CRED announces 18-carat gold credit card with IndusInd Bank and RuPay

Kunal Shah-led CRED rolled out Sovereign, an invite-only society for India’s elite, on September 15, featuring an 18-karat gold credit card with guilloché engraving.

The Bengaluru-based fintech player also launched the CRED IndusInd Bank RuPay Credit Card.

Details about CRED's new card

This lifestyle-focused card offers users 5% rewards on all e-commerce transactions and 1% on offline and UPI spends via CRED Scan and Pay.

The card allows redemption across more than 500 CRED Pay merchants, 2,000 products on CRED Store, flights (powered by the ixigo platform), and over 8 lakh hotels (by Expedia) bookings.

Each reward point earned is equal to one rupee, with instant application at checkout.

As only banks can issue credit cards, CRED has partnered with  IndusInd Bank.

The card comes with zero joining fees and a two-minute digital onboarding process. 

Kunal Shah’s fintech firm will handle the marketing and sales in a typical co-branded card partnership.

At the launch, CRED founder Kunal Shah said at the press conference: “We found that the gap was the gap of freedom. All the cards were going in the direction of saying, ‘Work with this merchant, work with that merchant.’ But consumers want freedom. This card is about rewards that follow taste, not terms.”

Most other e-commerce and payment firms also have co-branded cards from Amazon, Flipkart, Swiggy, PhonePe, and Paytm, among others.

Shah added that 60-65 per cent of all spending on cards is already moving to e-commerce, up from 25-30 per cent just a few years ago. 

“The new generation of creditworthy customers wants to explore a wide range of brands, not be tied to a few forced loyalties,” he said.

According to IndusInd Bank, it is well-positioned to capture India’s fast-growing segment of affluent and digitally savvy consumers.

Soumitra Sen, country head of consumer banking and marketing at IndusInd Bank, said, "When there are large transactions, we always use our cards... At least for IndusInd, I can tell you it's one of our key strengths, not only from a revenue perspective but also for brand building."

“Take a good look because you will probably not see it,” Shah said. “Most people will not get it.”

Also read: Swiggy rolls out standalone app Toing, with affordable meals under ₹150; first offering in Pune (startuppedia.in)