HDFC Bank MD Aditya Puri on Wednesday said the lender’s business was returning to pre-COVID-19 levels and full normalcy is expected to be restored soon.“COVID-19 has created hassles in all our lives, we have to stay with it for some time. But, we have to change this state of mind. Our endeavour is how to change this.” “As COVID-19 has come, it also has to go one day and in any case, the whole world has to learn to live with this,” he said.Mr. Puri said business was getting back to normal now and that going forward it would be fully back to pre-COVID levels.Through the ‘Festive Treats’ platform, customers can avail special deals on all banking products — from loans to credit cards — as well as more than 1,000 offers from leading merchants across product categories. Besides, it has over 2,000 hyperlocal offers to cater to semi-urban and rural areas. “COVID will continue to stay for a while and we have to learn to live with it. As far as Festive Treats is concerned, we are all pretty much fed up with the doom and gloom. But “People have started to spend, going forward we will actually see it going to pre-COVID levels. “We are seeing tremendous demand, we are offering 30-35% discount (on Festive Treats platform), toh bhaiya le lo (so just buy it!),” Mr. Puri added. In light of the COVID-19 situation, all deals and offers this year can also be availed digitally, in addition to branches, partner stores and dealerships, HDFC Bank said in a release.The bank expects mobiles, consumer durables, apparel, jewellery and dining-in categories to do well this festive season. “In the past 2-3 months, we have seen renewed customer interest and buying patterns. We see this continuing through the festive season as well,” said Parag Rao, country head, Payment Business, Merchant Acquiring Services and Marketing. He added that during September, 80-90% of the bank’s business had returned to pre-COVID levels.
