Kolkata: Shoppers, marketers and policymakers are all eagerly looking forward to the impending festive and wedding season that is supposed to start in September and end in January. While marketers are looking forward to the surge in sales revenue which has eluded them in general for a few months, policymakers are watching how consumption drives GDP which they want to push up desperately and shoppers want to make the most of the benefits that festive shopping can generate.

This time the salaried class have some extra cash in their pocket, thanks to the income tax relief till Rs 12 lakh salary which has kicked in from April. Repo Rate cut by the RBI has also driven personal interest rates down in all banks, which is supposed to boost discretionary purchase during the festive season. Keeping this backdrop in mind, SBI Cards has tied up with e-commerce giant Flipkart to offer a co-branded credit card to aid the shopping appetite of the people.

The benefits and cashbacks

Named ‘Flipkart SBI Credit Card’, it has been designed with cashback benefits to for shoppers for discerning customers on the majority of their purchases, said SBI Card in a statement. The card was launched in the presence SBI Chairman C S Setty and MD Ashwini Kumar Tewari. By using this card, customers are entitled to 7.5% cashback on expenditure made on Myntra and 5% cashback on expenditure on Flipkart, Shopsy, and Cleartrip. All products in the Flipkart universe will be covered by this credit card, the company said.

Customers can apply for this credit card through the Flipkart App and SBI Card SPRINT by visiting the SBI Card website SBI Card.com.

However, it has to be kept in mind credit cards carry the highest rate of interest among all retail loan products. Injudicious use of a credit card can easily land one in a debt trap. Any delay in settling dues can lead to the credit score being affected that limits access to loans of an individual, which can be a real danger in times of emergency. Utilising more than 30% of the credit limit of a credit card regularly can also adversely impact one’s credit score.