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. 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 April 1, 2025.

YES Bank has now reshuffled the domestic lounge access benefits for a third time within eight months. For all their credit cards, YES Bank had 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. That was the beginning of the year. Then they upped the spend to INR 35,000 per 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 (again) and is joining the league of ICICI Bank, 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): INR 100,000 spent in a quarter to qualify for lounge access.
2. YES SELECT (erstwhile YES Prosperity Edge) (1 Complimentary Lounge Visit per Quarter): INR 50,000 spent in a quarter to qualify for lounge access.
3. YES Reserv (erstwhile YES First Exclusive) (3 Complimentary Lounge Visits Per Quarter): INR 100,000 spent in a quarter to qualify for lounge access.
4. YES First Preferred (2 Complimentary Lounge Visits Per Quarter): INR 75,000 spent in a quarter to qualify for lounge access.
5. YES Bank ELITE+ (erstwhile YES Premia) (2 Complimentary Lounge Visits Per Quarter): INR 50,000 spent in a quarter to qualify for lounge access.
6. YES BYOC (1 Complimentary Lounge Visit per Quarter): INR 50,000 spent in a quarter to qualify for lounge access.
7. YES Wellness Plus (2 Complimentary Lounge Visits per Quarter): INR 50,000 spent in a quarter to qualify for lounge access.

INR 35,000 over a quarter looked modest (the earlier 10,000 requirement was amongst the lowest); but the INR 100,000 per quarter for top-shelf cards is a bit too much. Since the change goes live on April 1, 2025, people would have to spend in the December 21, 2024 – March 20, 2025 Quarter to receive the benefit in April-June 2025.

Bottomline

YES Bank has notified new lounge access policies on its credit cards effective April 1, 2025. Lounge access on their cards is subject to a minimum spend of INR 50,000 per quarter and differs on a card-to-card basis.

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

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