CRED took over the internet in the past several years with its Credit card bill payment app and impressive influencer marketing strategies. Most people know CRED from its marketing campaigns, where they collaborated with some of the top YouTubers, Social Media Influencers, and TV stars. The twist of watching your favourite creator or celebrity doing something that they are not known for created buzz on the internet. But why not?
CRED is a fintech startup that was started by Kunal Shah in 2018 in India. The company started as a premium platform for credit card users to pay their bills on time, with a focus on Creditworthy customers. Now, CRED has diversified its focus and is targeting a mass audience through many financial services like Credit, payments, insurance, and other financial-lifestyle products. In exchange, CRED offers rewards, offers, and engagement tools to retain customers.
In FY2024, the revenue jumped significantly, and CRED is no longer making losses like before. To understand how this company is sustaining in the Indian market, let’s begin by looking at CRED’s business structure.
How Is the CRED Business Model Structured?
CRED is structured on a multi-product fintech or reward platform approach, where it targets Credit card users. These customers are usually termed as Premium or Super-Prime customers who have better spending power, better consumer, and more. The core value proposition is that users get rewards, offers, and a good experience for paying their Credit card bills on time.
Alongside payment and rewards, CRED also generates revenue through financial services like lending via Credit lines or loan products, which are often offered via partner banks and NBFCs. The company also partners with merchants and advertisers who want exposure to a high-spending user base. Through this, CRED gets to charge more for showing ads to its premium audience.
| Company/Brand | CRED (Dreamplug Technologies Pvt. Ltd.) |
| Establishment Year | 2018 |
| Headquarters | Bangalore, Karnataka, India |
| Founder/Owner | Kunal Shah (Founder & CEO) |
| Industry | Fintech / Payments / Credit / Finance / Rewards-based platform |
| Net Worth (2025) | ₹ 2,473 crore (up ~66% YoY from FY 2023) |
| Total Revenue 2025 | ₹ 609 crore (reduced from ~₹ 1,024 crore in FY 2023) |
How Does CRED Make Money?
CRED has an excellent business model, a great app with all the necessary functions and cool animations, a team of influencers for promotions, and various revenue streams. To understand how CRED makes money, let’s have a look at their key revenue streams and strategies:
1. Credit Card Bill Payment
CRED’s core business model is based on Credit card bill payment, and this app allows users to get rewards for timely payment. This is the earliest revenue source, and this platform gets a small commission or small fee from partner banks and Credit card issuers when users make UPI or bill payment. Even though each payment has a small margin, there is a high payment volume, which helps in making a large chunk of CRED’s revenue.
2. Lending through Unsecured and Secured Lines
Lending is a major revenue driver for CRED. The company partners with banks or NBFCs to distribute Credit, Credit lines, and loan products to users, especially its premium user base. CRED helps build a loan book (partner book) of ~₹15,000 crore as of FY 2024. It’s also launching secured lending, like loans against mutual funds (Cash+), etc. The interest margin/commissions from these loan products contribute significantly.
3. Insurance and Insurance-Related Products
CRED is expanding its business and offering many financial services. Now, users can browse for insurance plans, pick the right one that suits their needs, and pay for it. In exchange, CRED gets a commission for lead generation and a small cut for the purchase made by the user. There are insurance plans related to vehicles with CRED Garage, which help in vehicle management services like Challans, Insurance Renewals, Pollution Checks, and so on.
4. Merchant, Offers, and E-Commerce Partnership
CRED has a “CRED Store” / “Offers / Discover” section where merchants provide deals, coupons, etc. When users pick offers or buy via CRED, merchants pay CRED a fee or commission for visibility or customer acquisition. Also, advertisers want to reach CRED’s affluent user base.
Financial Performance
Considering the CRED revenue report for FY24, it made around ₹2,473 crore, which was up by 66% from FY2023, where the company reported revenue of ₹1,484 crore. The operation losses have also narrowed from previous years, where the loss in FY24 was about ₹609 crore, and the loss has narrowed from ₹1,024 crore in FY23. There is a reduction of about 41% in loss.
What’s New in 2025?
As of now, one report estimated that CRED’s revenue for FY25 will be around ₹ 3,000 crore, showing more growth ahead. The company has been launching secured lending products (for example, loans against mutual funds – Cash+) to diversify beyond unsecured loans. This may reduce risk and improve margins.
