“Source:- Livemint”
BENGALURU: Credit card-based loyalty platform Cred has launched a new lending product and recurring bill payment feature for paying rent and other household bills on its app.
Cred’s latest lending product— CRED Stash—will offer a low-interest instant credit line, through a pilot with IDFC First Bank. While its second feature named RentPay allows users to pay recurring household expenses and bills, and monthly rent payments using credit cards.
With the option of paying rent on credit, users can also earn reward points as well. Upon paying their credit card bill, members will also receive Cred coins to spend on products, services and experiences from Cred brand partners equivalent to the transaction value of rent.
On RentPay, users need to add their 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.
Other upcoming features include a feature to make other residential payments such as maintenance charges and security charges through credit card—which can then be financed with affordable EMIs on the Cred app. 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.
The mobile app’s latest lending product Cred Stash will offer an instant credit line of up to ₹5 lakhs to users at an interest rate at one-third of typical credit card interest charges. Cred says that it is able to offer lower interest since only users having a credit score of over 750 are allowed to become Cred members. On completion of the pilot, Cred Stash plans to scale up with multiple bank partners.
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 also select their preferred duration to pay back (no minimum tenure). Users will, however, have to complete a one-time KYC verification and set up auto-pay for payments from their bank account on a date of their choice.
“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,” said Kunal Shal, founder, and chief executive of CRED in a statement.