Amex partners Mobikwik to issue prepaid payments card with flexible credit limit

Card network American Express (Amex) has tied up with homegrown fintech company Mobikwik to issue its first prepaid payments card with flexible credit limit.

The move, its first tie-up with a non-bank in India, is set to help Mobikwik pivot from a wallet operator to a financial services-led fintech player, while aiding Amex in accessing the fintech player’s existing customer base.

The company is targeting around a million such digital cards on Mobikwik’s platform, linked with the customer’s wallet accounts.


“The launch of the MobiKwik Blue Card is a milestone in our journey of becoming a full stack fintech platform, bringing Financial Inclusion to the Indian masses and delivering on the promise of Digital India,” said Upasana Taku, the chief operating officer and co-founder of Mobikwik.

“Strategically, the Card increases MobiKwik’s ubiquity at point-of-sale and furthers our aspiration to become India’s largest Digital Credit platform,” Taku added.

The digital card will allow customers to access instant credit of up to Rs 1 lakh, which will be underwritten by Mobikwik.

American Express is an investor in MobiKwik through Amex Ventures, its strategic investment group. In its pilot mode, around 200,000 cards have already been issued, Taku added.

According to Divya Jain, vice president and head of global network services, India and South Asia, at American Express, the partnership with Mobikwik would be first in a list of similar tie-ups with non-banks players to expand its merchant and customer base in India.

“Our endeavour is to build new partnerships and deepen our existing ones to deliver most compelling products and services, to our value- seeking customers,” she said.

American Express in India mostly issues credit cards with value propositions through merchant tie-ups. The new ‘MobiKwik Blue American Express Card’ will also have similar lucrative features, Jain said.