SimpL versus Cred

I should have deleted Cred but I didn’t… instead I got sucked in!!!

SimpL is a credit app.

It picks up your bill for you and sends you a reminder to pay it back to them over three months.

I used SimpL to pay for some whey protein — 8.8 lb @ ₹8076 — because the Muscle Blaze website had an offer on SimpL that was too good for me to resist. They had a ₹425 cash back offer. A cashback offer means that when the next installment is paid, the app will pay ₹425 on my behalf and I pay the rest.

I still don’t quite understand why SimpL gives me free credit, but I’m guessing two things here:

1. SimpL is trying to find out what I like to buy so that they can nudge me in the direction of their advertisers.
2. They’re hoping I’ll be strapped for cash the day I have to pay and then they can charge me interest.

I liked SimpL. It is simple! It picks up the money from my Google Pay account and is easy for me to pay and pay back. The offer was good, the cashback is genuine and hassle free.

What about Cred?

Cred is another credit-based app that also has a UPI link. By UPI link I mean, “unified payments interface” link, a link to pay for anything straight out of your bank account and into the merchant’s, via your phone and into the merchant’s phone.

When I tried to get the cashback through Cred, I couldn’t. They said I had had two options, to accept credit(they pay for me, and I pay back later) or I pay the bill right away. As I had selected to pay the bill right away, I received a cash back of just ₹10 instead of the solid ₹500 cashback I had been anticipating.

The Cred app has roulette wheels for online games that lead to vouchers for products that they’re pushing. For example, Tide is selling its pods at a 25%discount if you pay through Cred. The problem is, they only accept the 25% off voucher for the pods, which are pretty expensive per wash. The offer wasn’t valid on their more popular washing powder or liquid detergents.

Of the two, I preferred SimpL for the simplicity. I didn’t like Cred for all its flashing symbols and “click here!”

The Cred app made me anxious, but the joke is on me. Soon after downloading the app, I used offers from those very flashing lights to buy a mobile phone stand at a good…