With the Goods and Services Tax (GST) 2.0 set to be rolled out from Monday amid the festival season, financial institutions are also beginning to roll out offers to drive consumption. For example, Kotak Mahindra Bank, L&T Finance and IDFC FIRST Bank have each unveiled campaigns spanning lifestyle, entertainment and consumer goods.
Sudipta Roy, MD & CEO, L&T Finance (LTF), emphasised, “With project cyclops now live and revised GST slabs in effect, these schemes are designed to catalyse demand and reinforce our leadership in the segment.”
L&T Finance targets two-wheeler buyers
LTF has launched a trio of festive schemes aimed at energising India’s two-wheeler market including “buy now, pay later” scheme. It is offering no cost EMI that allows customers to finance their bikes without interest. While the prompt payment rebate rewards disciplined borrowers with a waiver on the final EMI, provided they complete 35 timely payments over a 36-month tenure.
Adding further flexibility, the EMI Lite Festive scheme defers principal repayment, enabling customers to pay only interest for the first two months. Valid until November 30, 2025, the schemes are backed by LTF’s digital-first approach, offering loan approvals in just five minutes with zero paperwork.
Banks eye festive shoppers with discounts
Kotak Mahindra Bank’s 2025 festive offers are a multi-category bonanza, targeting travel enthusiasts, lifestyle shoppers, and entertainment seekers, while IDFC FIRST Bank’s festive campaign, “Khushiyan FIRST,” takes a dual-pronged approach blending consumer durable loan benefits with credit card rewards to drive high-value retail engagement.
Kotak Bank is offering up to Rs 30,000 and Rs 15,000 instant discount on credit card and credit card EMIs to consumers shopping at Croma and Reliance Digital, respectively. Lifestyle and fashion benefits are equally compelling for Kotak customers. Select electronics and fashion brands extend festive cashback and EMI benefits.
Lifestyle benefits are equally compelling for Kotak customers. Nasher Miles offers an additional 15% off on travel gear and select electronics and fashion brands extend festive cashback and EMI benefits.
“These offers are designed to push deferred decisions upfront. It’s not just pent-up demand, it’s also aggressive supplier-driven momentum,” said Sanjay Agrawal, senior director at CareEdge Ratings. “There’s no doubt activity levels will increase with banks, equipment sellers, and service providers all pushing hard to create demand.”
He added that some boost to consumption is expected as demand has been muted since August as people were waiting for prices to come down post the GST reform announcement. In addition, the monsoon and inauspicious period of Pitru Paksha also added to a natural pause.
IDFC First is leveraging its partnership model to lure customers. Apart from the biggies like Croma, Reliance Digital and Vijay Sales, the bank is focusing on the tier 2, tier 3 cities and rural India with their partners like Pai International, Snehaanjali, Usha Agency, Surya Electronics, Lotus Electronic Supermarket, Bajaj Electronics and Sonovision by offering tiered cashback on electronics purchased via IDFC FIRST consumer durable loans. Customers can avail up to 15% cashback (capped at Rs 30,000) on big-ticket items like air conditioners, refrigerators, LEDs, washing machines, and dishwashers. The bank is also providing 5% cashback up to Rs 5,000 on laptops and smartphones. The offer duration is from September 15 to October 31, 2025. The bank for attracting new customer is also running a scheme Scan QR code to get instant discount. For select new to bank (NTB) customers, IDFC First Bank upon scanning QR code is offering an instant discount up to Rs 7,500, which is redeemable instantly .
On the credit card front, the bank offers 10x reward points on eligible spends between October 7–15, 2025, across lifestyle, electronics, travel, dining, and wellness brands.
To attract customers the bank is also running a top spender contest by rewarding 250 winners with Rs 25,000 Tanishq vouchers, adding a competitive edge to festive spending. The offer is valid across FIRST Classic, Millennia, Select, Wealth, and other eligible cards, with exclusions on fuel, rent, wallet reloads, and utility bills.
“Most of these buybacks come with zero-interest loans but the interest isn’t waived, it’s paid by the equipment supplier. For banks, it’s income. The subvention is borne by the company to push demand,” says Agrawal.