Cred’s app had started off by claiming it was only for those with credit scores of 750 and above, but it appears that it maintains those high standards with its workforce as well.
Cred CEO Kunal Shah has said that Cred only hires employees with credit scores of 750 or more. “Your resume might be impressive, but is your credit score? Kunal Shah says Cred only hires those with credit scores of 750 or above- so it’s not just your CV that needs to be in top shape!” wrote CNBC journalist Ritu Singh on X.
It’s not every day that a startup has a credit score requirement for its hiring process, but Cred has focused on credit scores ever since it was founded in 2018. Back in the day, the company had positioned itself as an exclusive club that was only meant for people with high credit scores. It even had a tagline which said “Not everyone gets it,” referencing the high credit score that was required to use the app. This helped Cred create buzz around its product, and get many high-value users.
Over the years, Cred has moved its focus from being available to those only with high credit scores, and has gone a lot more mass market — it advertises heavily during the IPL, and has now aimed to go beyond India’s most credit worthy users. But having a requirement of having a high credit score as a part of its recruitment could be useful culture hack for its workforce — people with high credit scores would likely be able to build and design a product that appeals to people with similarly high credit scores. An unusual requirement like the entire workforce having high credit scores could also foster an ingroup culture, and lead to more cohesion among employees. It’s an unusual tack, but given how Cred has given India some of its best UI/UX and ads over the last few years, it clearly seems to be working.