The Card Company launches a prepaid metal card
That sells premium perks without a credit check
An Indian fintech, The Card Company, has launched a metal prepaid card offering the perks usually reserved for premium credit cards — airport lounges, hotel benefits and rewards: without the credit check or income proof those cards demand. It is a bet that premium-card features can be sold to a far wider base, decoupled from creditworthiness.
Premium cards in India have always been gated by underwriting: you qualify on income and credit score. By putting the perks on a prepaid card that needs only KYC, The Card Company is trying to reach customers a bank's credit team would turn away; students, gig workers, the self-employed, and to compete with credit-card issuers from below rather than head-on.
The card runs on the domestic RuPay network and is issued under the company's RBI licence for prepaid payment instruments. Customers complete KYC, load a wallet and order the physical card with one of two feature plans — Travel or Lifestyle. The company said each card carries benefits it values at more than INR 50,000, including airport-lounge access, five-star buffet offers and buy-one-get-one coffee, and that spending earns rewards it calls Gold Coins, redeemable as digital gold.
"Our mission is to democratise feature cards to all Indians," said Sandeepan Kashyap, chief executive and co-founder of The Card Company, adding that the card is built on the "indigenous RuPay network."
The economics are worth reading closely. The perks are not free: the feature plan costs INR 5,999 plus tax, and the "INR 50,000+" figure is the company's own valuation of a bundle of third-party offers, not cash value. As a launch offer the metal card is thrown in free with a plan; bought on its own it is INR 3,999 plus tax. The company describes it as what it calls India's first premium prepaid metal card, where prepaid refers to the only an upfront fee and no need for a collateral or underwriting.
The Card Company, under management of Pockket Payment Technologies Private Limited, a fintech firm incorporated in 2021, is licensed by the RBI to issue prepaid payment instruments. The parent company and financial backer operates 'Fyp Money', a digital banking platform for teenagers.
The Card Company's pitch sits in a crowded fintech push into premium-feeling cards, where lounge access and rewards have become standard marketing, and where the real test is whether a paid prepaid bundle beats a free or low-fee credit card for the customer who can already get one. The card is available now through the company's app.
Meanwhile, customers eligible for free premium credit cards from most banks already receive many comparable benefits at no additional cost. The product's success will therefore hinge on whether enough consumers believe the membership offers sufficient incremental value to justify its INR 5,999 price tag.
