Disclaimer: Article includes my personal views apart for the news.
CRED has launched two co-branded credit cards with IndusInd Bank: an entry-level CRED IndusInd Bank RuPay Credit Card and an invite-only credit card called Sovereign which is designed to be issued to a select few.
At this point in in time, CRED has only given a sneak peak of the Sovereign Card and a detailed features of the card has not been revealed.
What’s Sovereign Card?
It’s an invite-only card, to be issued on RuPay Ekaa variant, a premium Rupay Card like Visa Infinite or Mastercard World Elite and it’s etched in 18K Gold.
The Gold part reminds me about the IndusInd Indulge Credit Card that has the real gold in it, as few dots, but the Sovereign Card probably has Gold all over.
This much we know so far!
But to understand what exactly is the card, I look back at a quick conversation which I had with CRED’s Kunal Shah off-stage during the previous CRED’s Svalbard event that happened few months ago.
When I asked about the new credit card launch plans by then, Kunal said that he was not happy with his Amex Centurion and wants to create a new card that India’s HNIs feel proud to own.
So CRED’s Sovereign credit card is probably built on that vision for HNI / UHNI with features and benefits that’s better than the Amex Centurion/Black Card.
Key benefit is going to be the Conceirge service, apart from higher loyalty tiers with hotels/airlines and “access” to HNI events/circle/membership.
Eligibility & Launch
When it comes to eligibility criteria, I predict that it’s likely to stand somewhere between Infinia & Centurion.
Chances are it maybe similar to the IndusInd Pioneer Private Credit Card which requires a strict eligibility criteria of 1Cr to begin with.
Hope CRED makes it available to slightly larger segment and not just limit it to few hundreds in the country.
Note that CRED has only given the teaser of the Sovereign Credit Card at the moment and from what I know, the proper launch is expected to happen few months down the line.
Final Thoughts
While India sees many new entry level credit card launches, it’s rare to see new HNI Credit Cards, as it’s not only a complex product but also not so lucrative as a business, unless it’s done right, as scale is not the name of the game.
That said, given that Kunal has passion for it as he himself wants a good card that gives quick and easy access to everything, chances are he might do whatever it takes to bring in a beautiful product to the high net worth individuals of the country.
Hope it’s as aspirational as the Amex Black card along with a good value proposition and not just a status symbol.
CRED itself a big sc*mmer, note they onboarded users with bread coins good for nothing. they never give any cashback for referral as well. and this guy looted huge money from VCs from snapdeal to FC and cred.
> it’s rare to see new HNI Credit Cards, as it’s not only a complex product but also not so lucrative as a business, unless it’s done right, as scale is not the name of the game.
Of course it’s rare to see HNI credit cards, because an “HNI credit card” is an oxymoron. A credit card as a bundled product of finance, affluence and access works only on yuppies – and there already are many products in the market targeted at them. It’s merely a game of making upper-middle class people think they are upper class, while giving them just enough so that they spend close to their upper thresholds, but not enough to actually give them exclusive access, since that’ll just cheapen the actual exclusive stuff.
I am pretty sure that any actual HNI with a stable head on their shoulders doesn’t give two seconds’ worth of thought to which credit card they’re using, because they are not the ones who care about all that stuff – they have other people to care about it. Before you say “Amex Centurion” – please note that’s a gimmick – it started off as a rumor and Amex capitalized on it. Any benefit that Centurion can provide, its target market can likely get for themselves a lot easier and cheaper (if they don’t have that benefit already). It’s less a product for HNIs, and more a product for public-facing celebrities to make a marketing deal with Amex on – or shmucks from whom Amex can make easy money out of.
And the less I say about Cred, the better. I really want this card to launch, so I can laugh at the people who are stupid enough to get it.
Well put. Thanks, I learnt a new word “yuppie”.
First thing that I have to question is the choice of RuPay for a HNI/UHNI card. Coz these individuals are set to travel a lot and given that RuPay’s international transactions are done partnering with Diners Club, which doesn’t have much of a presence in Europe, not sure how this could be successful.
Has anyone used an RuPay card while abroad? Specifically in Europe. I don’t mean UK. I have heard difficulties in using DC itself in many European countries.
Valid point. So the card may never serve as a primary card for international travellers. I see it as more of a domestic card + access to memberships.
Could be. But that would depend on how exclusive it is for (U)HNIs to want to take it. I have heard horror stories about issues with lounge access too for RuPay card holders. That was a couple of years back though. Not sure if it has been rectified.
This is a RuPay JCB variant card; the JCB card network is better compared to Discover/Diners club and even larger than the Amex card network.
Is it? I didn’t know such a tie-up existed. When did it happen though?
Hi would like to know do you have any idea about how much is the annual fee for the high and card?
When the business model for all the current n previous ventures is only vc n pe money, then you need new stories to sell every now n then. He has mastered this art. This would be another such story sold n marketed big time. No wonder we have not made killer products.
If Kunal would have done whatever it takes, don’t think he’d have partnered with IndusInd. The biggest m*rderers of credit cards in the country. All banks devalue cards after giving attractive initial offerings. IndusInd just m*rders the card! Most recent example is the Eazydiner Signature card! Not the smartest thing to have partnered with IndusInd.
Could rather have looked at ICICI. Look at how they have managed the co-branded card with Amazon. Devaluations have happened, but the card retains its fundamentals. Will take a lot of convincing for me to even look at the entry level Rupay card that Cred has just launched the other day.
Any predictions as to when would the first devaluation hit? I say max by Feb next year!
Business is one thing, value proposition is another. CRED can’t go with any big banks because CRED needs scale and big players already have it.
Reg. ED Card, it was too lucrative and again such devaluation happens with both parties agreeing to it, not just IndusInd. Same with Tiger Card, super lucrative. But you’re indeed right, they could have done a meaningful devaluation instead of making the card useless.
Given that CRED would get some revenue out of it, I guess, they could absorb it easily for an year without major devaluation. Let’s see.
In terms of benefit, it seems to closely matched with SBI Cashback card, worth 5000!! Cred is the biggest scam in CC industry
That, I believe is the entry-level CRED card you’re comparing with, this one is different though.