Yes Bank is revising features and devaluing the reward points on their Yes First credit cards starting 1st July 2020. In an email sent to the card holders today, Yes Bank communicated the changes which are going to take effect starting next month. This is the second major devaluation after April 2019 where reward rates on Yes First Credit Cards were reduced significantly. Let’s dive deep to know more about the new changes.
Changes
The revisions starting July 2020 are bucketed into three categories as below:
- Reward Point Structure
- Airport Lounge Access Program
- Reward Points Redemption
Source: Yes First Exclusive, Yes First Preferred
Let’s look into each of them in detail.
Reward Point Structure
Yes Bank is revising the minimum amount to earn reward points from Rs. 100 to Rs. 200. Refer the table below for details:
| Credit Card | Existing | Revised |
|---|---|---|
| Yes First Exclusive | 12 Reward Points per Rs. 100 spent on
|
24 Reward Points per Rs. 200 spent on
|
| 6 Reward Points per Rs. 100 spent on other categories | 12 Reward Points per Rs. 200 spent on other categories | |
| Yes First Preferred | 8 Reward Points per Rs. 100 spent on
|
16 Reward Points per Rs. 200 spent on
|
| 4 Reward Points per Rs. 100 spent on other categories | 8 Reward Points per Rs. 200 spent on other categories |
Though this doesn’t change the reward rate, transactions below Rs. 200 won’t earn any reward point, reducing overall reward rate.
Airport Lounge Access Program
Priority Pass issued with Yes First Credit Cards used to provide complimentary access to Domestic Airport Lounges too. However this is changing starting July 2020 as accessing domestic lounges using Priority Pass will set you back by $27 + GST per visit.
| Credit Card | Access Via | Existing | Revised | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic | International | Domestic | International | ||
| Yes First Exclusive | Priority Pass | Unlimited | Unlimited | $27 + GST | Unlimited |
| Credit Card | Unlimited | N/A | Unlimited | N/A | |
| Yes First Preferred | Priority Pass | 4 per year | 4 per year | $27 + GST | 4 per year |
| Credit Card | 3 per quarter | N/A | 3 per quarter | N/A | |
It’s evident from the table above that Yes Bank has withdrawn the complimentary access to domestic airport lounges via Priority Pass. The limits for complimentary access is intact for now, for both domestic and international airport lounges which is a huge sigh of relief. Note that complimentary access to domestic airport lounges on Yes Bank credit cards is provided by MasterCard Lounge Program.
Reward Points Redemption
The email sent to card holders is really vague in this regard and doesn’t disclose any information.
The value of reward points for redemption against Flight Tickets and Hotel Stay remains unchanged. For catalogue items, please visit www.yesrewardz.com to ascertain the number of Reward Points required for redemption against that particular item.
When I called the YesRewardz concierge, I was told that the value of one reward point is dropping to Rs. 0.15 from Rs. 0.25 for redemptions other than Flight Tickets and Hotel Stay. This is a steep devaluation of 40%.
Below table summarizes the reward rate for Yes First credit card post this change:
| Credit Card | Spends Category | Existing Redemption | Revised Redemption | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flight / Hotels | Others | Flight / Hotels | Others | ||
| Yes First Exclusive | Travel & Dining | 3% | 3% | 3% | 1.8% |
| Others | 1.5% | 1.5% | 1.5% | 0.9% | |
| Yes First Preferred | Travel & Dining | 2% | 2% | 2% | 1.2% |
| Others | 1% | 1% | 1% | 0.6% | |
With this change, the effective reward rate of Yes First Exclusive Credit Card drops to 0.9% for spends and redemption for non-travel categories which is even less than entry level co-branded credit cards like Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card, Flipkart Axis Bank Credit Card etc. This is really disappointing and I think will serve as the final nail in the coffin of Yes First Exclusive Credit Card.
FAQs
What should I do now with my Yes First reward points?
Should I close my Yes Bank Credit Card?
Does redemption of Yes First reward points for gift cards provide physical or online vouchers?
How long the airport lounge access will be available on Yes First Credit Cards?
Bottomline
Seems like the season of devaluation is upon us as this news comes just after the massive devaluation from HDFC Bank on their SmartBuy 10X program. Yes Bank has given a heads-up of one month to their credit card users which is nice. However to maintain fairness, they should have also announced the new value of reward points, instead of keeping it vague in their communication. I would advise you to redeem the reward points as soon as possible to get wider choices.
Finally Yes Bank Credit Cards are no longer that attractive and this devaluation will certainly push them out from my list of Best Credit Cards in India for 2020.
What do you think of this devaluation of Yes First Credit Cards from Yes Bank? How are you planning to maximize the value of your existing reward points? Let me know in comments below.
