The Two-in-One Startup: Why Anil Goteti Built Scapia as Card + OTA

Episode notes

Ever wondered how credit card companies actually make money and why your rewards never seem to add up? Anil Goteti, Founder of Scapia, reveals the hidden business of cards: from interchange fees and breakage profits to why banks spend ₹3,500 acquiring each customer and still wait three years to break even. The business of cards in India is a multi-billion dollar industry built on economics most consumers never see. Anil Goteti spent eight years at Flipkart mastering consumer behavior before diving into this opaque world with Scapia, a travel-focused credit card that's raised $72 million to challenge how the card business operates. In this masterclass conversation with host Akshay Datt, Anil deconstructs the entire value chain: how merchant discount rates get split between issuing banks, acquiring banks, and payment networks like Visa and Mastercard, why co-branded card partnerships exist, and how rewards programs are designed so 50% of points expire unused, a profit center called breakage.

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