The festive season brings the annual shopping spree that lakhs of Indians engage in every year. But any festive season shopping is incomplete without the special deals, discounts, cashbacks, etc., that credit cards offer. So before you go about hunting for the right credit card for the biggest discounts or cashback, here’s what you should know.
The first thing most people look at is the offer. Of course, that is important, but it should not be the only thing they look at.
You should check the joining and annual fees, reward structure, spending conditions, discount caps, billing cycle, payment due date and charges for missed payments, Siddharth Mehta, Co-founder & COO, Kiwi, tells ET Wealth Online. Also understand how easy it is to actually redeem the rewards you get.
The card should fit the way you already spend. “There is no point signing up for a card only because it offers a great festive discount if the spending conditions do not work for you,” he says.
Best credit card for this festive season?
There’s not a single card that could fit all. CA Nikhil Chawla, MD, Dheeraj Chawla & Co., explains that the right credit card is one that aligns with an individual's spending habits, offers transparent benefits and delivers genuine savings without encouraging unnecessary purchases or debt.
Before signing up for a new card, carefully examine the reward structure, cashback rates, redemption conditions, spending caps and merchant-specific exclusions.
Also review interest rates, late payment charges, foreign currency mark-ups, other applicable fees, and pay particular attention to minimum spending requirements attached to festive offers.
“The real value of a card is what you save after accounting for all the fees and conditions,” adds Mehta.
Identify card(s) with best real return for your spending pattern
Chawla highlights that for frequent online shoppers, cashback or rewards cards offering benefits on e-commerce purchases may be suitable. Those purchasing electronics or appliances should compare instant discounts, cashback limits and no-cost EMI offers.
Frequent travellers may benefit from cards offering travel rewards, while individuals with regular grocery, dining and everyday expenses may prefer cards with consistent cashback across these categories.
Here, ET Wealth Online has collated 7 credit cards offering big cashback/discounts to online shoppers.
7 credit cards offering big cashback/discounts on online shopping
1- SBI Cashback Credit Card
This credit card offers 5% cashback on almost all online spends including Amazon, Flipkart, while 1% cashback on all offline (in-store) transactions.
Additionally, it offers a 1% fuel surcharge waiver on transactions between Rs 500 and Rs 3,000.
The cashback is automatically credited to your card account within 2 days of statement generation.
Annual Fee: Rs 999 + taxes
Renewal fee: Rs. 999 + taxes from second year onwards
Note: The maximum cashback that you can earn on both online+offline transactions in a statement cycle is Rs 4,000.
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2- HSBC Live+ Credit Card
During the offer period (July 31-October 31), users can earn 10% cashback for spends made on Myntra, plus on all other eligible categories (i.e. dining, food delivery, grocery, utility and shopping) is collectively capped at Rs 1,200 per billing cycle).
Post the offer period, spends on Myntra will earn 1.5% unlimited cashback.
Other than that, this credit card offers 10% accelerated cashback, up to Rs 1,200 a month, on all dining, food delivery, grocery, shopping and utility spends.
There’s also 1.5% unlimited cashback on most other spends.
ET Online
(Source: HSBC Bank website)
Joining fee: Rs 999
Annual fee: Rs 999 (waived if you spend more than Rs 200,000 per year)
Note: Users also enjoy 2 complimentary domestic airport lounge visits per calendar year.
3- HDFC MoneyBack+ Credit Card
With the MoneyBack+ 10X feature, cardholders get 10 times cashpoints for spending on Amazon, BigBasket, Flipkart, Reliance Smart Superstore and Swiggy. The maximum cashpoints they can earn under this feature is 2500 points/month.
Users get 2 cashpoints on every Rs 200 spent on other spends.
You also get a Rs 500 worth gift voucher on quarterly spends of Rs 50,000 or more.
Joining/Renewal membership fee: Rs 500 + taxes
4- BOBCard Cashback Card
The benefits of this credit card include:
- 5% cashback (up to Rs 1500/month) on all eligible domestic spends.
- 1% cashback on all spends.
- 1% fuel surcharge waiver at all fuel stations across India on transactions between Rs 400 and Rs 5,000 (max Rs 250 per statement cycle)
- Joining and Annual Fee: Cardholder can select either a monthly fee of Rs 49 or joining and annual fee of Rs 499 per year.
5- HDFC Millennia Credit Card
This credit card offers 5% cashback on Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Swiggy, Zomato and more; 1% cashback on other spends.
Users also get a Rs 1000 worth gift voucher on spends of Rs 1 Lakh per calendar quarter
Joining/Renewal membership fee: Rs 1000 + taxes
6- Amazon Pay ICICI Card
This co-branded credit card offers unlimited non-expiring reward points of up to 5% on Amazon.in for Prime members and 3% for non-Prime members.
Additionally, users also get 1% rewards on spends outside Amazon at partner merchants.
For travellers, there’s 5% unlimited cashback on travel bookings (flights and hotels) via Amazon Pay for Prime members and 3% unlimited cashback for non-prime members.
Joining and annual fee: NIL
7- Flipkart Axis Bank Credit Card
With this credit card, cardholders can earn:
7.5% cashback on Myntra spends (capped at Rs 4000 per statement quarter)
5% cashback on Flipkart and Cleartrip spends (capped at Rs 24,000 per statement quarter per merchant)
Unlimited 4% cashback on preferred merchants (FitPass, Uber, Swiggy, PVR)
Unlimited 1% cashback on other eligible categories
ET Online
(Source: Axis Bank)
Joining fee: NIL (limited period offer)
Annual fee: Rs 500 from the second year
Ultimately, the best card is one that delivers the highest practical value on planned spending, has manageable fees and offers benefits that can be easily redeemed. Paying the outstanding balance in full each month is equally important, as interest charges can quickly outweigh any festive-season savings,” Chawla suggests.
Watch out for these hidden costs in credit cards
Hidden costs can cancel out your savings. Mehta points out that the biggest mistake is to look at the discount at checkout and assume that is the saving. “Consumers should calculate the final amount they will actually pay,” he says, adding that joining and annual fees, EMI processing fees, GST, interest, late-payment penalties and interest on unpaid balances can all reduce the benefit of an offer.
So before making a purchase, compare the final payable amount, including all charges, with the original price. The terms and conditions are there for a reason, especially when an offer looks too good to be true.
A festive offer should help you save on something you were already planning to buy. It should not convince you to buy something you did not need in the first place. Use credit only when you are confident of repaying it.