Kunal Shah to lead WhatsApp as Meta takes a bite of Cred
Meta Platforms Inc. has named fintech entrepreneur Kunal Shah as WhatsApp’s new global president, making an unusual executive transition as part of its $900 million investment in financial services startup Cred.
Shah, who previously founded and sold FreeCharge and supported a number of Indian startups, will replace Will Cathcart, who has led WhatsApp since 2019. Cathcart will move into a new role at Meta focused on building products from the ground up.
“Kunal has built Cred into one of India’s most important technology companies, and he brings the kind of builder mentality and global perspective that will serve him well in running the world’s largest messaging app,” said Meta founder and Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg.
Meta’s Chief Product Officer, Chris Cox, praised Shah as one of India’s most respected entrepreneurs and added: “We are fortunate to have him guiding WhatsApp through this next era.” Meta said Cox sought out Shah when he was looking for a leader who understood WhatsApp’s global product opportunity.
Indian at the helm
This appointment brings an Indian founder to the helm of WhatsApp, which has 3.3 billion monthly active users worldwide. Shah’s role at the helm of WhatsApp comes as the messaging app looks to deepen its role in business messaging and payments, especially in India, its largest market.
Shah left his role as CEO of Cred and joined Meta’s global leadership team. Miten Sampat, who leads strategy and finance at Cred, will take over as interim CEO, while the board is working on a longer-term leadership structure ahead of an eventual initial public offering (IPO).
Meta’s investment will value Cred at $4.5 billion post-money. ₹43,239 crore and holds roughly 20% stake in the company. Stating that the agreement includes both primary and secondary share purchases, Meta added that it will not have access to Cred customer data.
big change
According to Shah, the move marks a major shift from building one of India’s most closely watched fintechs to leading a global consumer platform. Shah founded Cred in 2018 and grew it from a credit card bill payment app into a broader financial services platform spanning payments, lending, insurance, wealth and lifestyle products.
Cred last raised $72 million in June 2025 from GIC, RTP Global, Sofina Ventures, and QED Innovation Labs at a $3.5 billion valuation. With the latest Meta investment, Cred’s total funding to date stands at approximately $1.8 billion.
Cred is trying to show that its premium user base can be leveraged into a broader financial services business. Reported operating income in FY25 ₹2,735 crore, up 16% year-on-year, while operating loss narrowed by 51% ₹298 crore.
The company said its platform currently has 17 million monthly users across payments, lending, insurance, wealth and lifestyle products. It also processes more than 40% of credit card bill payments in India and ₹24,000 crore in assets under management in the lending business.
new category
“I started Cred in 2018 with the belief that creditworthiness deserves to be rewarded,” Shah said. “In less than eight years, this belief has grown into a new category: millions of members, ~ ₹3,200 crore (~$325 million) in revenue, profitability, full licensing stack and a strong brand.”
Shah added that he is stepping down from the operating role as the team continues to drive the business forward.
Cred is also going deeper into payments. Mint Last week, it reported that its biometric UPI feature had reached nearly 10 million users. In May 2026, NPCI data showed Cred had a 0.68% share in UPI transaction volume and 2.04% share in value, while PhonePe and Google Pay continued to dominate the market.
The major changes to Cred come at a time when competition on UPI has intensified among fintech apps such as PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm, Navi, Bhim, Flipkart-backed super.money and WhatsApp Pay. Cred, which started with credit card bill payments and later expanded into UPI and lending, is trying to prove that it can stay relevant as the market gets crowded.
Competition
This competition is important because WhatsApp Pay is also trying to attract attention. According to May 2026 NPCI data, it ranked ninth among UPI applications with 150.43 million transactions. ₹At 11,425.02 crore in terms of value, it is just behind Cred, which is ranked eighth with a 0.68% share in trading volume.
The timing of Meta’s investment in Cred and Shah’s move to WhatsApp also puts two competing UPI targets in the same frame: one built by a startup that started with credit cards and bill payments, the other by a messaging giant still trying to translate scale into payments share.
