL's financial reporting, according to the joint announcement. The board will simply get equal representation from both JFSL and BofA.

Jio Credit is young but growing fast. Launched roughly two years ago, the NBFC (non-bank financial company) had built assets under management of ₹30,667 crore, about $3.2 billion, as of June 30, 2026, according to the companies' statement. That represents real scale in a short window, and it explains why BofA is willing to write a nine-figure check for a minority position rather than starting from scratch.

Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, framed the deal in nation-building terms. "Our country's progress toward becoming Viksit Bharat by 2047 demands a financial ecosystem built on scale, trust, and inclusivity," he said, according to the joint statement, adding that the goal is "the democratization of responsible credit" with lower costs and expanding access to capital.

Brian Moynihan, BofA's chair and CEO, put it in more corporate terms. "India is one of the world's most important growth markets, and this investment reflects our confidence in its future," he told Dow Jones Newswires, per Morningstar. In a separate quote carried by The Hindu, Moynihan said BofA can help "expand access to financial services and support India's continued economic growth" by combining Jio's local reach with the bank's "close to 250 years of leadership in banking."

This is not yet a done deal. Every outlet covering the story—Livemint, The Hindu, Morningstar, and the companies' own release—flags that the transaction remains subject to regulatory and statutory approvals. India's central bank and market regulators will need to review a foreign bank taking a near-half stake in a fast-growing domestic NBFC, and that process takes time.

The strategic logic on BofA's side is straightforward. India is growing at roughly double the global rate, according to the joint press release, and Wall Street banks have limited organic footholds in Indian retail and small-business lending. Buying into an operator that already has $3.2 billion in loans out the door, with Reliance's brand and distribution behind it, is a faster path than building a licensed lender from zero.

The skeptical read is equally clear. Reliance Industries and its affiliates have a track record of using joint ventures to bring in deep-pocketed foreign partners, extract capital and credibility, while keeping operational control firmly in Ambani family hands. This deal follows exactly that structure, where BofA gets board seats and equity upside but Jio Credit's existing managers keep running the show. That is not evidence of anything improper. It is simply the deal as written, and it is worth watching whether BofA's warrant exercise actually happens on the 18-month timeline or gets renegotiated.

What is not moving is BofA's control. Even at the maximum 49.9%, Jio Financial Services keeps the majority stake and the operational reins. The open question is how fast India's regulators move on approval, and whether Jio Credit's loan book, built in two years, holds up under BofA's risk-management standards once the bank's people are actually sitting on the board reviewing it.