CheQ, a new fintech app by a Bengaluru-based startup, is promising to provide a convenient, secure, and rewarding way for individuals to pay their credit card bills and loan EMIs. The app also offers a rewards program with a focus on promoting good credit behaviour. According to the company, the CheQ app was launched yesterday (February 14) after a successful beta campaign that saw it clock transactions worth Rs 60 crore in 30 days.
In an email interaction with FE PF Desk after the launch, Aditya Soni, Founder and CEO of CheQ Credit Management platform shared details of what this app offers and what makes it different from other credit management apps already in the market. Edited Excerpts
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How are you going to make the lives of your customers better?
CheQ’s approach can benefit millions of consumers who are currently using only a fraction of their credit opportunities. By providing a platform for users to manage and pay all of their unsecured personal credit bills, CheQ simplifies the process of credit management and understanding. This is a major shift from the traditional approach to credit management in India, where it was often confusing and difficult to keep track of multiple credit bills. All features are built keeping the customer in mind with one goal of improving their credit health. For example, the Credit Dashboard gives users a clear and concise picture of their credit status. This empowers users to make informed decisions about their credit. CheQ also has the most transparent rewards program to incentivize users to make timely repayments and improves their overall financial health.
What are the features that users can access currently?
Our current features include:
- A Comprehensive Credit Dashboard: Users can view all their credit outstanding in one place, including loan EMIs, BNPL, and credit card bills. Our dashboard also provides a comparison of users’ credit scores with others in the country or their peer group, helping them keep track of their credit performance.
- Convenient Bill Repayment: CheQ allows users to repay their loan EMIs, BNPL, and credit card bills in one place, making it easy for users to manage their credit bills. Additionally, our “Pay Together” feature allows users to make one-click payments for multiple bills in a single transaction.
- Rewarding Credit Management: CheQ rewards users for good credit behaviour through our in-app currency, CheQ Chips. Users can earn 1% CheQ Chips on all repayments, which they can then use to repay their credit bills, get vouchers from top brands, or convert to cash.
There are many fintech firms already operating in the lending/credit space. What is special about CheQ?
While there are many fintech firms operating in the lending and credit space in India, CheQ differentiates itself from these other players in several key ways.
CheQ is specifically designed to provide a streamlined and transparent experience for managing all unsecured credit bills. This sets it apart from other bill payment apps that may not have a focus on credit repayment. It offers a transparent and consistent rewards system for timely repayment of credit bills, which incentivizes good payment behaviour and helps improve customers’ credit scores over time. CheQ also caters to a broader range of customers compared to some of its competitors as it doesn’t gate users based on credit scores or specific types of credit products.
What do you expect from the launch of your waitlisting campaign?
We expect the launch of our waitlisting campaign to be a turning point for CheQ. We recently concluded a successful beta campaign with INR 60 Crore worth of transactions in 30 days. Users can now join the waitlist for the CheQ app, available on both Android and iOS. Early access to the app can be unlocked by referring 2 or more users.
To encourage early adoption, CheQ is offering a signup bonus of 100 CheQ Chips, along with an additional 100 chips for each successful referral. Users can earn 1000 CheQ Chips through referrals that are worth up to Rs 1000.
CheQ Chips are the app’s in-app currency, earned as a reward for each payment made through the platform. These chips can be redeemed for vouchers from top brands in the country or converted to cash and withdrawn from the bank. During the beta period, more than 16,000 vouchers were redeemed, with the most popular brands being Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Swiggy, and Zomato.
What is the current number of users that you have already onboarded?
During beta, we had 5000 transacting users who made over 20,000 successful transactions worth Rs 60 Crores.
