Easy monthly installment for Big Purchases in Retail outlet and online shopping: Debit Card EMI.
Easy payment options is not limited to Home and Car purchases. The benefit has now extended to other big-ticket purchases too. Online sopping websites as well as retail shops are offering EMI options on shopping as low as Rs. 5000/-. Debit card EMI offers option to the customer to buy high value products with easy monthly payments avoiding one time cash erosion from Bank Account.
What is EMI on debit card? Is EMI available on debit card? How does EMI work on debit cards? What is the eligibility for debit card EMI? Is my debit card eligible for EMI?
The Benefits of Debit Card EMI
– You can shop for high value items in easy installments without braking your savings
– You can spread your expenses, one time expense wont stretch the monthly budget
– Keeping cash in Bank account longer and earn interest on it, maintain high Quarterly average Balance to avoid charges too.
How to opt for Debit card EMI?
Debit Card EMI works both in Online shopping as well as retail stores.
For online shopping in Amazon, EMI option will appear in checkout and payment section. You will need to check if your Bank is offering EMI option. If you simply search “EMI on Debit card” it will take you to a page showing the various Banks offering this options, you can check the eligibility by sending a SMS from registered mobile Number to your Bank. The SMS numbers to check the criteria is mentioned in the picture below, if you are a customer of one of the following six Banks. If you meet the eligibility criteria of your Bank, your purchase will be approved by your Bank for EMI option.
How debit card EMI works?
This is a pre-approved transaction by Bank, so check the eligibility first. This is like taking a loan in less than a minute, extensively used for purchase of consumer durable. However, the canvas of this Debit card EMI is expanding to other products and services. One attractive term used for this EMI option is “No Cost EMI”. Let us see how it works.
For No Cost Debit Card EMI offers, the interest is borne by the merchant or the product manufacturer. Bank may charge the GST on interest amount. For a shopper, the interest amount is discounted from the order price. Total amount you pay to the Bank will be equal to the price of the item. For other EMIs, Banks may charge processing fee and interest rates equivalent to personal loan interest rate.
In Retail shops, you can check at the store billing counter with your debit card to check. Though the offers are available with Amazon, Flipkart, and few big format shops, now PoS providers like MSwipe and PineLabs are enabling the retail shops to offer such benefits.
Amongst many Brands, Amazon, Flipkart, Central, Croma are popular retail Brands.
Amazon offers EMI on SBI debit card, HDFC Bank Debit card, Federal Bank Debit card, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank. On its Website, Federal Bank mentioned that it offers Debit Card EMI on Manipal Hospital Bills too apart from the retail purchases.
I went through websites of these Banks to check the EMI offers, EMI eligibility criteria and other Debit card EMI conditions. I am using Federal Bank EMI option as a test case for sharing nuances of Debit card EMI facility as a test case. Other Banks may have slight difference in offerings.
The Key features of Federal Bank Debit card EMI
- Mentions in it’s website that it is not necessary to have the entire amount
- EMI term could be – 3 months, 6 months, 9 months or 12 months, as opted by You
- No documentation, no down payment, no pre-closure charges, no amount blocked in account
- Minimum loan amount Rs. 5000 to Maximum Rs. 1,50,000
- Federal Bank offers no-cost EMI in Retail store purchase such as – Apple, BlueStar, Canon, Daikini, Haier, Godrej, Hitachi, Lloyd, Microsoft, Nikon, Nokia, LG, Oppo, Panasonic, Samsung, Toshiba, Vivo, Voltas, VLCC and Whirlpool. You can check available options in store locator options in Federal Bank Debit Card EMI section
- Rate of Interest: varies between 14-15% based on tenure
- Debit Card EMI facility is not available for non-resident Indians.
- For all offers where, ‘No Cost EMI’ is mentioned, the interest portion will be borne either by the merchant/brand.
Important things to remember on EMI on debit cards –
Prior to the completion of the Facility/Pre-closure whichever is earlier, Customer cannot withdraw/cancel auto debit instruction on the Debit Card EMI Loan.
Incase of cancellation off product purchase, the customer should inform the Bank at the earliest to avoid any inconvenience. Also, the amounts charged towards shipping / cancellation/ return or of any other nature, for the cancellation/ return shall be paid by the customer along with applicable interests as afore-mentioned.
EMI offers an easy solution for difficult purchase. However, one should be cautious and calculative about such purchases. You shouldn’t get carried away with easy monthly scheme, as it can make a dent in your budget and regular savings habit. An ideal reason for purchasing in EMI should be for some important needs such as health and education. But, it could vary person to person depending on the stage of life, it could be laptop, good camera, furniture, refrigerator anything.
