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Cred (company)

Cred Office Bengaluru
Cred Office Bengaluru Image: Wikimedia Commons. Soumendra Kumar Sahoo / CC BY-SA 4.0

Overview

Cred is an Indian financial services and consumer technology company headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka. It operates a members-only mobile platform that began as a credit card bill payment service and has since expanded into adjacent financial products, including credit-based lending, payments, and rewards. The company is owned and operated by Dreamplug Technologies Private Limited.

Key facts

Type Private company
Industry Financial services, fintech
Founder Kunal Shah
Founded 2018
Headquarters Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Legal entity Dreamplug Technologies Private Limited
Country India

Background

Cred was founded in 2018 by Kunal Shah, an Indian entrepreneur previously known for co-founding the payments company Freecharge, which was acquired by Snapdeal in 2015. Cred was launched with a focus on serving credit card holders in India, positioning itself as a curated platform that admits members based on credit score thresholds.

The platform's initial proposition was to allow users to pay credit card bills through the app while earning reward points, branded as "CRED coins", which could be redeemed against offers from partner brands. Over time, the company added a marketplace for products and experiences targeted at higher-income consumers.

Products and services

  • Credit card bill payments: The original service, allowing members to consolidate and pay multiple credit card bills.
  • Cred Pay: A checkout payments product integrated with merchants.
  • Cred Mint: A peer-to-peer lending product offered in partnership with non-banking financial companies.
  • Cred Cash: A short-term personal credit line for eligible members.
  • Cred Store: A curated commerce section featuring partner brands.
  • UPI payments: Support for Unified Payments Interface transactions, including bill payments and merchant payments.

Timeline

  • 2018: Cred is founded by Kunal Shah; Dreamplug Technologies is incorporated as the operating entity.
  • 2019: Public launch of the credit card bill payment platform.
  • 2020: Expansion into rent payments and additional reward partnerships.
  • 2021: Introduction of lending products in partnership with regulated lenders, and integration with UPI.
  • 2022 onwards: Continued expansion of payments, commerce, and credit-related offerings.

Marketing and public profile

Cred became widely recognised in India for its advertising campaigns, particularly during the Indian Premier League (IPL), where the company was an associate sponsor. Its commercials, often featuring well-known public figures and former cricketers in self-deprecating roles, drew significant public attention and contributed to broad consumer awareness of the brand.

Significance

Cred is among the prominent consumer-facing fintech companies to emerge from India's start-up ecosystem in the late 2010s. It is frequently cited in discussions of India's digital lending and payments landscape, and as an example of a platform targeting affluent and credit-active consumers rather than the broader mass market that characterises much of Indian fintech.

References