[Funding alert] Fintech startup slice raises $20M from Gunosy, Blume Ventures

slice — formerly SlicePay — on Monday said it raised $20 million to compete against the credit card industry in India. Existing investors Gunosy and Blume Ventures, among others, participated in the fundraising.

Besides, the Bengaluru-based payments and credit startup also launched two features today:

1. slice rewards, where members can get up to 2 percent rewards on every card transaction and are instantly redeemable to cash.

2. slice in 3, where members can slice their card bills over three months for free, which means they can get up to 90 days of an interest-free period — the longest in the industry.

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Commenting on the new developments, Rajan Bajaj, Founder and CEO, slice, said,

The banking industry in India has always viewed credit cards as a loan product rather than a high-frequency payment instrument. Therefore, banks’ main focus is to optimise the fees related to credit cards, and there are portfolio teams to increase the loan book. This leaves the customer experience in the corner. However, we see it as a payments product, and we are solving it as a consumer experience problem with a customer-first approach in mind."

"It has directly resulted in our customer acquisition cost being 10 times lower than banks, which becomes a great competitive advantage. We are, therefore, able to pass on the benefits to our users via these game-changing offerings,” he added.

Since the launch of its card in 2019, slice claims to have over three million registered users, growing consistently at 25 percent month-on-month.

The slice super card — which comes with no hidden charges, joining fees, or annual fees — is accepted at 99.95 percent of merchants across India that accepts Visa. With these new developments, slice aims to take on the credit card industry, the startup claims.

Shinji Kimura, Chairman and CEO, Gunosy Inc, said,

“slice’s biggest advantage is how well they understand Millennials and Gen Z. Their approach to solving their issues has been truly refreshing and building something simple and hassle-free has been a part of their DNA since inception. The slice super card has the potential to fundamentally change the way the next generation thinks about the concept of credit cards altogether, and we, at Gunosy, are glad to be a part of their growth story.”