Cashback for paying credit card bills? There's an app for that...

Cred wants to incentivise timely credit card bill payments - sometimes with reward points, sometimes with chocolate cake.

On April 2, the Delhi edition of the Times of India carried a front-page ad for an app that caught our eye. It was bold, black and had a clean, minimalist design - but what product was it advertising?

Cred's full page ad on Times of India
Click on the image to enlarge

The ad was for an app called Cred. Freecharge co-founder Kunal Shah started the company and it gathered $25 million in funding from Sequoia Capital last year. In the fintech space, this app operates in the credit cards realm and allows users to keep track of their cards, make payments online and earn reward points and cashbacks for paying bills. Some of the brands that Cred has tied up with for offers include Ixigo, BookMyShow, Airbnb, FreshMenu, and Urban Ladder.

Recently, Cred has been doing a lot of advertising in the digital space, but today, they rented out prime advertising real estate in the Times of India. The second page talked about the benefits of the app and what it had to offer consumers.

Turning to the next page, readers could see all the features that the app had to offer
Click on the image to enlarge

If that wasn't enough, Cred went the extra mile, offering chocolate cake to users on a seemingly random basis, reminding them to pay their bills on time.

Thank you #Cred app! Made my Monday! pic.twitter.com/v2gsp3h0Iq

— Anupama Hosad (@anuhosad) 1 April 2019

Mondays made better with #CRED.
The reminder and the gesture makes so much sense.
Kudos to @kunalb11 and team.#killthebill #MondayMotivation pic.twitter.com/9LWtt88Eir

— Akanksha Singh (@tweetakanksha) 25 March 2019

Never thought a reminder to pay could have been such a pleasant surprise! Thanks #Cred pic.twitter.com/vqG15YpjUK

— Mohammed Moiz (@maverick_moiz) 3 January 2019

Thanks @Cred_club for this! You guys are ❤️! #KillTheBill with #Cred! 😀
🥂 To @kunalb11 and team for such a thoughtful gesture! pic.twitter.com/6WV59tF5EP

— Aakankshi Verma (@Masakali_) 25 March 2019

Thank you team #Cred app for the super sweet surprise :) - thanks @kunalb11 pic.twitter.com/3MDOPvCqDZ

— Netra Parikh (@Netra) 26 March 2019

Apart from the cake, one of its users pointed out that the app led him to a service he wasn't previously aware of.

The #Cred app is introducing me to services and sites I didn't even knew existed. Win Win for all.

Latest available reward is a Therapy Puppy, redeem to get "play date with puppies" at location of your choice ❤️ @kunalb11 🙏 @Cred_club @Techglares pic.twitter.com/Nu9P4SphHk

— Jatin Sapra (@jatinsapra) 21 March 2019

Just amazed at how #Cred has pulled off all the hype in the ecosystem. Guess, after the likes of Google-FB, someone like @kunalb11 could only crack the pre-launch marketing hype.

Loved the offers. Urbanclap // ixigo // Thirdwave // Curefit. pic.twitter.com/9160MbN2Ga

— Akshay Pruthi (@PruthiAkshay) 29 November 2018

Of course, like all good things, Cred's users also had a fair share of complaints with the customer service and the interface of the app.

I love the interface of #cred but damn the rewards are kinda useless now. Not sure what to do with all these points.

— Dhruv (@DhruvBhutani) 31 March 2019

@cred what a poor app.... Yesterday I redeemed 25000 points for a voucher only to get an already expired voucher and the chat support is so poor. Poor experience #cred #poorservice pic.twitter.com/lWzHTzKgRo

— Arjun Singh (@arjunsingh1987) 1 April 2019

@kunalb11 My experience with #CRED. Trying paying my CC bill twice. Failed twice.
Payment wont reflect, CRED wants me to set up another a/c for refund. Not just adjust it to CC bill. And the worst UX experience ever...

— nidhik (@nidhik) 28 March 2019

Started using #Cred because it seemed easier and rewards for paying CC bills is a bonus. But why the phone call to remind me to pay my bills? @kunalb11
Will this be another Jio or Vodafone bugging me to pay bills 5 days before the due date (1/2)

— Sinu daniel (@sinu_daniel) 30 March 2019

Also why not adding filters on the reward section on #cred Make it easier for me to choose the rewards @kunalb11 Personally I don't want restaurant vouchers. Categorise it so that I know where to look (2/2)

— Sinu daniel (@sinu_daniel) 30 March 2019

Thanks to Kunal Shah's background as an entrepreneur and start-up investor, users have high expectations from this app. Before starting Cred, Shah sold Freecharge to Snapdeal for $400 million in 2015. He managed to secure $25 million in funding for Cred even before it started up. One can only wait and watch to see what kind of company Cred will become...

ALSO READ: "Millenials are bombarded with cashbacks, discounts, offers": Sangram Singh, CEO, FreeCharge