Fresh concerns have emerged over the growing presence of foreign technology companies in India’s digital finance ecosystem following Meta’s investment in fintech platform CRED.
According to the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), Meta’s investment of USD 900 million, or around Rs 8,550 crore, in CRED raises questions about increasing foreign influence over India’s fintech sector and its financial data ecosystem. The think tank also noted that CRED founder Kunal Shah has been appointed as the new global head of WhatsApp.
GTRI said the deal gives Meta a presence in one of India’s largest repositories of consumer financial behaviour data. Founded in 2018, CRED has around 17 million users and collects information related to credit cards, repayment records, spending patterns, bill payments, loans, investments, insurance purchases and UPI transactions.
According to GTRI Founder Ajay Srivastava, CRED processes more than 40% of India’s credit card bill payments, providing insights into the financial behaviour of affluent consumers.
He said, “The central issue is not whether Meta gains access to CRED’s data today. It is whether India is gradually allowing control over the financial data of millions of economically active citizens to migrate into foreign-owned digital ecosystems. The Meta-CRED deal may ultimately be remembered less as a funding round and more as a milestone in that transition.”
The think tank highlighted that digital payment platforms such as PhonePe, Google Pay and WhatsApp Pay are already linked to Walmart, Google and Meta, respectively. In contrast, China built its payments ecosystem through domestic companies such as Alipay and WeChat Pay, keeping ownership and strategic control within the country.
GTRI warned that India’s approach could result in valuable financial data assets becoming part of foreign-controlled ecosystems. It added that while customer data may not be accessible to Meta at present, such information could eventually be used directly or indirectly, including for training AI models.
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