CRED: A New Currency?

27 Jun 2022 | Business & Strategy

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Hooshang Bakht

Brego Business was started with a mission to make entrepreneurship easy. Our goal is to help business owners grow and scale without having to deal with the day-to-day stress of running a business. We specialize in providing services that help business owners grow their businesses, including search engine marketing (SEM), social media marketing (SMM), LinkedIn marketing, video production, accounts receivable (AR), accounts payable (AP), internal audit, VCFO, and recruitment. We have helped more than 500 brands grow their businesses. We work closely with the clients to understand their unique needs and develop customized strategies that deliver measurable results.

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CRED

Consider a scenario in which you need to design a new currency from the ground up. What would you do if you didn’t know where to start? To put it simply, you’d have to do a few things.

To begin with, a currency, like cred points, is worthless by definition, but it gains value when people accept it as legal tender in exchange for goods and services. In absolute terms, a piece of paper with a number printed on it is worthless, but it is valued because others agree it is valuable. The same applies to cred points; people assign value to them based on their perceived usefulness and scarcity.

Moreover, everyone recognizes the worth of these pieces of paper. But again, we can’t have a situation where anyone can make them out of thin air. Controlling the production and movement of currency is critical too. Mass illusion centered on something useless that is being produced in a controlled environment. That is essentially why Bitcoin is causing such a stir. Scarcity mixed with hype. The same principles apply to cred points; their production and movement must be carefully controlled to maintain their value and prevent inflation.

CRED And Other FinTech Startups

CRED is unique in a way, unlike other FinTech companies that try to solve your problem when you make payments or apply for a loan. CRED was developed to tackle a single use-case—paying credit card bills. Kunal Shah, CRED’s founder, and CEO founded another startup called Freecharge a long time ago, which was aimed at solving a single use-case—paying your mobile bills.

We can comfortably just say that Kunal Shah enjoys coming out with businesses around apps that enable people to perform one thing reasonably consistently and predictably. This is a bit risky and possibly counter-intuitive from a product sense.

The prevailing wisdom among FinTech startups is to collect as many use-cases as possible rather than focusing on just one. And we see multiple FinTech startups competing tooth and claw to convince you to perform as much as possible on their platform, right from money transfers to bill payments to mutual fund investment to shopping to insurance, and much more.

That’s the reason we say CRED is unique in a way. CRED encourages you to use it to pay your credit card bills. That is everything they have to offer.

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CRED Reward Points

This isn’t even a really compelling issue. Nobody actually requires CRED to pay a credit card bill, so CRED needed to work hard to create the need. And they did so by rewarding users for paying their credit card bills with CRED reward points. Once you are on the site, these CRED reward points can be exchanged for cashback, discounts, and other deals. This serves as a motivation, reminding users to check in to the app at least once a month to pay their credit card bills. None of this is out of the ordinary. Airlines and credit card companies routinely offer a fictitious currency as bait in exchange for a regular, repetitive transaction.CRED adopted this concept and for a long time, following the same playbook. Pay the bill. Get points. Points can be redeemed. Get some merchandise. Repeat. Then CRED had an idea…Can we raise it a notch higher? Reward points have a number of complications. They’re disconnected, and you never get a full picture of them. You could be making a lot of transactions on your credit card and racking up points without even realizing it. Furthermore, the benefits for redeeming these points are frequently meager, putting them out of sight and, eventually, out of mind.

Evolution Of CRED With More Use Cases

As a result, CRED has determined to do everything possible to ensure that you never forget about it. It developed newer products that rewarded you for every action such as cred bill payment, paying your rent or taking out a loan.

You’ll spend more time on CRED’s app if you have more use-cases. And one of the most prominent use-cases is cred bill payment. CRED has made it incredibly easy for users to pay their bills and earn cred rewards in the process. It is a major sponsor of the Indian Premier League, which is one of the most well-known and high-profile sporting events on television. It created several brilliant commercials that went viral. It purposefully built a divisive user interface for its app…because that was part of the plan.

CRED believed that if it had to create a currency, it should do so in the form of a currency. And one of the most effective ways to do that was by incentivizing users to make cred bill payment through its app. It wanted as many people to use its app as possible, as well as a reserve of CRED reward points.

The success roadmap for CRED is pretty simple. Do whatever it takes to draw attention. Convince users to sign up at your platform and make them collect your made-up money- CRED Reward Points. And one of the most effective ways to do that is by making it easy and rewarding to pay their bills through the app. With its focus on cred bill payment and other convenient features, CRED has quickly become one of the most popular financial apps in India.

Next Logical Step For CRED Reward Points

The next logical step for CRED is to assign a monetary value to its reward points, also known as CRED points. The goal is to make CRED points valuable enough that they can be used to purchase high-priced goods and services. As a retailer like Amazon or eBay, if CRED approached you with an offer to exchange a million CRED points for a washing machine worth Rs 20,000, you would likely reply that anyone can buy anything using CRED points, including a washing machine or a TV. However, what you would care about most is receiving Rs 20,000 in your bank account at the end of the transaction.

When it comes to special offers like this, Amazon or eBay would likely give the same response to all reward point companies: you can do whatever you want as long as we get paid. However, the payment must be in real currency and not in CRED points. While CRED points can be used as a purchasing currency, retailers still require actual money to conduct their businesses. Therefore, CRED must ensure that its reward points can be converted into real currency or used in conjunction with real currency to purchase high-priced goods and services.

In conclusion, assigning a monetary value to CRED points is the logical next step for the app. While retailers may be willing to accept points as a purchasing currency, they still require actual money to conduct their businesses. Therefore, CRED must ensure that its points can be converted into real currency or used in conjunction with real currency to purchase high-priced goods and services.

Collaborate With Retailers Using Winning Strategy

This is where CRED’s unique value proposition comes into play. CRED offers a one-stop solution for all bill payments, making it incredibly easy and convenient for its users. With CRED, users can earn CRED points by paying their credit card bills, electricity bills, and even rent, all in one place. This feature has made CRED an extremely popular app among high-net-worth individuals (HNIs) who value their time and convenience.

CRED points can be redeemed for a variety of rewards, including high-priced goods and services, making them highly valuable to users. This, in turn, makes CRED an attractive platform for retailers looking to tap into the spending power of HNIs. By partnering with CRED, retailers can offer users exclusive rewards and experiences, creating a win-win situation for both parties.

The popularity of CRED among HNIs also means that the app has a significant influence on their purchasing decisions related to cred bill payment. By offering reward points for bill payments, CRED incentivizes users to stay loyal to the platform for their cred bill payment, leading to increased engagement and spending. This loyalty translates into increased brand awareness and customer retention for retailers partnering with CRED for their cred bill payment solutions.

In conclusion, CRED’s unique bill payment solution has made it a go-to app for HNIs. The ability to earn valuable CRED points by paying bills in one place has made the platform highly attractive to users, creating a win-win situation for retailers looking to tap into the spending power of HNIs. By partnering with CRED, retailers can offer exclusive rewards and experiences, leading to increased brand awareness and customer retention.

CRED’s unique bill payment solution has made it a go-to app for HNIs. By offering a one-stop solution for all bill payments, CRED has made it incredibly easy and convenient for its users to manage their finances. With CRED bill payment, users can pay their credit card bills, electricity bills, and even rent, all in one place. This feature has made CRED an extremely popular app among HNIs who value their time and convenience. CRED’s popularity among this user base presents an excellent opportunity for brands like Amazon to advertise their products and increase their brand awareness. By partnering with CRED’s bill payment solution, Amazon can put its goods in front of an audience that has a high disposable income and is willing to spend on premium products. CRED’s interactive advertising model can make the product even more desirable, providing users with an unrivaled experience. For instance, users could win a television by playing a game with their reward points. By offering reward points for making purchases on Amazon through CRED bill payment, Amazon can incentivize users to buy more from its platform. Therefore, partnering with CRED’s bill payment solution is a win-win situation for both Amazon and CRED, and it can result in increased brand awareness and revenue for both companies.

Conclusion:

CRED faces direct competition from numerous competitors, which it cannot win exclusively on the basis of its product, at a time when the financial rainbow has been painted on by apps of all colors. It doesn’t take much to create an app that reminds people to pay their credit card bills and rewards them with cred rewards.CRED also only requires people to download the app (and grant it all of the necessary rights). This gives it access to a wealth of data that it can use to construct a tailored and contextual financial platform in the future, all while continuing to incentivize users with more and more cred rewards.

In a crowded marketplace, cred rewards are a powerful tool to differentiate CRED from its competitors in the realm of cred bill payment. Users are naturally drawn to platforms that offer incentives and exclusive benefits for paying their bills on time, making it easier for CRED to capture a loyal user base. By constantly iterating on its reward program and offering new and exciting ways to earn cred rewards through bill payment, CRED can continue to stay ahead of the competition in this specific area. But CRED’s focus on cred rewards for bill payment is not just about attracting new users – it’s also about retaining them. Once users have accumulated a substantial amount of cred rewards for their bill payments, they become less likely to switch to a competitor’s platform, ensuring that CRED maintains a strong user base for years to come.

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Frequently asked questions

What is CRED?

CRED is a financial technology company that offers a platform for credit card bill payments and provides rewards for timely payments.

How does CRED work?

Users can sign up for CRED and add their credit cards to the platform. They can then make credit card bill payments through the app and earn CRED points for timely payments.

What are CRED points?

CRED points are rewards points that users can earn for making timely credit card bill payments through the CRED app. These points can be redeemed for various rewards and offers.

What kind of rewards can I redeem with CRED points?

CRED offers a variety of rewards such as cashback, discounts, vouchers, and exclusive offers from partner brands.

Is it safe to use CRED for credit card bill payments?

Yes, CRED is a safe and secure platform for credit card bill payments. The platform uses 256-bit encryption to protect users' personal and financial information.

Can I use CRED to pay my credit card bills for any bank?

CRED supports payments for credit cards issued by most major banks in India.

Is there a fee to use CRED for credit card bill payments?

No, there is no fee to use CRED for credit card bill payments. The platform is free to use.

Can I earn CRED points for paying my credit card bills outside of the CRED platform?

No, CRED points can only be earned for credit card bill payments made through the CRED app.

Can I transfer my CRED points to someone else?

No, CRED points cannot be transferred to another user's account. They can only be redeemed by the user who earned them.

How can I get started with CRED?

To get started with CRED, users can download the app from the App Store or Google Play Store and sign up for an account. They can then add their credit cards to the platform and start making bill payments to earn CRED points.