With CRED now a certified customer operating unit (COU) on the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS), credit card holders will be able to settle their bills instantly on the platform
The RBI had previously mandated that all credit card bill payments via third party applications such as CRED, PhonePe, Amazon Pay and Paytm be routed through BBPS, effective July 1
In addition, the Kunal Shah-led company has launched a new offering called CRED Guarantee that will allow users to make repayment of credit card outstanding amounts on time
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Credit card holders can now settle their bills on CRED instantly, with the fintech unicorn now officially recognised as customer operating unit (COU) on the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS).
Managed by the National Payments Corporation of India, BBPS is an interoperable and integrated bill payment infrastructure that enables customers to make recurring online bill payments.
In a statement, the company said that CRED users will get access to all billers that have integrated with the BBPS platform and can continue availing rewards while making credit card bill payments.
This comes days after the Reserve Bank of India mandated that all credit card bill payments via third party applications such as CRED, PhonePe, Amazon Pay and Paytm be routed through BBPS. The move was aimed at centralising the bill payment process and ensuring enhanced security.
In addition, the Kunal Shah-led company has launched a new offering called CRED Guarantee that will allow users to make repayment of credit card outstanding amounts on time. CRED has vowed that it will bear late fees charged as long as users have cleared their dues in full on the platform before the due date.
“With the COU certification, we can settle payments on time, every time, and guarantee its settlement. Digital Public Infrastructure – such as UPI, account aggregator, and BBPS – has been a platform for fintech innovation and I look forward to empowering CRED members with more products to progress in their financial journey,” said Kunal Shah, founder of CRED.
It is pertinent to note that CRED cornered more than INR 15,000 Cr of credit card bill payments on BBPS in July. The COU certification will help CRED partner with large billers and banks that have joined the BBPS channel.
CRED claims that more than 14 Mn members have settled credit card dues exceeding INR 13.2 Lakh Cr on the platform, of which 4 Mn saw their credit score improve due to timely payments under 12 months. Over the last year, CRED members have avoided over INR 981 Cr in late fees, it claimed.
Founded in 2018 by Kunal Shah, CRED started as a credit card payment platform but has since diversified its offerings and has forayed into several other fintech services.
Over the past year or so, CRED has launched multiple new offerings like vehicle management platform CRED garage, curated travel platform CRED escapes, buy now pay later (BNPL) product Flash, tap to pay offering for retail payments, and a scan & pay feature for UPI payments.
In April, CRED secured an in-principle approval from the RBI for its payment aggregator licence application. Recently, the company also rolled out an offering that allows users to manage their bank accounts and track expenses.
Earlier this month, CRED teamed up with non-banking financial company (NBFC) L&T Finance to offer unsecured personal loans to customers.
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