BCCI announces credit card payment app CRED as official IPL partner for three seasons

Indian Cricket’s governing body, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday announced credit card payment app CRED as an official partner for three seasons of the Indian Premiere League (IPL). BCCI communicated the news through their official twitter handle:

BCCI announces CRED as Official Partner for IPL #Dream11IPL pic.twitter.com/4tKH4jOhTn — BCCI (@BCCI) September 1, 2020

The announcement comes just four days after online learning platform Unacademy was declared as an official IPL partner for the next three seasons.

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly appreciated his team’s efforts of roping in a partner in such tough economic conditions, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Well done bcci .. in this tuff market situation .. https://t.co/JMC9ptWTFN

— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) September 1, 2020

Like Unacademy, CRED is also a Bengaluru-based startup. It was launched by Kunal Shah in 2018.

CRED’s official website describes them as “A members-only club that rewards individuals for their timely credit card bill payments by providing them with exclusive offers and access to premium experiences. It is a platform that allows credit card users to manage multiple cards along with an analysis of their credit score. Members with a high Experian or CRIF score are eligible for exclusive rewards upon payment of their credit card bills through the app.”

The app aims to make timely payments of credit card bills more rewarding by tying-up with several top-brands like Diesel, Cure.Fit, Myntra, Olive Bar & Kitchen, Urban Ladder, Airbnb, BookMyShow among several others. When a member makes a credit card payment through the app, they get access to a variety of rewards of such as access to events, experiences, gift cards and upgrades from the aforementioned brands.  

CRED is the second business initiative by Shah, he had earlier founded Freecharge.

Earlier in August, fantasy gaming platform Dream11 had won IPL sponsorship rights with the highest bid of Rs 222 Crore. Dream11 replaced Chinese phone manufacturer Vivo as the title sponsors.

IPL 2020 is all set to take place from September 19 till November 10 in the UAE across three venues – Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi.