Hyperface: Revolutionising Digital-First Customer Experiences - A Disruptive Startup On The Rise

In just three years since its inception, Hyperface has skyrocketed to the forefront of embedded banking solutions. From powerhouse partnerships with India’s largest banks and consumer brands to industry awards for product innovation, Hyperface’s one-of-a-kind "Definitive Credit Cards Innovation" platform is revolutionising the way banks, brands, and fintechs approach card solutions. The company clinched the top spot in the retail banking category at the NASSCOM India Fintech Awards in 2023 and their solutions have garnered
two VISA Business Excellence Awards.

Hyperface has also earned the trust of investors such as 3one4 Capital, Global Founders Capital, Better Capital, Flipkart Ventures, Groww, and Rebalance Angel Community in its mission to invert the credit cards industry on its head.

With a focus on simplifying complex technology, Hyperface offers a comprehensive suite of products designed to reimagine credit card experiences.  

Fixing Broken Credit Card Experiences 
The traditional credit cards market in India has been fraught with limited digital innovation. Let’s face it: the credit card experience today is broken. From being confused about what benefits their card offers to being baffled about how to redeem rewards or track their spend-related offers, for most customers, the credit card is relegated to a bunch of fancy promises. There is an obvious disconnect with modern digital-led lifestyles, presenting a strong demand for re-imagined customer experiences.

On the other hand, in an increasingly commoditized and competitive market, creating a differentiated user experience is more critical for banks and consumer brands than ever before. But banks are saddled with rigid, inflexible legacy systems that make it very expensive and time-consuming to launch and manage credit card programs, let alone deliver meaningful user experiences.

That’s where Hyperface steps in.  As Asia’s First ‘Credit Cards as a Service’ platform, Hyperface aims to redefine the status quo by breathing new life into the credit card experience, catering to today’s consumers who prioritise seamless, digital-first interactions.  It achieves this by equipping banks and co-brands to deliver a superlative user experience through an advanced, cloud-native tech platform and pre-integrated APIs and SDKs.

Team with Deep Experience in Fintech 
At the heart of Hyperface are co-founders RV Ramanathan and Aishwarya Jaishankar, two industry veterans who bring deep banking experience, technology expertise and a passion for innovation.

Ramanathan, a visionary entrepreneur with a strong engineering background, previously founded Juspay, a leading platform for seamless payments. His pioneering work on India's first UPI app, the BHIM app, sparked the country’s digital payments revolution.

Aishwarya, on the other hand, is a veteran digital banker with a demonstrated experience of building and scaling disruptive banking solutions. Some of her notable achievements include India's first fully reimagined digital savings account and leading the complete revamp of a large MNC bank’s retail banking digital capabilities

“We have built a credit cards innovation platform that empowers brands and banks to launch digital-first credit cards 10x faster and offer a rich end-user experience through the customer lifecycle,” said RV Ramanathan, Co-founder and CEO, Hyperface. “We have leveraged cutting-edge technology to deliver digital-first experiences that resonate deeply with modern consumers.”

Simplifying Complex Technology
Launching a card program is tough. Running it is even tougher.
From KYC to underwriting, from card experience to rewards, multiple systems must be stitched in to provide a seamless customer experience. Also, the regulatory environment is ever-evolving, and bank legacy systems struggle to keep up.

Each Hyperface product is designed to ease key business pain points and deliver a superior customer experience.

Credit Pro : A comprehensive, all-in-one platform that gives banks the full flexibility to configure, launch and scale the credit line or credit card product of their choice from Credit Line on UPI to Credit Cards and Buy Now, Pay Later.

Hyperface provides a full suite of services from program design and development to technology infrastructure, risk management, and compliance frameworks to help banks launch fully custom credit programs. As UPI gains traction, banks can leverage Hyperface’s Credit Pro module to launch their own Credit Line on UPI program.

Embed Next : Hyperface also helps consumer brands launch next-gen Co-branded Credit Cards. Co-brand integration with bank systems can be challenging and messy!  Hyperface simplifies the intricate process of integrating with bank systems, making the journey from concept to launch swift and efficient. Their pre-integrated systems and plug-and-play APIs drastically reduce the typical 18-month process to launch a co-brand card to just weeks, saving both banks and brands significant time and resources.

“The integration journey can be complicated and overwhelming. That’s why we focus on hand-holding our customers through technology integration, while ensuring full adherence to compliance frameworks” explained Aishwarya. “This enables them to build the most compelling and innovative features.”

Smart Engage:  Most banks struggle to keep cardholders engaged with the most relevant offers while struggling to optimise portfolio costs. Smart Engage is a fully automated, integrated engagement engine that comes with configurations to deliver targeted and hyper-personalised experiences through the cardholder journey. Add to this a real-time dashboard for rich insights and it’s win-win for both banks and customers.

Onboard IQ: This solution offers automated and dynamic onboarding journeys for brands to maximise new customer conversions and slash acquisition costs all while giving customers a seamless in-brand experience.

Key Features of Hyperface Platform 
Digital-First Experiences: Transforming traditional credit cards into dynamic digital products, the Hyperface platform allows banks and brands to enhance user engagement through intuitive mobile interfaces and digital ecosystems.
Customisation and Flexibility: No more one-size-fits-all solutions! Think of fully customised credit card offerings that align with strategic goals. 
Scalable Infrastructure: Built on robust technology infrastructure, Hyperface ensures scalability and reliability in delivering credit card services across diverse geographic locations and to a vast audience.
Completely Compliant : The modular tech capabilities enables banks and brands to stay ahead of the  dynamic regulatory landscape.

Transformative Innovations
In its short journey, Hyperface already boasts some transformative products. 
Co-branded Cards 
Hyperface powers India's most rewarding travel credit card – the ixigo AU Credit Card. A digital-first card, it is fully embedded into the ixigo mobile app, providing seamless customer experiences from onboarding to card management and repayment. The product clinched the ‘Best Emerging Co-brand Program’  award at the Visa Business Excellence Awards 2023-24. 
Driving Financial Inclusion: 
Hyperface powers India’s First City Rewards Card, the Fab Money Card. Operating purely in Tier 2 cities, the Fab Money Card is a prepaid card that offers hyper-local offers and assured cashbacks - these are powered by the Hyperface Smart Engage platform through plug-and-play APIs. 
Continued innovation is essential for enriched user experiences and driving economic growth in evolving market landscapes. 
Abhishek Kothari, Founder and CEO, Fab Money, shared, “Hyperface's scalable infrastructure and reliable performance guarantee uninterrupted service delivery, even during periods of high demand for us.”

Transforming the Corporate Credit Card Landscape
Partnering with 360 degree business spend management platform Zaggle, Hyperface is transforming corporate credit cards and enhancing expense management and payment solutions with state-of-the-art technology.
“Zaggle is rapidly expanding its presence in the co-branded credit card space through collaboration with leading banks. Hyperface, with its modular capabilities, allows us to further innovate on the product front, thus delivering superior value to our end consumers. ” shared Avinash Godkhindi, MD & CEO, Zaggle.

In Focus: Powering AU Lit - India’s First Customisable Credit Card
AU Small Finance Bank Limited, a scheduled commercial bank that has established itself as the largest small finance bank in India, identified an opportunity in the credit card space in India.

Traditional Credit Cards in India offer only category-specific benefits. Due to this, customers often possess multiple cards of different categories (airline/ fuel/ dining etc) to avail of diverse benefits.

The AU LIT (Live it Today) card addresses this problem head-on: imagine a card that gives the user the freedom to choose rewards that fit his lifestyle. Now the cardholder can simply activate various benefits across categories (eg. lounge access, accelerated rewards, cashback, fuel surcharge waiver, OTT memberships etc.) in real-time with just a few taps on the Bank’s mobile app at sachet level prices and can change/discontinue benefits at regular intervals. This makes the card India's first customisable credit card! The card aptly takes its name from the ‘Live it Today’ mindset of today’s consumer.

Hyperface’s Smart Engage platform drives the Card’s unique proposition, enabling dynamic benefit selection, instant EMI options, and hyper-personalised rewards at sachet-level pricing.

The AU LIT Card has crossed 3.6 lakh cards since its launch last year. It has won the Visa Business Excellence Award for Excellence in New Product Design and is rated as one of the best credit cards in the country (2023) by Forbes.  This collaboration has set a new standard for customisation, digital experience, and leveraging technology in the payments industry, paving the way for future innovations.

The Future of Embedded Finance
With a robust platform built on cutting-edge technology, Hyperface is bridging the gap between traditional banking and modern consumer expectations. In the process, it is not only shaping the future of embedded finance but also redefining what it means to deliver intuitive and inclusive experiences in a digital-first era.