kolkata retail outlets online shopping sites and banks have spiced up the festive market by bringing back zerocost emis equated monthly instalments on credit card spends a move aimed at benefitting customers sellers and lenders seeking to boost credit growth the scheme has made a comeback after three years although in a tweaked format to comply with the reserve bank of indias regulations the emi option has been structured so that the amount due as interest to banks will be offered as a discount to consumers the retailers ecommerce sellers or the brands will shoulder the interest burden three people familiar with the development said consumers wont have to pay processing fees convenience fees or any other charges flipkart future group offer scheme the rbi barred banks from offering zero percent emi schemes on credit cards in 2013 saying the interest payable was camouflaged and passed on to consumers in the form of processing fees flipkart and the future group have rolled out the current zerocost emi scheme in association with state bank of india icici bank hdfc bank axis bank citibank and hsbc the arrangement may be extended to other ecommerce marketplaces and offline retailers ahead of the diwali shopping festival said a senior executive with a leading private bank the model is similar to the zerocost emi option offered by a couple of nonbanking finance companies including bajaj finance where the interest was borne by retailers and brands banks have ensured that the zerocost emi scheme on cards is compliant with rbi guidelines said another executive retailers and online sites also have emi schemes where credit card consumers bear 1215 interest rate the latest move is aimed at pushing sales during the festive season the biggest shopping period in india banks expect the scheme to propel retail loan growth amid a lull in corporate credit demand loans expanded 77 in the apriljuly 22 period compared with 82 a year earlier pulled down by a mere 06 growth in industry credit according to rbi data the personal loan segment recorded an 188 rise while credit card dues surged 294 customers at three future group stores big bazaar ezone and central can avail of the scheme for transactions exceeding rs 5000 consumers are not just buying more but even premium products their shopping list ranges from consumer electronics to furniture fashion to even food and grocery we will extend it to other group formats said vinay bhatia future groups ceo group loyalty and analytics flipkart started offering the option with select sellers for transactions valued at more than rs 4000 with payments to be made over six nine or 12 months an email sent to flipkart did not elicit any response till tuesday press time et reported last month that cards and consumer finance had become the dominant modes for settling bills in urban india accounting for 5560 of purchases for all white goods smartphones apparel and even food and grocery by writankar mukherjee atmadip ray