Yes Bank Credit Cards Face Another Devaluation: Upcoming Changes to Lounge Access, Rewards, and More

In early 2024, we witnessed a revamp of Yes Bank’s credit cards, transitioning from Yes First Exclusive to Yes Reserv and several more. This update brought a new design and changes to the features. Shortly after, Yes Bank also introduced the exclusive and rewarding Yes Marquee credit card. Together, these changes significantly boosted the credibility and interest in Yes Bank’s credit card offerings, which had been struggling.

However, these improvements, along with newer, rewarding offerings, have been short-lived. In the past few months, Yes Bank has revised many features of its credit cards. This includes increasing the spending requirements for free airport lounge access repeatedly, as well as introducing new caps and charges for spending in select categories.

Now, Yes Bank is making further revisions to its credit card features. The recent changes, particularly those related to airport lounge access, have come as a significant setback for cardholders. The bank has introduced new spending requirements for accessing airport lounges, with thresholds as high as ₹1 lakh. Additionally, there have been modifications to the Yes Rewardz structure and more.

NEW Spending Requirements for Free Airport Lounge Access

Effective 1 April 2025, all Yes Bank credit cardholders will need to spend the new higher amounts to access airport lounges.

There has been no change to the number of complimentary airport lounges offered along with the Yes credit cards.

YES Rewardz Points Redemption

Starting from 1 December 2024, there will be a cap on Reward Point Redemption earned with Yes Bank credit cards for flight and hotel bookings. Cardholders will only be able to redeem 70% of reward points against the total invoice value. The maximum reward point redemption each month will also be capped.

Increase in Finance Charges

Yes Bank has also increased the interest charges for many of its credit cards. This will be implemented on 1 December 2024.

The official notification from the bank about these latest changes can be found here. 

Bottom Line

It’s an era of devaluations. Just recently, ICICI Bank also majorly devalued its credit card features, including raising the spending limit for airport lounge access to ₹75,000 from 15th November 2024.

Now, Yes Bank has followed suit and raised the previous quarter’s spending for complimentary airport lounge access with Yes credit cards, along with other changes like a 70% cap on reward point redemption for flight and hotel bookings. Earlier, a spending of ₹35,000 was required for airport lounge access, which has now been raised. Depending on which Yes Bank credit card one holds spends ranging from ₹35,000 to ₹1 lakh shall be required for free airport lounge access.

While it is understandable that providing free airport lounge access has become a burden for banks, it is important to recognize that expecting high spending from customers without offering significant rewards is unjustifiable. There may come a day when all banks stop providing free airport lounge access altogether. However, for now, several credit cards offer free airport lounge access without requiring any additional spending.