Cred has made history by becoming the first fintech platform in India to offer access to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) central bank digital currency (CBDC), the e-rupee. The rollout will initially target a select group of users, with YES Bank facilitating the issuance of e-rupee tokens to these early adopters.
Cred, backed by Tiger Global and Peak XV, announced this move on Tuesday, marking a significant milestone in adopting digital currency in India. The RBI launched the e-rupee pilot in December 2022, offering a digital alternative to the country’s physical currency. Initially, only banks were allowed to provide access to the digital currency. However, in April 2024, the RBI opened the door for payment firms to facilitate e-rupee transactions.
According to a Reuters report in August 2024, prominent payment companies, including Alphabet’s GooglePay, Walmart-backed PhonePe, AmazonPay, and MobiKwik, had expressed interest in joining the e-rupee pilot.
Cred’s initiative will enable its users to access the e-rupee wallet with tokens issued by YES Bank. Kunal Shah, Founder of Cred, emphasized the company’s goal to make e-rupee transactions seamless and accelerate its adoption among India’s most creditworthy individuals. “Our goal is to make e-rupee transactions frictionless and drive its adoption among the most creditworthy Indians,” Shah said. 
While the adoption of the e-rupee saw an initial surge, its usage has since declined, reflecting the broader global challenges central banks face in popularizing digital currencies. Despite these hurdles, the launch of Cred’s e-rupee wallet marks a significant step forward in digitizing currency and the future of fintech in India.
