Easy rewards: Gen Z shoppers experiment with co-branded credit cards for ecommerce
Swayed by rewards, cashback, and financial flexibility, younger shoppers gravitate toward co-branded cards like Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card for ecommerce platforms.
Co-branded credit cards are steadily gaining favour with consumers on the lookout for the best deals and rewards, as well as convenience, on their online purchases.
About 65% of co-branded credit card users own cards linked to ecommerce platforms, according to the joint report titled How Urban India Pays, released at the Global Fintech Fest 2025. This preference is accelerating wider credit adoption and reflects the industry's growing focus on this segment.
The evolving interest in credit cards comes as a younger cohort, particularly Gen Z consumers, take advantage of the newly gained financial independence and flock towards experimentation and early financial planning.
According to the report, based on an online survey involving more than 6,000 consumers across 120 cities, almost 65% of respondents applied for a credit card just after their first job. This was mainly driven by the need to manage growing expenses, earn cashbacks/rewards, and build their credit scores early.
"There's a split in usage philosophy: 39% are drawn to credit for immediate gratification (“living in the moment”), while a slightly larger segment (43%) uses credit tools more strategically for financial flexibility and planning purposes," stated the report released on October 7, 2025.
The availability of easy credit is driving splurge purchases, and it also comes with the benefit of finding good bargains. This strategy has worked well for both platforms and customers. High-value categories like furniture, mobiles, and home appliances see high preference for credit card payments, with more than 90% of users preferring to use cards for purchases above Rs 1,000.
During the first week of the festive sales, Amazon saw one out of every five purchases made with EMI, predominantly across mobile, appliance, and electronic categories. One in nine orders during the first 48 hours was made using the Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card, which offers 5% rewards on every shopping purchase on the platform.
According to the report released at GFF, more than 80% of respondents who use ecommerce marketplaces for three or more services also rely on the platform for payment services.
Credit card usage has grown from 17% in 2024 to 19% in 2025 for electronics, followed by 14% for apparel and hobbies. However, there is still a low preference for credit cards in categories like rent, transportation, and utility bills.
Last year, during the festive season, ecommerce platforms also reported a surge in digital payment adoption. Amazon saw record usage of Amazon Pay UPI, which grew 16% year-on-year, while Meesho’s prepaid payment instruments more than doubled in volume, particularly across Tier II and smaller towns. Flipkart witnessed a 27X rise in spends and an 18X increase in transactions through third-party EMIs, alongside an 8.5X spike in daily transactions via its in-house buy-now-pay-later service.
Overall, retail digital payments are expected to exceed $7 trillion by 2030—or even sooner—driven by rising customer adoption, government-led inclusion initiatives, and ecosystem-driven digital acceleration.
The preference for digital modes has grown from 48% in 2024 to 56% in 2025, with the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) emerging as a key entry point. The digital payments revolution is also reaching smaller towns, with 50% of respondents opting for digital payment methods while buying offline.
Edited by Kanishk Singh