If you own several credit cards, you know that managing them can be a pain. Be it the hidden charges or the interest levied on missing a deadline, credit cards sure have their caveats. Not only this, a mismanaged credit card could make life difficult as it could affect your credit score, making things difficult when it comes to taking a loan.

So, is there an easy and effective way of managing your credit cards? Well, Cred might be the solution you are looking for, but is it safe?

This article will look at all that Cred has to offer and whether you should use it to make your credit card payments.

Also read: How do credit card numbers work? What is the science behind it?

What is CRED?

Cred is a members-only credit card payment solution that rewards its users every time they pay their credit card bills. This reward is in the form of Cred coins, and members can use them to buy products at a discounted price on the Cred app. Moreover, every time you pay your credit card bill, you get an opportunity to cash in your Cred coins for cashback. This cashback is then instantly credited to your credit card.

Cred is a members-only platform, and you need a minimum credit score of 750 to become a member.

There are a lot of things that Cred does to make the lives of credit card owners simpler. A list of these features is given below.

Historical payment analysis

Although credit cards are a blessing in disguise, they tend to make people spendthrift. So, to help users understand how they use their credit cards, Cred provides a historical analysis of all their payments. Not only this, Cred categorises all your expenditure so that you can understand where you need to spend less.

Simplified credit card statements and reminders

Cred is all about simplifying credit card payments, and we all know that understanding credit card statements can be a little problematic. This is where Cred protects into the picture.

With Cred protect, Cred connects to your email account and creates a simplified version of your statements. The app uses algorithms to open password-protected documents by using personal information provided by the user. Not only does this, but Cred also analyses your unbilled amounts so you can get a birds-eye view of all your expenditure.

Linking your email account to your credit card is a choice, so if you don’t want Cred to look at your emails, you can choose not to give that information to Cred.

Auto repayment

If you have several credit cards, paying on time can be a hassle. To solve this problem, Cred offers an auto repayment feature. This feature automatically pays your credit card bills using a pre-defined payment method. Moreover, if you connect your phone number to Cred, you get automated notifications on Whatsapp that remind you when your bill is due.

Free credit scores

If you own a credit card, you know that knowing your credit score is quintessential, but you have to pay a third party to get an accurate credit score in most cases. That said, if you are a Cred user, you can use your Cred coins to get a credit score report. This report is generated by Equifax, a credit reporting company that has a tie-up with Cred.

In addition to this, Cred also helps you improve your credit score by giving you tips on how credit scores are calculated and how you can improve them. The app also shows your repayment trends, credit utilisation score and repayment score to help you understand what is causing your credit score to take a hit.

Last but not least, Cred shows a list of all the offers your credit card offers so you can save as much as possible when you use your credit card.

Also read: How to get free Google Play credit?

Is CRED safe?

Looking at everything Cred has to offer, one can say that the app simplifies credit card management to a great extent, but is it safe to use?

Cred is PCI DSS compliant when it comes to safety and fulfils all the requirements needed to manage credit card information securely. Furthermore, Cred uses 256-bit encryption to store all your credit card information and is a verified third-party application provider by the NCPI. The app is also partnered with axis bank to process UPI payments.

So when it comes to safety, Cred ticks several checkboxes. That said, to generate smart statements, the app accesses your email account, and according to its privacy policy, CRED states that “We only read emails from financial service providers including banks and credit card issuers and do not open, read or access any personal e-mails.”

CRED stores a lot of personal information like email accounts, mobile numbers, and credit card information to make credit card payments fluid. Giving all this personal information to a single entity can be dangerous because if such data is compromised in a data breach, you have everything to lose. Not only this, Cred is free, and it offers all these services without charging its users. Hence, there is a slight possibility that it uses all this personal information to generate revenue by selling data to third parties.

So to sum it all up, Cred is great for making credit card payments, but the amount of personal information it collects could be dangerous if it gets into the wrong hands.

Is Cred approved by RBI?

Cred is approved by NCPI, which is a part of RBI.

What is CRED? Is it safe?