5 Credit Card Traps Hiding in Festive Offers

Banks are pushing festive credit card deals on electronics, travel, and groceries. But cashback caps, merchant restrictions, and minimum spend rules mean most shoppers earn far less than the headline rate promises.

Here's what happened: Major banks including HDFC Bank, indusind-bank" class="text-primary font-semibold hover:underline">IndusInd Bank, and BOBCARD have launched festive-season credit card promotions covering electronics, travel bookings, fashion, and grocery spends.. Headline offers advertise cashback rates as high as 10%, but most deals are tied to specific partner merchants, minimum transaction amounts, and per-statement cashback caps.. Festive EMI conversions on credit cards are also being pushed, often bundled with zero-cost EMI branding that may include hidden processing fees or GST charges on the interest component..

What you should do: Read the full offer terms on your bank's app before checkout — search for the rupee cap, not just the percentage rate, to calculate your actual benefit.. Compare the effective cost of a credit card EMI offer (including processing fees and GST) against a straight debit-card or bank EMI plan before committing to a big purchase.. Track your reward points expiry date in your card's app right now — if points earned last festive season are close to expiring, redeem them before shopping adds more that push older ones out..

Pro tip: If your card offers 5X reward points on a category, check the monthly points earning cap in the MITC (Most Important Terms and Conditions) document — many cards cap category bonuses at 1,000-2,000 points per month, making the 5X rate irrelevant for large purchases.