#StartupsVsCovid19: CRED To Source 1 Bn Litre Oxygen, Allows Users To Donate Coins To Mobilise Efforts

As India is struggling to keep up with oxygen and healthcare demand amid the rising Covid cases in the country, several startups and investors have come forward to contribute to the aid efforts. Kunal Shah-led fintech and ecommerce platform CRED too has come up with one such initiative, by allowing its customers to donate CRED coins to help send oxygen for those in need.

The company, in partnership with crowdfunding platform Milaap, announced the initiative today (April 26), where every 10,000 CRED Coins will go towards sending 1,000 litre of oxygen to hospitals. It is important to note that CRED coins are vanity points, earned as reward by CRED users for paying their credit card bills on time. Each of these coins represent every rupee in credit card bills that the customers pay using the app.

The latest campaign follows a similar cause that CRED launched last year during the first wave of Covid-19, where members could contribute these reward coins to donate over 300K masks for front line members.

You Can Contribute More Here

In the current fundraise, every member who donates will receive a certificate confirming their contribution from Milaap. Starting May 3, the companies will also share daily updates until the deployment of the funds is complete.

The company is also open to innovative suggestions to help make hospitals self-sufficient or convert other containers to transport oxygen. People with innovative ideas can write to the company at [email protected].

Pls help contribute here:https://t.co/TaLzCQyhrx pic.twitter.com/gHCm6oaNag

— Kunal Shah (@kunalb11) April 26, 2021

“This is a difficult time for our partner ecosystem as well. To help them tide past this period, make payroll, the CRED Partner Fund will disburse advances against future procurement to eligible partners. Write to [email protected] to avail this support… It’s easy to say stay strong, much harder to do so. But when we come together as a collective force, we can emerge from this crisis. Do all that you can – as little as it may be, our efforts can make it easier on each other,” Shah said, in a series of tweets.

Till last year, CRED Coins could be used to enter into giveaways and for other rewards, before CRED opened up its platform for third-party websites in December 2020. CRED forged partnerships with several brands to allow customers to buy products on other ecommerce platforms, using CRED Coins, at a discount. Some of the company’s partners include BigBasket, Dineout, ixigo, Vahdam Teas, The Man Company, Epigamia and Man Matters among others. The company claimed that these merchants experienced larger basket sizes and improved customer satisfaction.