BUSINESS: After bill payments and credit cards, Adani Group’s super app Adani One has started a pilot project to offer loans on the platform in collaboration with digital lending firms and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), two sources close to the matter told Moneycontrol. The firm, which is under Adani Digital Labs Ltd, the digital arm of Adani Enterprises Ltd, has finalised a deal with KrazyBee Services, the NBFC arm of fintech firm KreditBee, as its co-lending partner to offer personal loans.
According to sources,
Adani One is in talks with other NBFCs and fintech players to offer credit products to its customers. As part of the agreement, Adani Digital will act as a loan service provider (LSP) while personal loans ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 5 lakh will be offered from KrazyBee’s books. Commissions will vary depending on the size of the contract and loan. “More partnerships are on the way. As of now, one (CreditBee) has completed the pilot and the personal loan facility will appear on the app soon,” a source said. Queries sent to CreditBee and Adani One did not receive a response. This latest development is a step towards Adani’s super app strategy, which was previously limited to travel and airport-related services. The company also offers a co-branded credit card with ICICI Bank for offers on travel and flight bookings. The app also offers bill payments on the platform courtesy of a linkage with Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS), which aggregates all utility billers, insurance premium payments and loan repayments. The move is significant as another conglomerate, Tata Group, is still refining its super app New, more than two years after launch and an investment of about $2 billion. Interestingly, CreditBee is also one of the lending partners for Tata New along with Tata Capital, Cash, Moneyview and DMI Finance. Beyond airports
Launched in December 2022, the Adani One app offers users a range of services including cab services, flight bookings, shopping within Adani-operated airports, rewards redemption, loyalty program, sampling and porter services.
The loyalty program on the Adani One app is similar to Tata New, allowing users to earn and redeem reward points on flight bookings, shopping and more.
Adani One has strengthened its services by acquiring stakes in two travel tech firms in the last two years—Flipkart-owned Cleartrip (20% stake) and Trainman, a Goodwater Capital-backed train booking portal.
After initially focusing on a captive user base at Adani-operated airports, Adani One has started moving into more consumer businesses, aiming to capture a larger digital ecosystem. It introduced bill payments last year and a co-branded credit card in June 2024.
This strategy leverages the Adani Group’s large existing consumer base of 400 million across its airports, power and gas distribution businesses. According to the Financial Times, the company is also working on offering its own UPI payments service by applying for a third party application provider (TPAP) licence from the National Payments Corporation of India (NCPI).
“They have been slow and steady in their approach to developing a super app, which was initially a basic consumer app for airports,” said a senior executive from the relevant sector.
“They are now looking for mid-sized deals in the fintech space to boost the app’s digital presence and expand its user base.”
Earlier in May, the group was rumoured to be vying for a stake in fintech major Paytm. Reports suggested that Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma met Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani in Ahmedabad to discuss the contours of the deal, but the company issued a clarification terming the talks as “speculation”.
Super app frenzy
According to the company’s annual report, the app recorded a gross merchandise value (GMV) of Rs 750 crore in the 12 months ended March 2024, while the user base grew to 30 million.
“The digital business has achieved a significant milestone with the successful validation of the alpha version of its platform [its first theme, travel], with the aim of continually evolving into a leading super app catering to a wide range of use cases,” the FY24 annual report said.
The company aims to connect with 500 million users through super apps by 2030 across various Adani portfolio and partner services.
The much-hyped super app craze in India has still not caught on with the Indian consumer, despite several players entering the market.
While there are several contenders, no clear leader has emerged yet.
Reliance and Tata have integrated their consumer services into super apps MyJio and Neu respectively. Meanwhile, apps like Paytm are moving beyond their fintech roots to include segments like food delivery and travel and rebranding themselves as super apps.
Traditional companies are also joining the race.
