Meta Platforms has made a significant investment in Indian fintech firm CRED, committing $900 million as part of the company’s latest funding round, while also bringing CRED founder Kunal Shah into a key global leadership role at WhatsApp.

Under the transaction, Meta will pick up an estimated 20 per cent stake in Bengaluru-based CRED, valuing the company at roughly $4.5 billion after the investment. The deal includes both fresh capital for the company and the purchase of existing shares from current stakeholders.

In a parallel leadership reshuffle, Shah will move out of his role as CRED’s chief executive and take charge of WhatsApp, replacing Will Cathcart, who has led the messaging platform for the past seven years. Cathcart is set to transition within Meta to work on new artificial intelligence-focused initiatives.

Meta said Shah’s mandate at WhatsApp will centre on the platform’s next growth phase, especially around monetisation, business tools, subscriptions and AI-powered services. The company has been expanding its focus on turning WhatsApp into a larger commercial and business ecosystem, particularly through messaging tools, enterprise features and AI assistants.

With Shah stepping away from day-to-day operations at CRED, the company has named Miten Sampat as interim CEO. Sampat, who has handled finance and strategy at the fintech startup for several years, will oversee operations while the board works on a longer-term leadership structure. The company is also expected to continue preparations for a future public listing.

Founded in 2018, CRED first gained popularity by rewarding users for paying credit card bills on time, but it has since expanded into a wider financial-services play. Its offerings now span payments, lending, insurance, wealth products and consumer lifestyle services.

The company says it has built a large member base in India and has become a major player in the credit-card payments ecosystem. It also claims strong scale across its lending business and says its financial performance has improved significantly, with revenue growth and profitability strengthening its case for long-term expansion.

For Meta, the move signals a deeper push into India’s digital economy while also tying its messaging ambitions more closely to commerce, financial services and AI. For CRED, the investment delivers both capital and strategic heft, even as it enters a new phase without its founder at the operational helm.