YES First Preferred Credit Card

Quick verdict: It earned its name as the most affordable zero-forex premium card — but that's now out of date. After YES Bank's 2026 revisions, the First Preferred carries a 2.00% forex markup effective 15 June 2026 (up from 1.75% — and not zero), plus higher cash-advance and other charges. Still a fair travel card with lounges and golf — though the healthcare and fashion bonus categories it gets credit for are a paid add-on, not part of the card. Just don't choose it for the badge it no longer wears.

The YES First Preferred earned its reputation as the most affordable zero-forex premium card in India — a ₹999 card that undercut every rival on the one feature international travellers care most about. That reputation is now out of date. After YES Bank's 2026 revisions, the First Preferred carries a 2.00% forex markup (effective 15 June 2026, up from 1.75%), not zero — and a raft of other charges crept up alongside it. It's still a reasonable mid-premium travel card, but the headline that made it special is gone. One thing to know up front: YES Bank has discontinued the First Preferred — it's no longer open to new applicants, so this review is a reference for existing holders rather than a buying guide.

The forex story, corrected

Let's be precise, because this is the whole reason people sought out the card. The First Preferred's forex markup is now 2.00%, effective 15 June 2026 — the June revision raised it from the 1.75% it had carried since the zero-forex era ended. That's still below the ~3.5% most cards charge — but it is not zero, no longer a standout, and the "cheapest zero-forex card in India" framing no longer applies. If forex-free spending is your single priority, look at a genuinely zero-forex card (Scapia, certain IDFC cards) instead. As a below-average-forex card at a modest fee, the First Preferred still has a case; as a zero-forex card, it's been overtaken by reality.

The June 2026 charge increases

The forex change was part of a broader YES Bank revision effective 15 June 2026, which:

• Raised the forex markup from 1.75% to 2.00%, along with cash-advance charges.
• Introduced a cash-withdrawal fee of 2.5% or ₹650 on all cash withdrawals.
• Revised the fuel surcharge waiver eligibility.

These quiet, across-the-board tightenings define YES Bank's card management, and they're why every YES card comes with a "re-check the current terms" asterisk.

What you still get

Beyond forex, the First Preferred is a competent travel-and-lifestyle card:

• 8 YES Rewardz points per ₹200 on most categories and 4 per ₹200 on select ones (grocery and

utilities, with utility points capped at 300 a cycle). That is the whole of the card's own bonus structure. Higher earn on travel, dining, fashion and healthcare is not a card feature at all — it comes only from the opt-in, paid Rewards Subscription Plan, at 5x on travel, dining, fashion and healthcare for ₹5,000 a year, or 3x on all spends for ₹3,500 a year. Worth knowing before you count those categories as reasons to hold the card: you are buying them separately.

• Domestic and international airport lounge access — **2 complimentary domestic visits per calendar

quarter (8 a year), spend-gated: ₹75,000 in a quarter unlocks the next quarter's visits.* The international allowance is separate and not spend-gated — 4 visits per calendar year*, on Priority Pass for Mastercard variants and LoungeKey for Visa.

• A green-fee waiver on golf rounds and 25% off movie tickets via BookMyShow.
• A 1% fuel surcharge waiver (₹500–₹5,000 transactions, capped ₹250 a month), plus fee waivers: the

joining fee waives on ₹50,000 of spend in 3 months and the renewal fee on ₹2.5 lakh of annual spend.

For a YES Bank customer who travels two to four times a year, the lounge access plus the below-average (if no longer zero) forex still combine to clear the modest fee.

The YES Bank asterisk

As with every YES Bank card, the recurring caveat applies: the bank revisits its benefits frequently, and the 2026 charge increases are the latest example. Value the First Preferred for what it offers today — a low-forex, lounge-equipped mid-premium card — and hold it knowing the terms can shift again. That uncertainty is a real, if intangible, cost.

Who should hold it

The First Preferred suits the YES Bank customer who travels a few times a year, wants lounge access and a below-average forex markup at a low fee. If the healthcare and fashion categories are what drew you, price the Rewards Subscription Plan in first — ₹5,000 a year on top of the ₹999 — because they do not come with the card. For occasional international travel, the forex savings (even at 2.00%) plus lounge access still justify the ₹999 on their own.

It's the wrong card for anyone specifically chasing zero forex (it's no longer that card), for anyone who wants stable, set-and-forget benefits (YES revisits terms often), and for non-YES customers who'll find steadier options elsewhere.

Should you get it?

The YES First Preferred used to win on one number — 0% forex at the lowest fee in its class — and in 2026 that number is gone, replaced first by a 1.75% and now a 2.00% markup effective 15 June 2026 after YES Bank's mid-year revisions (which also raised cash-advance and other charges). It remains a fair travel card with lounge access and golf — fine value for a YES customer who travels occasionally, provided you read the bonus-category spread for what it is: travel, dining, fashion and healthcare acceleration is sold separately as the Rewards Subscription Plan, not granted by the card. But the defining feature that made it special no longer exists, and the bank's habit of re-cutting terms means you should treat today's perks as provisional. A decent card under a corrected description — but since YES Bank has discontinued it, the live question is whether existing holders keep it rather than whether to apply; for the low forex and lounges they reasonably can, just not for the zero-forex badge it used to wear.