CRED, a high-trust community of creditworthy individuals, merchants and institutions, has reimagined the CRED experience with the introduction of two new products aimed at increasing financial confidence for creditworthy individuals. CRED RentPay allows members to pay their highest recurring household expense, their monthly rent payments, on credit. The second product, CRED Stash, a flexible, low-interest and instant credit line, has been launched as a pilot with IDFC FIRST Bank, and is the only offering of its kind in India.
CRED RentPay – monthly rent payments on credit card
CRED RentPay allows members to pay monthly rent with their credit cards, directly from the CRED app. With the option of paying rent on credit, members can free up cash, enjoy the interest-free credit period, and earn reward points on credit card spends. Upon paying their credit card bill, members will also receive CRED coins to spend on products, services and experiences from CRED partners equivalent to the transaction value of rent.
CRED RentPay is intuitive, easy to use and transparent, empowering members with more choices on paying their rent. Members need to simply add the landlord’s bank account or UPI details and instantly transfer the rent from their credit card, directly on the CRED app. Over time, CRED will enable members to set up auto-pay for timely payments. Upcoming features include the ability to make other landlord payments such as maintenance charges and security charges through credit card, that can then be financed with affordable EMIs. CRED RentPay can be availed at a small transaction fee that will range from 1% to 1.5% depending on the member’s credit card network.
CRED RentPay benefits the broader financial services ecosystem by moving the single biggest monthly expense item in a household to the credit card, expanding utilization among a high-trust, affluent community. With their high ticket size, recurring nature and predictability, rent payments are an ideal line item to move to credit in a low-risk manner.
CRED Stash – instant credit in three steps
CRED Stash, which is being piloted with IDFC FIRST Bank, is designed to be the fastest, most seamless and fully digital way to get credit in India, without the tedious application and verification processes typically associated with loans and at an interest rate at one-third of typical credit card interest charges. This is possible only on CRED because of its trustworthy member base, all of whom have credit scores over 750. On completion of the pilot, CRED Stash will scale up with multiple bank partners.
With CRED Stash, members will be progressively pre-approved for an active credit line of up to Rs 5,00,000 with no forms, documents, phone calls or physical visits. In three steps, CRED members can draw down any amount from their available limit at any hour of the day, and instantly receive the selected amount in their bank accounts. They can select their preferred duration to pay back (no minimum tenure). The bank will charge interest only on the amount withdrawn, at a third of the interest rates charged on credit card usage, helping members stretch their stash. The CRED Stash depends on members’ credit scores, credit card limits and previous card repayment, with the pilot rolled out to a limited group first.
New design experience
In addition to CRED Stash and CRED RentPay, CRED members will have a new design experience, based on neumorphic design principles and a brand-new design system developed by CRED. This system explores the possibilities of design, product and engineering working together to create fun, immersive product experiences. With neumorphism gaining traction in the design community, CRED is the first major app around the world to apply its principles.
Kunal Shah, Founder and CEO, CRED, said, “High-trust communities result in high-performance societies because the reduced risk allows institutions to offer a wide range of products and services with less friction and greater convenience. That’s why CRED is able to offer powerful and customized products in partnership with several institutions for our creditworthy members. With the intent of enabling members to maintain their good credit track record and increase confidence at a time of economic uncertainty, we have fast-tracked the launch of two products with the support of banking partners, including IDFC FIRST Bank. CRED Stash and CRED RentPay are particularly useful in optimizing cash and credit, which is critical in the current environment.”