Google-backed Twid launches UPI app that turns reward points into spendable money

Twid, a Bengaluru-based payments startup, has launched a UPI app that allows users to pay with their accumulated reward points from credit cards and loyalty programmes.

The company has built a "payment network" for rewards that sits between banks, merchants, and payment gateways. Users link their reward accounts through the app, which then shows all available points from various credit card issuers or merchants in one place.

“At TWID, we are on a mission to turn rewards into a real currency of choice," said Amit Koshal, Co-founder and CEO of Twid, in a statement. "Our aim is to build a more flexible, interoperable, and inclusive payment ecosystem—where consumers have more choice, and businesses unlock more value.”

Customers can now split a single payment between their reward points and regular money. When the reward points come from a bank programme, the remaining amount is paid through a BIN-locked RuPay card (a secure, bank-issued virtual card tied to UPI). For non-bank rewards—like SuperCoins, initially launched by Flipkart or CRED points—the balance is paid directly through UPI.

The Twid app manages all of this automatically: it converts points into rupee value, applies them at checkout, and handles the background settlement between banks, brands, and merchants. For the user, the process looks like any normal UPI payment—except part of the bill is covered by rewards.

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Founders say that Twid's competitive advantage comes from a custom-built technical infrastructure. Indian banks and loyalty programmes lacked APIs to expose real-time points balances and redemption capabilities. Twid convinced issuers to build these APIs and integrate them into a unified platform.

"These APIs never existed in the country," said Amit Koshal, Co-founder and CEO. "We got it created by banks." The company now has access to over $2.2 billion worth of points across its network." Each bank and payment gateway required custom development work on core systems, he added.

Integrating with Twid also gives banks a low-cost window to re-engage with a dormant customer, the company noted. When a customer uses their leftover points at a merchant like Myntra or BookMyShow, the bank gets that customer transacting again. For the credit card issuer, the cost is the points the bank already owes them, not new marketing spend.

The new app also marks a departure from Twid’s earlier, purely embedded model. Until now, the company’s “Pay with Rewards” feature lived inside merchant checkouts, discovered passively alongside cards and UPI options.

Twid now works with about 15 banks and non-bank issuers, including IndusInd Bank, Yes Bank, Bank of Baroda, and programmes offered by Flipkart, Jupiter, and CRED. The platform connects to over 100,000 merchants, including Swiggy, JioMart, MakeMyTrip, BookMyShow, and McDonald's. In 2024 alone, customers redeemed nearly 3 billion points through Twid's system.

The new UPI app also introduces a native loyalty programme called TWID Stars, through which users earn points on every transaction made through the app. Although the company did not disclose how much each point is worth.

Founded in 2020 by Amit Koshal, Rishi Batra, and Amit Sharma, Twid raised Series A funding of $12 million led by Rakuten Capital and Google in 2022. The startup has attracted attention from notable investors, including Peak XV (formerly Sequoia India's Surge programme), BEENEXT, and JAFCO Asia. Google marked Twid as its first direct Series A investment from its balance sheet in India.

India generates roughly $5 billion worth of reward points annually, according to Twid's estimates, though this pales in comparison to the $54 billion issued yearly in the United States. The company sees the fragmentation of rewards programmes as a global problem and has signalled international expansion, though it remains focused on the Indian market for now.