Smart Year-End Shopping: Cashback Rewards, Consumer Loans for Lunar New Year Preparations

Despite numerous stores offering significant discounts, buy-one-get-one deals, and continuous promotions, the recent Black Friday atmosphere in some shopping centers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City remained relatively subdued. Bao Chi, an office worker from Ho Chi Minh City, shared that this year she is shopping more selectively. “I still enjoy buying new items, but the current economic situation makes me prioritize saving more. I mainly hunt for sales on essential household items, while clothing and fashion are on the back burner,” she said.

The end of the year is typically a high-demand period for consumers to shop, spend, or travel. However, economic pressures and financial instability over the past year have led many families to scrutinize their spending more carefully. Specifically, Vietnamese consumers are cutting back on clothing, travel, and entertainment, instead prioritizing essential spending on fresh food, staples, transportation, education, and rent. Simultaneously, they are actively seeking financial support options such as consumer loans, installment plans, or smart consumption methods like cashback, discounts, and sales to save while still preparing for the year-end festivities.

Economic fluctuations have made consumers more cautious in their spending, even during peak shopping seasons.

According to economic experts, in a context where consumers are tightening their budgets, many large-scale stimulus programs will be launched to support the goal of achieving over 8% GDP growth this year. Since early November, major retail centers such as Dien May Xanh, Nguyen Kim, Cho Lon, Gia Thanh, and FPT Shop have rolled out discounts of 30%-60%, along with Tet gifts, shopping vouchers, free installation, and 0% interest installment plans. In the consumer credit sector, many domestic and international banks have launched credit card promotions, such as VPBank’s dual international credit and debit cards offering unlimited cashback up to 2%, and Sacombank’s 12% cashback program during the 12/12 shopping festival.

Similarly, Home Credit has introduced various financial products for the year-end period, helping users manage their finances flexibly while offering attractive benefits for optimized spending. The “Flexible Cashback” mechanism on Home Credit’s credit card has been praised by consumers as a smart financial tool, allowing cardholders to choose from 5 cashback categories. Depending on their spending needs at different times, users can switch categories to maximize cashback benefits of up to 10% on selected spending categories, with a maximum of 300,000 VND per month.

Experts suggest that by effectively leveraging financial incentives and discounts, consumers can purchase goods at more favorable prices during this period.

Home Credit’s flexible cashback mechanism helps users maximize monthly cashback benefits.

Another common financial need during the year-end is consumer loans for weddings, gifts, and pre-Tet purchases. Major banks like Agribank, Vietcombank, BIDV, VietinBank, VPBank, SHB, and VIB have launched flexible consumer loan packages catering to diverse borrowing purposes. Home Credit has also launched the “Season of Joy, Overflowing Offers” campaign with practical support solutions. From October 1, 2025, to January 31, 2026, customers signing online quick loan contracts ranging from 20 to 50 million VND will receive an 800,000 VND voucher, directly deducted from their first payment. Reducing repayment costs from the first month helps borrowers ease financial pressure and allocate funds for additional year-end expenses.

Alongside consumer loans and credit cards, Home Credit continues to develop its financial ecosystem with flexible products like Home PayLater, enabling customers to easily own products, split costs, and reduce immediate payment pressure. Additionally, the company has launched the “Daily Unboxing – Hunt for 5 Billion in Prizes” campaign from October 1, 2025, to February 15, 2026, for credit cardholders and Home PayLater postpaid accounts, offering a chance to win up to 100 million VND in cashback. All these product innovations aim to provide a comprehensive digital financial experience, helping users confidently navigate year-end spending pressures.

Experts predict that with their ability to optimize shopping costs, credit promotions, cashback programs, and financial support will continue to attract consumer interest, thereby boosting demand and stimulating the market during this peak pre-Tet period.