Kiwi will soon launch Kotak Bank RuPay Credit Card

Kiwi, which offers a virtual credit card through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) route, plans to partner with two more banks by March 31, said co-founder Mohit Bedi.

“To acquire customers, the product that we have created needs to be powered by banks. While we have already launched the product with Axis Bank, we will launch with two more banks before the end of this financial year,” he said, adding that this will include one large public sector bank.

In addition to this, the company has signed a memorandum of understanding with Kotak Mahindra Bank. It will sign a memorandum of understanding with another private sector bank in the next couple of days.

“A proof of concept is also happening with a large private sector bank,” Bedi said.

Kiwi offers ‘credit on UPI’ by partnering with banks to issue RuPay credit cards. It operates as a third-party application under National Payments Corporation of India’s (NPCI) certification. The company issues virtual cards through a mobile application.

Currently, Kiwi facilitates around 1.5% of spends on the RuPay credit card. It plans to become the leading issuer of RuPay credit cards by 2026.

“Usually with credit card on UPI, a bank like HDFC manages the issuance, and spends are management by the third party app. But in our case, we manage the entire lifecycle,” Bedi said.

Kiwi is processing Rs. 1-1.5 crore credit card on UPI Spends on a daily basis

“We want to start investing in our banking partnerships and branding. By the end of December, we will triple our customer base for sure,” he said.

In May, the Mumbai-based company had raised $6 million in a pre-seed round to help launch credit on UPI and create a product market fit.

Going ahead, it is keen on pre-sanctioned credit lines via UPI. But it will only launch the product after detailed guidelines are issued by NPCI on this front.

The company will also look to raise more funds in order to make investments in technology, and human resources. However, Bedi did not disclose a timeline or quantum for this fund raising.