YES Bank Select Credit Card

Quick verdict: The YES Bank Select is an honest entry-level card that spends its budget on perks rather than points. For a ₹599 fee you get a quarterly domestic lounge visit, four golf green-fee rounds a year and a monthly movie buy-one-get-one — an unusually generous sheet at this price. The earning side is modest: 8 YES Rewardz per ₹200 online is about 0.8% once you value points realistically, and it's capped at 5,000 points a cycle. Buy it for the perk bundle and the low fee, not the reward rate.

The Select is the renamed successor to the old YES Prosperity Edge, sitting at the bottom of YES Bank's reworked range, below the Essence and the premium YES First Exclusive. Its job is to be an accessible first or second card that still feels a little premium.

How it earns

The reward structure is straightforward, and deliberately capped.

• 8 YES Rewardz per ₹200 on online spends, capped at 5,000 points a statement cycle.
• 4 YES Rewardz per ₹200 on offline and everyday spends.
• 2 YES Rewardz per ₹200 on select categories — utilities and cable/streaming, capped at 150 points a cycle.

Since 15 June 2026 those "select categories" cover utilities and cable/streaming only; insurance and education spends earn nothing, alongside rent, wallet loads, fuel, government payments and EMIs. As with every YES Rewardz card, the earn rate only means something once you know the redemption value. Points are worth roughly ₹0.20 each for vouchers, bill payments and statement credit, and up to ₹0.25 for flights and hotels on the YES rewardz portal. So the headline online tier is about 0.8% in practical everyday terms, improving toward 1% only if you redeem for travel. The 5,000-point monthly ceiling means a heavy online spender tops out fast — beyond roughly ₹1.25 lakh of online spend in a cycle you're back to the base rate. This is not a card to chase raw rewards on.

Where it earns its keep

The perks are the real story, and they punch well above the fee.

• Lounge: one complimentary domestic visit per calendar quarter (spend-gated — see below).
• Golf: four complimentary green-fee rounds a year at select Indian courses, plus one complimentary lesson a month.
• Movies: a monthly buy-one-get-one via District, up to ₹150 off the second ticket.
• Coffee: buy-one-get-one at participating mall outlets, per YES Bank's offer terms.
• Fuel: a 1% surcharge waiver on transactions between ₹500 and ₹3,000, capped at ₹125 a cycle.

Golf at a ₹599 fee is genuinely rare, and the movie benefit alone can offset a chunk of the annual cost for a regular cinemagoer. But read the lounge line carefully.

The Select's domestic lounge visit is unlocked by spending ₹50,000 in the previous quarter — spend in quarter N unlocks quarter N+1's visit, the same spend-gate that runs across the bank's non-premium cards. There's no international lounge access, and guests are charged. Treat it as an occasional bonus, not a travel staple.

The fee maths

Both the joining and annual fees are ₹599. The joining fee is reversed if you spend ₹10,000 in the first month — a low bar most cardholders clear immediately — and the renewal waives at ₹1 lakh of annual spend. For anyone using the card as a primary online-and-utilities card, the renewal fee effectively disappears, which reframes the whole proposition: at ₹0 effective cost, the perk sheet is close to free money for a moviegoer or occasional golfer.

Against the Essence one step up, the Select gives up the higher lifestyle earn and the welcome package but adds golf and costs ₹200 less. If you value the golf and don't spend heavily online, the Select is the smarter buy; if you shop online a lot on fashion and dining, the Essence pulls ahead.

Who should hold it

The Select is for the value-minded applicant who wants perks without a premium commitment — a YES Bank customer, an occasional flyer, a moviegoer, someone who plays a few rounds of golf a year. Used as a primary card that clears the ₹1 lakh waiver, it costs nothing to hold and quietly returns more in perks than its fee. It also works as a cheap perk-carrier alongside a stronger rewards card elsewhere.

It's the wrong card if you want a high reward rate, reliable lounge access, or international travel benefits. The 5,000-point cap and the ₹0.20 everyday point value mean the earning engine is modest by design — and for serious travel value you'd look to the Marquee instead.

The bottom line

The YES Bank Select is a perk-led entry card that makes sense once you stop judging it on reward rate. Lounge, golf and a monthly movie BOGO for ₹599 — waivable to ₹0 on ₹1 lakh of spend — is a fair deal for the occasional traveller and cinemagoer. Keep expectations realistic on the points, and it's an easy, low-cost card to hold.