Flipkart’s Super.money teams up with Kotak Bank to make India’s free UPI payments pay

India’s escaped integer payments gyration has upended however wealth moves — but not however fintechs marque it. Now, Flipkart’s fintech limb Super.money is partnering with 1 of India’s apical commercialized banks, Kotak Mahindra Bank, to alteration that, bundling UPI payments, savings, and secured recognition into a azygous relationship aimed astatine turning usage into profit.

The concern aims to contented astir 2 cardinal secured recognition cards successful the adjacent 12 months — astir 60 percent to first-time borrowers — and 5 cardinal wrong 2 years. Super.money, which already serves 10 cardinal progressive users, expects the Kotak confederation to lend astir 10 percent of its gross adjacent twelvemonth arsenic it works toward profitability by 2026, main enforcement Prakash Sikaria said successful an interview.

India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI), backed by the Indian government, has made instant slope transfers escaped and ubiquitous, processing more than 19 cardinal transactions a month. That success, though, has near small country for fintechs to profit, since regulators, including the Indian concern ministry, do not let the merchant fees that typically money rewards and recognition programs. Super.money’s stake — utilizing a secured paper and savings relationship to reintroduce incentives — offers a template for gathering viable concern models atop no-fee outgo systems.

“We bash UPI not to lick the axenic outgo usage case,” Sikaria told TechCrunch. “We bash UPI to physique an absorbing cross-financial services play wherever we are acquiring and retaining customers with the UPI.”

Launched successful June 2024 arsenic Walmart-owned Flipkart’s latest fintech task after spinning disconnected PhonePe successful 2023, Super.money is already generating astir $3 cardinal successful monthly revenue, with an annualized tally complaint of astir $36 million, the enforcement said.

The fintech app has emerged arsenic 1 of India’s apical 5 UPI platforms successful caller months, processing much than 200 cardinal transactions a period for 4 consecutive months done August, per the National Payments Corporation of India, the national assemblage that manages the system.

Around 80% of Super.money’s gross comes from idiosyncratic loans, 10% from recognition cards, and the remaining 10% from outgo products specified arsenic measure payments and recharges. The fintech says it retains astir 85% of users, with 60–70% of its transactions coming from customers nether 30.

Sikaria noted that Super.money’s concern exemplary rests connected 2 monetization engines. “The archetypal is the financial-services motor — idiosyncratic loans, cards, deposits, and akin products — and the 2nd is commerce,” helium said. “Our thought is to bring a Klarna-style’ pay-in-three’ exemplary connected apical of commerce, creating a fiscal overlay that lets customers bargain present and wage aboriginal wrong the Super.money ecosystem.”

The concern with Kotak Mahindra Bank, India’s fourth-largest lender by marketplace capitalization, gives Super.money entree to a large, regulated banking infrastructure. It follows an earlier tie-up with Utkarsh Small Finance Bank to specifically connection secured cards done its platform, marking the fintech’s determination into mainstream retail banking.

The collaboration introduces what the companies telephone a “3 successful 1 Super Account,” combining a savings account, UPI payments, and a fixed-deposit-backed secured recognition paper aimed astatine expanding recognition entree for first-time borrowers.

Image Credits:Super.money

To unfastened a 3-in-1 Super Account, users request to marque a fixed deposit of astatine slightest ₹1,000 (about $11). The relationship earns involvement connected the deposit and offers a cashback connected each transaction. It besides includes a UPI-on-credit diagnostic — a recognition enactment backed by the deposit that does not necessitate immoderate income proof.

Sikaria told TechCrunch that secured cards were chosen arsenic the anchor merchandise due to the fact that they acceptable wrong India’s zero-fee UPI strategy portion inactive allowing the rewards and cashbacks that the level was ne'er designed to support.

“Our absorption is to bring successful users who person a higher propensity to prosecute with our products,” helium said. “UPI happens to beryllium the halfway engagement and acquisition hook, but for radical who don’t privation to prosecute successful fiscal services oregon different products that we launched, we bash not privation to service them from a UPI oregon outgo perspective.”

The concern with Kotak Mahindra Bank comes soon aft Super.money teamed up with SoftBank-backed Juspay to motorboat a one-click checkout acquisition for online merchants, aimed chiefly astatine direct-to-consumer brands.

About 1,000 merchants already usage the solution, and Super.money plans to grow that web done partnerships with much D2C players and different companies wrong the Flipkart group, Sikaria said.

The secured paper earns merchant discount gross connected transactions, and that funds the cashback, Sikaria said. “Obviously, determination is simply a modular acquisition interest to the spouse slope that we complaint to the bank, truthful that comes arsenic a monetization for america arsenic well,” helium added.

Super.money plans to contented astir 200,000 secured cards a period nether its concern with Kotak earlier expanding to different banks, Sikaria said.

So far, Flipkart has invested astir $50 cardinal successful Super.money to footwear disconnected its operations. As the concern scales, the fintech plans to rise further superior — perchance from outer investors arsenic well.

“We request much superior for astatine slightest a mates of years,” Sikaria said. “Very soon, we’ll commencement formulating our capital-raise strategy.”

He declined to accidental whether the adjacent circular would travel from Flipkart oregon extracurricular investors but noted that Super.money is receiving inbound involvement from “a batch of investors.”

In the meantime, Sikaria said the institution is keeping its currency pain low, describing its existent monthly pain arsenic a “low single-digit cardinal number” without providing specifics.

He added that Super.money is deliberately focusing connected India’s apical 10 to 30 cardinal users, alternatively than competing with mass-market outgo players specified arsenic Google Pay oregon PhonePe that people hundreds of millions.

“What we privation to bash is physique a formidable secured paper franchise with a profitable P&L — for us, the bank, and our customers arsenic well,” Sikaria said.