India’s food delivery giant Swiggy launches credit card

Swiggy has become the latest Indian startup to offer its customers a credit card as the food delivery giant broadens its efforts to drive engagement and retention.

The Bengaluru-headquartered startup is co-launching the credit card with HDFC Bank, India’s largest private bank. The credit card will offer customers a 10% cashback on spends on Swiggy and 5% across over 1,000 partnered platforms including Amazon, Adidas, Zara, Flipkart, Nike, Uber and BookmyShow, Swiggy said.

The card, powered by Mastercard, will also offer a three-month subscription to Swiggy One, a service that waives off delivery charges, and 1% cashback on all other spends, said the startup, which is backed by Prosus, SoftBank, Accel and Invesco. It will also extend a few Mastercard benefits, Swiggy said.

Swiggy joins a roster of a long-list of non-fintech Indian startups that have launched a credit card in recent years. The credit cards give the startups an avenue to diversify their revenue streams, make better use of customer data, and stimulate spending.

These cards, often laden with tailored benefits, deepen customer loyalty and provide a lucrative gateway into the country’s burgeoning middle-class market, bolstering growth in a fiercely competitive landscape, analysts say. Zomato, Swiggy’s publicly-listed chief rival in India, has also made similar offerings in the past.

“We recognize that modern-day consumers actively seek rewards, offers, and cashback programs that add value to their spending. Keeping this in mind, we have launched this all-encompassing card in partnership with HDFC Bank and Mastercard that makes everyday shopping moments across a range of categories more rewarding and convenient,” said Rahul Bothra, Swiggy CFO, in a statement.