Potential features in a credit card management app like CRED

This is a short analysis on the possible features that a credit card management app like CRED can provide. All the points are written by taking CRED app as an example, but this may apply to other similar apps.

Enhancement of basic free app

1, Quick pay from app home screen

• Show a collapsed version of all cards on the cards slab on the app home screen
• Provide an option to pay total due or custom amount below each card
• Current one click payment actually takes a 4–5 clicks for paying a custom amount

2, Frequently used rewards slab

• Add a slab on the home screen with icons of rewards categories that are used more frequently, potentially daily
• This includes transportation, restaurants, coffee shops, beer, coworking, gym etc.
• Currently a user will have to search through the full list of rewards that also includes low frequency purchases like clothing, cosmetics, etc.

3, Wishlist or ‘I want this reward’ request

• Option for customers to request for deals from recognised brands.
• User can upload a screenshot or type in the details of the brand and needed deal
• Example : Use CRED coins to read a single paywalled article at ‘The Economist’ instead of taking a full annual subscription.

CRED Silver (1$ per month)

1, CRED auto suggest

• CRED app maintains info on all credit cards owned by a user
• CRED can auto suggest to user the best card and deal for each transaction
• For online transactions, this can be a plugin that highlights the best deal from among the 5 to 10 bank offers provided by an ecommerce company
• For offline transactions, user can input the type of purchase or shop and CRED can provide a suggestion for max rewards

2, Lifestyle chatbot

• Current method of manual search is cumbersome beyond a number of brands and may not scale beyond a 100–200 brands
• Also users may not be aware of a new deal that is relevant to them unless they visit the app
• Instead a CRED chatbot that asks details about a user like age, family members, typical travel mode, upcoming birthdays in family, etc
• This bot will auto suggest to each user the best deals based on their lifestyle
• The suggestions will be made to each user at relevant times like monthly purchases, daily uses, birthday, anniversary, etc

3, CRED P2P pool

• A P2P lending platform among CRED users
• Aim is to keep default rates to almost zero by setting max borrowing limit for a user based on her/his credit score and spending details
• Use case 1 — Rental advance : Allow a user to borrow rental advance amount from the platform and repay as monthly instalments
• Use case 2 — Fixed credit period : Currently if a user makes a large transaction using a credit card towards the end of a billing cycle, then effective credit period for that transaction is just 20 days. So CRED will provide a fixed credit period of minimum 50 days for any transaction of a user in return of a monthly fee of 2%. CRED P2P will fund the transaction and the bank will be billed during next billing cycle

CRED Gold (5$ per month)

1, Credit card selector

• CRED engine analyses spending patterns of a user and recommends the ideal credit cards & credit limits for a user
• Option to do a quick apply for new cards or to make credit limit change request for existing cards from within the CRED app
• Suggests which cards are redundant and can be cancelled and give option for cancel request
• Example : If a user travels a lot by air, then recommend a card with discounts and cashbacks from an airline like ‘Axis Bank Vistara Card’

2, Card hub for instant digital credit card launches

• Current process of getting a new credit card includes online application, documents submission for KYC, approval , etc , which will take a few weeks
• Replace this with instant digital launches
• CRED analyses each user’s credit worthiness, KYC details and keeps a pre-approved profile
• Banks can programatically get the details from CRED and based on set rules , approve a card within a few seconds
• A bank can then publish a digital version of the card to user’s CRED app
• User can start using the digital card for online purchases without any delay
• The bank can gradually mail the physical card to to the customer’s address

3, CRED Vault for digitally using cards at physical locations

• Provide users the convenience of not having to carry physical credit cards anymore
• Users can keep a digital version of any card in CRED vault and then pay using them at physical outlets
• Tie up with major POS terminal providers like Pine Labs to enable digital payment via digital terminals like Plutus
• Or else provide a merchant app that embeds digital credit card payment option via a payment gateway provider

CRED Platinum (10$ per month)

1, One CRED — a single physical card

• Replace all physical cards with a single card from CRED for use at physical locations like shops, restaurants
• This card will include all the different credit cards issued to a user by different banks
• User needs to pay only a single annual fee instead of multiple fees
• For each purchase, CRED app will automatically choose the most ideal bank credit card based on deals, discounts, credit limit, etc
• User can also manually choose the card to which a particular transaction should be billed

2, CRED micro invest

• Provide CRED’s premium users an option to invest micro amounts in various ventures which is otherwise not possible now
• This can include tech startups, commercial real estate, cloud kitchens, D2C brands
• CRED has a team to thoroughly evaluate a venture before allowing it to debut in the fundraising platform
• Each user can invest only a micro amount in each venture like INR 1k . Also a max cap on number of such investments like 5 per month . This reduces risk exposure for the CRED users who are investing

3, Financial advisory

• CRED offers a pool of freelance experts to whom CRED users can ask for advice on managing their money across savings, investments, real estate, gold, etc
• Users can also see a summary of what other users are doing and thus get info on popular investment opportunities

CRED Citizens

1, Social activities

• Social responsibility initiatives in the model of Versova Beach cleanup
• CRED users can choose verified activities via the app and sign up
• CRED will provide citizen coins and exclusive deals in return
• Can gamify this like complete one task every week or every month to get exclusive deals or special invites . Maintain leaderboard and have monthly & annual winners

2, Reverse supply chain for Ecom & food delivery

• CRED sets up waste bins as per standard segregation conventions at major residential zones like gate communities, ec
• To avoid misuse , the bins can be unlocked by scanning a QR code via CRED app
• Users can responsibly return the cardboard and plastics packing material used by various ecommerce companies and food delivery companies
• For each bin, provide access to kabadiwalas or recycling companies to empty bins