YES Bank has long been easy come, easy go in the Credit Card issuers list. Back in the day, the meltdown of the Bank may have cut short their ride as a major Credit Card issuer, but they are now trying to come back. I’ll talk about that later. However, with significant P&L comes the great responsibility to protect it. And 2024 is the year when YES Bank is working more on increasing the bottom-line contribution of the business. One of the moves towards this was put out with little fanfare.

More Changes to Lounge Access Benefits on YES Bank Credit Cards, effective July 1, 2024.

YES Bank has now reshuffled the domestic lounge access benefits for a second time within four months. For all their credit cards, YES Bank had earlier notified that cardmembers must spend at least INR 10,000 INR in the current quarter to receive lounge access as per the card features in the next quarter. As I’d explained earlier, lounge access is a costly benefit to offer, and just holding a “free” credit card no longer cuts it with the banks to give it away to customers.

Now, YES Bank has had a change of heart and is joining the league of banks, asking for a large amount of spending to enable lounge access for the next quarter. Here is the notice.

This new change will impact the following credit cards, amongst others:

1. YES Marquee (6 Complimentary Lounge Visits Per Quarter)
2. YES SELECT (erstwhile YES Prosperity Edge) (1 Complimentary Lounge Visit per Quarter)
3. YES Reserv (erstwhile YES First Exclusive) (3 Complimentary Lounge Visits Per Quarter)
4. YES First Preferred (2 Complimentary Lounge Visits Per Quarter)
5. YES Bank ELITE (erstwhile YES Premia) (2 Complimentary Lounge Visits Per Quarter)
6. YES BYOC (1 Complimentary Lounge Visit per Quarter)
7. YES Wellness Plus (2 Complimentary Lounge Visits per Quarter)

INR 35,000 over a quarter looks modest (the earlier 10,000 requirement was amongst the lowest); it is just a shade over INR 11,500 monthly. Since the change goes live on July 1, 2024, people would have to spend in the March 21, 2024 – June 20, 2024 Quarter to receive the benefit in July/August/September 2024.

Bottomline

YES Bank has notified new lounge access policies on its credit cards effective July 1, 2024. Lounge access on their cards is subject to a minimum spend of INR 35,000 per quarter. This will, hopefully, at least cover the cost of lounge access (domestic) for the Bank.

What do you make of the move from YES Bank Credit Cards to rationalise Lounge Access?

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