Axis Bank, Kiwi Join Hands To Offer Lifetime Free Rupay Credit Cards Digitally

Kiwi, a fintech that enables credit on UPI, partnered with Axis Bank to bolster 'Credit on UPI' accessibility on Rupay credit cards.

The partnership enables Kiwi users to seamlessly access the RuPay lifetime free virtual Axis Bank KWIK credit card through the app.

With this feature, users can make merchant payments within the Kiwi app using their credit cards via UPI, offering a virtual payment experience and eliminating the need for physical cards. The end-to-end digital payment solution aims at enhancing the payment experience for customers.

With this partnership, customers can enjoy the benefits of credit card rewards, while experiencing the convenience of UPI's fast and secure payment, the company said.

Siddharth Mehta, co-founder, Kiwi, said, "Together with Axis Bank, we will provide seamless on-boarding and instant virtual credit cards powered by a robust tech stack, offering our customers a comprehensive end-to-end experience of 'Credit on UPI.' Our goal at Kiwi is to enable 1 million users to access credit cards on UPI over the next 18 months, and we plan to achieve this by forging additional banking partnerships in the upcoming months.”

Sanjeev Moghe, President & Head, Cards & Payments, Axis Bank, said, “Axis Bank is a full suite cards & payments player and we continue to build on innovation-led partnership models. We are committed to drive access to formal credit in India with offerings that benefit our customers. We are excited to partner with Kiwi to launch the Axis KWIK virtual credit card that offers credit card rewards along with the convenience of UPI's fast and secure payment.”

“The digital payments space has grown significantly in recent years. The RBI's credit card-UPI linkage announcement is expected to boost credit card usage for small-value payments on the UPI platform. This will encourage more customers to choose credit cards, benefiting from the convenience of UPI which was previously limited only to bank accounts. Axis Bank has been at the forefront of extending UPI’s multiple payments flows to its customers, and we continue to scale up such innovations that democratize access to formal credit in India,” Moghe further added.

Praveena Rai, Chief Operating Officer, NPCI, said, “This collaboration will propel credit and payment accessibility to a wider user base providing them with secure and innovative payment options for seamless online and offline transactions. We look forward to the widespread usage, growth and penetration of this unique payment solution which combines the convenience of UPI with the rewards and benefits of RuPay Credit Cards.”

As a fintech company focused on “credit cards with UPI”, Kiwi is a comprehensive payments platform offering users complete end-to-end lifecycle management of credit products on the app, right from onboarding (for issuing a virtual credit card) to enabling payments using the issued ‘CC on UPI’ to rewards on repayment (Kiwis tokens). The Kiwi app offers card management facilities - blocking, setting limits, etc., allowing users to link their existing debit accounts to the app.

Kiwi has been co-founded by senior fintech experts and banking industry veterans, Siddharth Mehta (ex-CEO, Freecharge), Mohit Bedi (ex-Axis Bank & PayU), and Anup Agrawal (ex-business head, LazyPay). Earlier in May, the company raised $6 million in pre-seed funding from marquee investors: Nexus Venture Partners, Stellaris Venture Partners, and a host of angel investors.