CRED enters vehicle management space with launch of ‘CRED garage’

Fintech Startup CRED has expanded its services by entering the vehicle management industry. The Bengaluru-based company has launched a new platform called ‘CRED Garage’, which will be available to CRED members starting September 28.

Features and Services Offered by CRED Garage

CRED Garage integrates into the existing CRED app and brings together various automotive services onto a single dashboard. Some of the key offerings include:

• 24/7 concierge service for tasks like servicing, maintenance and insurance claims
• Timely reminders for vehicle bill payments to avoid late fees
• DigiLocker integration for easy access to documents like license, registration and insurance
• Alerts for critical tasks like emission tests and insurance renewals
• Option to renew motor insurance and access member-exclusive discounts
• FASTag recharge: Users can recharge their FASTag accounts directly through CRED Garage.

Kunal Shah, Founder of CRED, mentioned that it took the company a year to develop and launch this platform. The platform leverages the overlap between card users and car owners. It ultimately seeks to enhance the lifestyles of members who typically have higher disposable incomes.

According to Shah, the launch of CRED Garage represents the first phase with more features to be added later. He mentioned that the app will provide fuel price information for users’ cities. CRED aims to make the platform a comprehensive vehicle management solution for both car and two-wheeler owners.

“Whether a first-time owner or a motorhead, anyone who owns cars knows that the delight of driving often gets overtaken by the anxiety of managing and maintaining. CRED garage is our solution to this challenge. CRED members can experience the pleasure of driving and the joy of car ownership on a single platform – customized for them. From cards to cars – CRED members can now manage, maintain, and engage with all on the app.” said Akshay Aedula from CRED.

Providing Seamless Vehicle Management Experience

With CRED Garage, the aim is to provide a frictionless and transparent experience for members’ vehicle needs. The platform leverages CRED’s customer base of high credit score individuals and offers relevant automotive services tailored to their lifestyles.

Integration with CRED’s existing bill payment features enables seamless management. Members can also analyze spending patterns and access maintenance records through the app.

CRED Garage is available to all CRED users. To enroll a vehicle, users simply need to open the CRED app and search for ‘garage’ in the Explore CRED section. Users can then add their vehicles by entering their vehicle numbers.

CRED’s Expanding Offerings

The launch of CRED Garage comes alongside CRED’s recent expansions into travel, lending and retail payments. As per founder Kunal Shah, the goal is to replicate the rewarding feeling associated with CRED’s credit card payments across different spending categories.

The launch comes as CRED looks to expand its financial services offerings, though it recorded increased losses amid rising revenues last fiscal year. CRED Garage currently does not include EV support, but the firm has suggested future EV-centric updates. Leveraging members’ creditworthiness, CRED also eyes lowering insurance costs.

The launch of Cred Garage comes at a time when the average value of UPI transactions on the Cred platform has significantly decreased. Additionally, Cred’s share of the credit card bill payment market has diminished. Despite a substantial increase in revenue, Cred recorded a net loss of Rs 1,279 crore in FY22, reflecting a more than double increase from the Rs 524 crore loss in FY21.

The revenue of Cred jumped by almost 340 percent from Rs 95 crore in FY21 to Rs 422 crore in FY22.

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