In a first-of-its-kind initiative, slice, India’s largest credit card challenger, today launched 2,000 rupees onwards credit limit cards, making this the most diverse range of credit limits in any card to date. Currently, the credit card penetration in India is under 3 per cent, with around 30 million unique customers. With this new launch, slice opens up the card market for 200 million eligible Indians who are already doing some form of digital transactions.
The card is completely free, and the users will be able to enjoy the same benefits as all other cardholders, irrespective of the limit. Furthermore, this move will also allow people to slowly build their credit score even if they don't have a prior credit history. The application process is completely digital on the slice app and one of the fastest in the industry, where a user can book their card in just a few minutes.
Credit cards are traditionally not built for lower limits because of limitations in risk management capabilities. Commenting on this, Rajan Bajaj, Founder & CEO, slice, said that slice has taken a very different approach to risk underwriting right from the company’s inception in 2016. “In the last few years, we have actively invested in building a strong risk infrastructure by leveraging data science. Without robust risk management capabilities, it's impossible to scale such a business and make such a truly inclusive product. But once the capability is built, no one can take the growth away from you. Currently, with a 50 per cent m-o-m growth, our NPA is still less than 2 per cent, a validation of our superior credit underwriting capabilities.”
Credit cards usually start at an average credit limit of Rs 20,000. Both the eligibility and rewards are based on a user’s credit history and the limit being given, because of which this industry ends up only rewarding those “pre-defined premium customers” at the cost of the ones that are not. “However, I don't believe in this approach. The definition of premium users or top percent of the population is quite mechanical and static in the industry. At slice, we have invested in finding an alternate way to this,” added Rajan.
The slice super card is created to be a rewarding card for all users, irrespective of their credit limit. Every slice member gets up to 2 per cent instant cashback, unique offers across popular merchants like Myntra, Zomato, as well as the option to slice their bill into 3 months without any extra cost.