 "How to maximise your Diwali shopping with festive credit card offers")
This festive season has brought a treasure trove of offers from banks, e-commerce giants and other big brands, all aimed at capturing the hearts and wallets of enthusiastic shoppers. Starting with Durga Puja and Dussehra, this season of celebration extends right through Dhanteras, Diwali, and Chhath Puja.
To tap into the festivity-driven spending spree, banks every year roll out a dazzling array of credit card deals. However, optimising benefits gets easier if you choose a card that matches your spending patterns.
Credit cards with a range of features and benefits, allow users to make online and in-store payments, build a good credit history, and offer access to funds in an instant during emergencies. Banks offer rewards like points or cashback on credit card purchases, travel perks such as access to airport lounges and travel insurance, and protection for purchases with extended warranties, among others. These rewards get maximised during the festive season.
Notably, credit card offers also depend on the type of card and eligible customers. Banks often in partnership with brands offer credit cards with major perks in a specific category.
For example, the HDFC Bank Regalia Gold Credit Card offers reward points on lifestyle brands like Marks & Spencer, Myntra and Nykaa. Additionally, the card also provides complimentary offers on lounge access at over 1,000 airports for travellers. On the other hand, HDFC Bank MoneyBack+ Credit Card is more suitable for everyday purchases, offering 10X CashPoints on Amazon, BigBasket, Flipkart, Reliance Smart SuperStore and Swiggy.
Here's a glimpse of what major banks are offering with their credit cards for this festive season:
State Bank of India
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The State Bank of India has collaborated with several top brands, offering customers across diverse categories such as travel, dining, entertainment, health, lifestyle, and shopping. Here are some of the top deals:
- 10 per cent instant discount at Amazon
- Up to 20 per cent instant discount on Bosch products
- Up to 10 per cent instant discount on Dell products
- Up to 22.5 per cent instant discount on Haier products
- Up to 27.5 per cent cashback on Samsung purchases
- 12 per cent instant discount on domestic flights booked via Yatra and ixigo
- 5 per cent cashback at Max Stores
- 10 per cent instant discount on Paytm Restaurant deals
- The 'Happy Dining' program on SBI credit cards offer a discount of up to 15 per cent on dining with partner restaurants of SBI Cards.
HDFC Bank ‘Festive Treats’
HDFC Bank has rolled out a plethora of deals spanning its entire array of credit card variants, as a part of its Festival Treat Offers. Festive Treats encompass 10,000+ offers on Cards & EASYEMI with banking products like loans, cards, consumer loans, cardless EMIs, and other products. Here are some of the offers that span across travel, dining, lifestyle, and shopping.
HDFC Bank Regalia Gold Credit Card
- 5X Reward Points on purchases at Marks & Spencer, Myntra, Nykaa, and Reliance Digital.
- Complimentary lounge access at over 1000 airports.
- Complimentary Club Vistara Silver Tier and MakeMyTrip Black Elite membership as Welcome benefits.
HDFC Bank Millennia Credit Card
- 5 per cent cashback on Amazon, BookMyShow, Cult.fit, Flipkart, Myntra, Sony LIV, Swiggy, Tata CLiQ, Uber, and Zomato.
- 1 per cent cashback on all other expenses (excluding Fuel), including EMI and Wallet transactions.
HDFC Bank MoneyBack+ Credit Card
- 10X CashPoints on Amazon, BigBasket, Flipkart, Reliance Smart SuperStore, and Swiggy.
- 5X CashPoints on EMI spends at various merchant locations.
Kotak Mahindra Bank
Kotak Mahindra Credit Card offers festival offers, special discounts on lifestyle products, shopping for gifts and vacation plans, among others. Here are some of the deals you should know about:
- 10 per cent off on Myntra.
- 20 per cent off on Ed Sheeran ‘India Tour 2024 tickets and 48-hour exclusive pre-sale.
- 20 per cent off on Disney+ Hotstar subscription.
- 10 per cent instant discount on Flipkart.
- 20 per cent cashback on Bosch & Siemens, Godrej and Oppo.
- 10 per cent cashback on BOSE.
- 15 per cent cashback on Yatra.
Bank of Baroda ‘#FestiveShoppingRewards’
Bank of Baroda (BoB) is offering several rewards and offers for all its credit card holders under its '#FestiveShoppingRewards' initiative, which is currently live across all the bank's channels. The offer is available with brands such as Amazon, Flipkart, Paytm, Xiaomi, MMT, and more, both online and in-store.
The bank is also offering deals and offers on EMI payments and a diverse spectrum of shopping categories, including electronics, fashion, travel, online shopping, grocery, home decor, furnishings, and recharges. Here are some of the top deals being offered for BoB Credit cardholders:
- Amazon Great India Festival Sale with 10 per cent off.
- Flipkart Sale with 10 per cent off sitewide.
- Yatra Sale with up to 20 per cent off.
- Croma Sale with 10 per cent off. The offer is available at Croma stores.
Axis Bank
Axis Bank has also come out with a range of offers on its credit cards under various categories such as dining, travel, rewards and entertainment. To name a few:
- Up to 10 per cent instant discount in Flipkart Big Billion Days
- 10 per cent instant discount on purchase of Rs 1,500 from TataCliq
- Up to 15 per cent off on Goibibo international hotel booking
- Flat 15 per cent instant discount on domestic booking in MakeMyTrip
- Flat 10 per cent off on minimum purchase of Rs 2,500 from Amazon Fresh
IndusInd Bank
IndusInd Bank offers several benefits on its wide range of credit cards. Notably, consumers can get IndusInd's instant credit cards with 100 per cent digital application process. The credit cards offer deals throughout the year, on shopping, dining, booking flight and movie tickets. Here are some a list of top deals:
- Flat 15 per cent off on Titan
- 15 per cent off on Eazydiner
- Flat Rs 400 off on Myntra
- 12 per cent cashback on EMI conversion on Indigo Airline bookings every Saturday and Sunday
- Flat Rs 300 off on Ajio
- Up to Rs 3000 off on EaseMyTrip with IndusInd Bank Cards
Standard Chartered
With a Standard Chartered Credit Card, you can avail of discounts and cashback across various categories such as travel, dining, entertainment, and more. To name a few:
- 25 per cent discount at Easemytrip.
- 5 per cent instant discount on Ola Electric scooters.
- Up to 22.5 per cent cashback on Samsung and LG products.
- Up to 20 per cent cashback on Panasonic gadgets.
- 15 per cent instant discount on EazyDiner.
AU Small Finance Bank ‘Heart to Cart” Shopping Festival
AU Small Finance Bank's 'Heart to Cart' Shopping Festival, starting from October 15 to November 15, 2023, offers a range of deals on AU Credit Cards and Debit Cards across diverse categories, such as electronics, travel, groceries, dining, and more. The festival features over 30 marquee brand partnerships and Merchant EMI options with over 60 brands and merchants.
- Shoppers have the chance to win premium smartphones and Amazon Vouchers.
- Special cricket match offers during ongoing cricket matches like, 20 per cent discount (up to Rs 200) on Zomato online orders and 20 per cent discount (up to Rs 1,000) on dining while watching matches.
- Discounts on Swiggy, Tata CLiQ, Blinkit, Zomato, BookMyShow, domestic and international flights, and Gostor.com.
- 5 per cent cashback on jewellery purchases using AU Credit Cards.
- Home loan customers get a 0.25 per cent processing fee waiver.
- Gold loan customers receive zero processing fees for loans up to Rs 3 lakhs.
RBL Bank
The Mumbai-headquartered private lender is offering deals in various categories like shopping, travel, dining and entertainment with a range of cards. Top offers on RBL Bank Credit Card:
- Flat Rs 150 off on Bigbasket.
- 10 per cent off on Amazon.
- 50 per cent off on Oven Story Pizza.
- Additional 5 per cent discount on PharmEasy.
- Flat 25 per cent off on MediBuddy Gold.
- Rs 3,000 off on Joyalukkas diamond jewellery.
Various credit cards offered by the bank, such as RBL Bank Platinum Maxima Credit Card, RBL Bank World Safari Credit Card, RBL Bank Icon Credit Card, RBL Bank Popcorn Credit Card, RBL Bank Shoprite Credit Card and RBL Platinum Delight Credit Card, come with their own perks.
Paytm Credit Card Offerings
One of India's leading payment gateway Paytm offers credit cards in partnership with SBI and HDFC Bank. With SBI, Paytm is offering 2 credit card variants for its users – Paytm SBI Card & Paytm SBI Card SELECT. Here are some credit card deals on Paytm SBI Card:
- Up to 5 per cent unlimited cashback.
- Benefits up to Rs 75,000.
- Airport lounge access (4 domestic airport lounge visits each year).
- Cyber fraud insurance of up to Rs 2 lakh.
On the other hand, Paytm HDFC Bank Credit Card is a credit card exclusive for Paytm customers. With Paytm HDFC Bank Credit Card holders get up to 5 per cent off on shopping, dining, travel & hotel booking with additional cashback of up to 10 per cent.
Here is a list of offers by specific brand and exclusive Diwali sale deals compiled by Paisabazaar
| Brand | Card Issuer | Offer Details | Validity |
| Flipkart Dussehra Sale | Kotak Mahindra Bank, RBL Bank, SBI Card | 10% off, up to Rs. 1,250 on a minimum order of Rs. 5,000 | October 22- October 29 |
| Axis Bank | Unlimited 5% cashback through Flipkart Axis Credit Card | NA | |
| Amazon Great Indian Festival | HDFC Bank | 10% instant discount, up to Rs. 10,000 on EasyEMI Cards | October 22- October 27 |
| Bank of Baroda | 10% instant discount, up to Rs. 8,000 | October 22- October 27 | |
| ICICI Bank | 5% instant discount + unlimited 5% back on a minimum order of Rs. 2,500 | October 22- October 27 | |
| OneCard | 10% instant discount, up to Rs. 2,500 | October 22- October 27 | |
| Myntra Dussehra Sale | AU Bank, RBL Bank, IDFC First Bank, RuPay Credit Card, OneCard | 10% instant discount, up to Rs. 1,000 on a minimum order value of Rs. 3,500 | October 20- October 25 |
| ICICI Bank | 10% instant discount, up to Rs. 200 on a minimum order value of Rs. 3,500 | NA | |
| Swiggy | RuPay Credit Cards | Extra 20% off, up to Rs. 200 on transactions above Rs. 249 | NA |
| OneCard | Extra 10% off, up to Rs. 40 on orders above Rs. 249 | NA | |
| AU Bank | Additional 15% off, up to Rs. 125 on transactions above Rs. 399 | NA | |
| Zomato | ICICI Bank | Flat Rs. 100 off, up to Rs. 100 on orders above Rs. 599 Code: ICICICCNEW | NA |
| Canara Bank | 15% off, up to Rs. 125 on orders above Rs. 399 Code: CANARAFEST | NA | |
| Axis Bank | 10% off, up to Rs. 100 on orders above Rs. 399 Code: AXISWORLDCUP | Till October 31 | |
| Croma | Federal Bank | 10% discount, up to Rs. 2,000 on non-EMI transactions 10%, up to Rs. 3,000 cashback on EMI transactions | Wednesday |
| IDFC First Bank | 5% off, up to Rs. 1,500 on non-EMI transactions 10%, up to Rs. 2,000 cashback on EMI transactions | Monday | |
| ICICI Bank | Up to Rs. 1,000 instant discount on EMI transactions Up to Rs. 1,500 instant discount on non-EMI transactions | Thursday | |
| Up to Rs. 1,500 instant discount | Friday & Saturday | ||
| HDFC Bank | 7.5% off, up to Rs. 3,000 discount | Friday | |
| HSBC Bank | 7.5% off, up to Rs. 7,500 discount | Saturday & Sunday | |
| Tata CLiQ | Kotak | 10% instant discount, up to Rs. 1,000 on orders above Rs. 1,500 | October 17- November 3 |
| Axis Bank | 10% instant discount, up to Rs. 200 on orders above Rs. 1,500 Code: CLIQAXIS200 | 1 October- December 31 | |
| OneCard | 10% instant discount, up to Rs. 500 on orders above Rs. 1,500 Code: ONECLIQ10 | September 17 - October 31 |
If you pair the right credit cards together, you can save a lot of money. For example, instead of just a single credit card, you can use multiple credit cards across different categories like fuel, shopping, travel, etc. This way you will have access to high reward points and exclusive benefits across all your spending categories whether you have to out for dinner, go for a vacation, refuel your vehicle, etc.
How to make the most of your credit card for Diwali 2023
Using your credit card wisely can help you maximize the benefits and value. Bankbazaar shares the most effective ways to do this:
Use multiple credit cards for all Diwali purchases: If you have more than one credit card, make sure to spread out your spends across all of them. There are various benefits for this: The reward points or discounts offered on each card can be different for different categories. For example, if you're driving down to your native place, use the credit card that offers maximum points on fuel purchases. If you're spending on entertainment to treat your family to a Diwali movie, use a card that offers discounts or freebies for such spends. This will help you get more value for your money.
Using multiple credit cards also helps to make sure you don’t overspend on just one and keeps your Credit Utilisation Ratio within limits (below 30% is what financial experts suggest).
It helps you get different interest-free periods on different purchases, which makes it easier to manage your budget in the long run.
Use co-branded credit cards that will offer higher reward points or cashback for specific categories.
Make sure you keep track of your credit card spends so that you don't exceed your credit utilisation ratio.
Secondly, most reward points come with an expiry date and you must use them before they are wasted. Also, card issuers change rewards points on different spends and categories so be sure to monitor that frequently.
Paisabazaar advises users to ensure routine purchases through credit cards. These credit cards not only make transactions more convenient but also let you save money. It is best to use cards with a strong online rewards program or a flat cashback rate. As you put most of your day-to-day expenses on your credit card, you get used to cashless transactions and this eventually leads to a higher accumulation of credit card rewards. In the future, you can redeem these reward points and save more.