Yes First Exclusive (YFE) Credit card has had many changes in its features in recent times. That has been mainly due to the uncertainty with Yes Bank. Yes Bank came under new management that brought about a round of cost cutting
and devaluations.
In this article, Yes First Exclusive Credit card will be evaluated as it is now. You may think that this is an unreliable Bank and why to hold its products. But do hang on and read the article before you make your mind.
Eligibility
Their website says ₹4 lakhs per month or Income Tax Return of ₹36 lakhs and above.
But I wouldn’t trust that number. I know at least two cases where upgrades from Yes First Preferred to Yes First Exclusive Credit card were given on basis of ITR in the range of ₹20L only. Maybe the uncertainty of management change still remains.
The conclusion is “those who ask, get”. You just need to email your ITR to ‘yestouchcc@yesbank.in ‘ and request for an upgrade.
Annual Fees
All Yes First credit cards have fees of ₹999+ taxes= ₹1185.
Earlier, it used to be ₹10,000 + taxes. With the devaluations, the Annual Fees too have been reduced.
At this price point, this card is a BARGAIN. The Fees have been reduced to 1/10th!
Renewal Fees get waived off on spending just ₹4 Lacs. The uncertainly in management is not always bad for the customers.
Lounge Access
Airport | Complimentary Access | Applicable on Add on Card |
Domestic | 3 per Quarter | Yes |
International | Unlimited | Yes |
Be careful, International Airport Lounge Access within India is counted as Domestic and the quota will apply.
Mastercard: you need to fill a form to get the Priority Pass for lounge access out site of India after receiving the card.
Visa card: You get access via the LoungeKey Program. You just need to register online. No additional physical card is needed.
Lounge Access is provided for Primary as well as Add on and is a good card to give out in your loved ones.
Reward Points Program
Their Reward Program is so complex that it requires a list; the average card user will give a hard pass. I mean, just look at how large the list is!
Reward point are given on spends in multiples of ₹200. So you will be left without points for many of your mundane purchases.
The table below tries to make sense in terms of the user categories.
Reward Rate | Category | Basically |
12 RP/ ₹200 1.5% value | Other spends | Most spends: ecommerce, flights, Hotels, restaurants, pharmacy & hospitals, wallets etc |
6 RP/ ₹200 0.75% value | Spends on the list | Utilities, Government, Insurance, grocery stores, taxi, school college ,etc |
· The Rewards Points Never Expire.
Exclusive Reward Points Redemption
There are multiple ways to redeem your points including flights, evouchers, Air Miles etc.
Best value is given for flight ticket redemption.
1 Reward Point = ₹0.25
For vouchers redemption, Amazon gift card gives a poor value of
1 Reward Point = ₹0.1.
Yes cart
Yes cart is a portal of Yes Bank. You get 10X rewards for shopping via Yes cart with YFE credit card.
You can book flights and most merchants are available including Flipkart. Amazon was also available till quite recently, but is presently not showing.
10X Reward Points = 15% of savings
This makes it level with Diners Club Black.
Maximum Bonus Reward Points that can be earned in a calendar month is 10,000 Reward Points. This translates to a monthly maximum spend of ₹18,400.
It is a decent limit for most users.
Preferential Foreign Currency Markup
For international spends you get charged a markup of only 1.75%.
Combining with the normal reward rate of 1.5%, you lose just 0.25%.
That’s a very good deal. Hardly any credit cards charge this low Foreign Currency Markup.
Book My Show Movie offer
You get 25% discount on Bookmyshow Movie ticket upto monthly cap of Rs 250. It’s not the best offer around, but it doesn’t have a quota system making it a dependable backup offer.
Complimentary Golf Program
4 complimentary rounds of green fees per calendar year at select Golf courses in India.
Preferential interest Rate/Interest Rate on Revolving Credit
1.99% pm or 23.88% annual interest rate. This is a good interest rate compared to what credit cards normally charge which is in the range of 44-50%.
But if you plan to use this feature, be prudent.
Fuel Surcharge Waiver
1% Fuel surcharge waiver at all fuel stations across India for transaction between INR 400 to ₹5,000 upto maximum monthly of ₹1000.
GST of 0.18% will not be waived off.
Milestone Benefit
Earn 25,000 Bonus Reward Points on spends of ₹20Lakhs. Adding a miniscule 0.31% value. They would rather have skipped this benefit. It only makes this card look worse!
Savings Calculator
The savings Calculator shows that it is a decent card and can give your north of 3% savings on using Yes cart.
Rating
3.5/5
Similar or Better Cards
YFE was once as good as the top tier cards of any bank. Now, it can no longer compare to the likes of HDFC Infinia or Axis Magus.
However, it is still better than HDFC Regalia, Axis Ace, SBI Elite and Citi Premier Miles credit card. And comes at a lesser annual fee than these if not Life time Free.
With Yes cart, it is even better for ecommerce purchases that both ICICI Amazon Pay as well as Axis Flipkart Credit cards.
Conclusion
Yes First Exclusive Credit card has many pros
· Decent default reward rate
· Domestic and International Airport Lounge access for Primary as well as Add on cards.
· 15% savings via Yes Cart for purchases like ecommerce sites, flights
· International Markup of just 1.75%
You get all this for just ₹999+ Tax.
Its cons are
· Uncertainty with yes bank, especially another round of devaluations.
· Complicated reward program with many exclusions.
On the website, it's ITR requirement is stated as ₹36 lakhs. However, they know about the cons and are on-boarding rather freely (my take). So better get the card now and hope SBI gets Yes Bank on the right track and Yes First Exclusive Credit Card gets returned to its former glory.