Fintechs scale RuPay co-branded cards as UPI credit gains traction

Fintech firms are accelerating co-branded RuPay credit card launches as UPI linkage drives small-ticket credit use, boosts transaction volumes, and deepens integration of credit into everyday digital

Fintechs are stepping up their efforts to launch co-branded credit cards on homegrown card network RuPay, as they seek to fold credit more tightly into user behaviour at a time when the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has become central to their strategy.

 

Companies are partnering with issuers to scale the rollout of co-branded RuPay cards, building up a portfolio that includes secured and unsecured credit cards.

 

A key driver is the ability to link RuPay cards to UPI, allowing small-ticket debit spends to migrate to credit. Combined with a native RuPay-UPI stack, this allows companies to deliver a more integrated, in-app payments experience.

 

In 2025 alone, fintech companies such as Cred, super.money, PhonePe, Google Pay, and others announced co-branded partnerships with issuers.

 

“Earlier, what was happening was typical user behaviour — choose convenience for low-value payments and use UPI. For high-value transactions, they wanted to optimise for rewards and hence the card was preferred. These worlds have just converged with the UPI-RuPay linkage,” said Akshay Aedula, product and growth, Cred.

 

This is reflected in numbers. Aedula added that 20 per cent of Scan and Pay transactions on the Cred app are on RuPay credit cards.

 

The push towards RuPay credit cards comes as fintechs also tap new-to-credit users using secured cards. They also offering a UPI-linked credit experience to those already on Mastercard and Visa, or those with cards that cannot be integrated with the UPI system.

 

“There are existing credit card users who want a UPI card because their existing card portfolio is not linkable on UPI. Then there is a new-to-credit (NTC) cohort where the secured card has taken off, which becomes the first card of choice. People use RuPay cards for UPI-related use cases and other cards for other purchases,” said Prakash Sikaria, chief executive officer (CEO), super.money.

 

Sikaria added that the company was issuing more than 75,000 cards per month.

 

Industry estimates the value of RuPay credit card spends to be in the range of 15 to 20 per cent of overall spends within the category.

What are secured credit cards and how do they work?

Secured credit cards are backed by a user’s cash deposit. This deposit acts as collateral and determines the credit limit for the user.

How are fintechs monetising RuPay credit card usage?

The ability to transact smaller ticket-size spends on UPI QRs can also boost volumes of credit card payments. Even if the total transacted value is lower, the higher frequency of transactions is prompting fintechs to scale this space.

 

Fintech players, particularly third-party application providers (TPAPs), have now built a large base of daily transacting users thanks to the widespread acceptance of UPI and credit instruments.

 

The question remains whether existing cardholders prefer to make their RuPay cards the primary card for payments even as the experience remains native.

 

“If someone moves to RuPay cards as their primary cards, their total card utilisation increases because now every purchase can become a credit card purchase. One can use their other cards for larger purchases like air travel or higher-ticket shopping,” Sikaria explained.

 

According to the industry, higher spending on credit implies that everyone in the chain — issuers and fintechs — earns a share of interchange income, which is otherwise not possible on regular UPI transactions, which are currently free of any merchant discount rate (MDR).

How is tokenisation shaping the RuPay credit card ecosystem?

Aedula from Cred added that the company was also tokenising the cards that it was issuing to its users.

 

“As we issue these cards, we’re also tokenising them in the process. The card becomes instantly available at multiple online merchants at once. We’re seeing spends take off fast. Else, typically what happens in cards is that it takes time to build over months,” he explained.

 

This means that a single tokenised card on a device can be used across multiple merchants connected to a fintech platform or payment aggregator partner.

 

Transaction volumes are expected to increase as device tokenisation for cardholders expands, making card tokens effectively interoperable across platforms. Earlier, a card tokenised on a food delivery platform could not be used on an e-commerce site under the card-on-file model since tokens were stored separately by each entity. The token is tied to a single device, which only allows authorised access from a single source of transaction, preventing misuse and threats of large-scale data leaks.

 

Device tokenisation can also speed up checkouts, as customers no longer need to manually enter card details for each transaction. This helps increase spending and reduces cart abandonment during the final stage of an online purchase.