In-depth review
YES First Exclusive Credit Card (now YES Bank RESERV)
The card that once paired the two things travellers most want — zero forex and unlimited lounges — no longer exists under that name. YES Bank rebranded it as the RESERV and repositioned it down: the fee fell from ~₹10,000 to ₹2,499, forex is now low (no longer zero), and lounge access is spend-linked. What remains is a capable mid-premium card with rare insurance/utility earning, best judged on its leaner 2026 terms.
Read the full review →Key features
What this card is built to do — the highlights that actually matter.
Welcome Benefit
~₹10,000 in vouchers, points or cashback in year one — usually conditional on a first spend within 30–90 days
3% on Online Shopping
24 YES Rewardz per ₹200 on online spends (~3% at ₹0.25/point), capped 36,000 points a statement cycle (≈₹3 lakh of online spend); above the cap earning drops to the 12/₹200 offline rate
1.5% on Other
12 YES Rewardz per ₹200 (~1.5% at ₹0.25/point) on offline and general retail. Select categories earn half this and have their own rows; fuel, cash advance, EMI and lounge charges earn nothing
Airport Lounge Access
3 domestic lounge visits a quarter, unlocked by ₹1,00,000 spend in the previous calendar quarter (gate introduced Mar 2024 at ₹35,000, raised to ₹1 lakh from Apr 2025); 6 international visits a year via Priority Pass, not spend-gated
Annual Fee Waiver
Fee of ₹2,499 + 18% GST (₹2,949 all-in)/yr fully waived when you spend ₹3,00,000/year
Golf Privileges
24 complimentary golf rounds per year
24x7 Concierge
24x7 dedicated lifestyle and travel concierge
👑 PREMIUM LIFESTYLE BENEFITS
Concierge, golf, hotel membership and high-value perks for premium cardholders.
24 rounds
Golf rounds/year
₹7,200
Golf perk value
- 24x7 lifestyle and travel concierge
- 24 complimentary golf rounds/year at partner courses
✈️ TRAVEL BENEFITS
Lounge access, miles, forex rates and travel perks at a glance.
AIRPORT LOUNGE ACCESS
✓
Domestic lounges
Priority Pass
International lounges
₹12,000
Estimated annual value
2%
Forex markup
- Domestic + international airport lounge access (worth ~₹12,000/yr)
- Low forex markup: 2.0%
For YES Bank customers who put most of their spending online, where the 3% rate does the heavy lifting, and who want a low 2% forex and lounges alongside it. Also unusually good for anyone paying utility, insurance or education bills on a card, since it earns on them at all. No longer the zero-forex, unlimited-lounge flagship it was billed as.
Full reward structure
What you earn on every rupee, per spend category — as of 11 Oct 2026. Rates assume 1 pt = ₹0.25. How we value points →
| Category | Type | Rate | Monthly cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online Shopping | reward points | 3%12 pts/₹100 × ₹0.25 | ₹9,000 |
| Other | reward points | 1.5%6 pts/₹100 × ₹0.25 | — |
| Education | reward points | 0.75%3 pts/₹100 × ₹0.25 | — |
| Groceries | reward points | 0.75%3 pts/₹100 × ₹0.25 | — |
| Insurance | reward points | 0.75%3 pts/₹100 × ₹0.25 | — |
| Rent | reward points | 0.75%3 pts/₹100 × ₹0.25 | — |
| Utility Bills | reward points | 0.75%3 pts/₹100 × ₹0.25 | — |
| Wallet Loads | reward points | 0.75%3 pts/₹100 × ₹0.25 | — |
Online Shopping: 24 YES Rewardz per ₹200 on online spends (~3% at ₹0.25/point), capped 36,000 points a statement cycle (≈₹3 lakh of online spend); above the cap earning drops to the 12/₹200 offline rate
Other: 12 YES Rewardz per ₹200 (~1.5% at ₹0.25/point) on offline and general retail. Select categories earn half this and have their own rows; fuel, cash advance, EMI and lounge charges earn nothing
Education: 6 YES Rewardz per ₹200 (~0.75%) — education is a Select category, earning half the base rate
Groceries: 6 YES Rewardz per ₹200 (~0.75%) — YES's own Select-category MCC table lists grocery (5411, 5499). Held at the carve-out rate because the issuer itemises it, and under-crediting is the safer error
Insurance: 6 YES Rewardz per ₹200 (~0.75%) — insurance is a Select category, earning half the base rate
Rent: 6 YES Rewardz per ₹200 (~0.75%) — rent and wallet loads are singled out for separate treatment in YES's own footnotes and are described as Select post-rebrand; held at the carve-out rate
Utility Bills: 6 YES Rewardz per ₹200 (~0.75%) — utility and recharge are a Select category, earning half the base rate. Rare among premium cards in earning at all here
Wallet Loads: 6 YES Rewardz per ₹200 (~0.75%) — wallet loads (MCC 6540) are singled out in YES's own footnotes and described as Select post-rebrand; held at the carve-out rate
Earns nothing on: Fuel · EMI Conversions · Cash Advances · Government & Tax · Marketing and advertising
These spends earn no rewards at all — not a reduced rate, and not the base rate. They are also normally left out of any milestone or fee-waiver calculation.
Fees & charges
The numbers that matter beyond rewards — verify on the issuer site before applying. Fees below are shown inclusive of 18% GST, as of 11 Oct 2026.
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| Annual fee (incl. 18% GST) | ₹2,949 |
| Joining fee (incl. 18% GST) | ₹2,949 |
| Finance charge (APR) | 2.99% p.m. |
| Forex markup | 2% |
| Reward redemption fee | ₹100 |
Perks & benefits
Estimated annual value beyond rewards — ~₹25,200/yr in total.
24x7 dedicated lifestyle and travel concierge
24 complimentary golf rounds per year
3 domestic lounge visits a quarter, unlocked by ₹1,00,000 spend in the previous calendar quarter (gate introduced Mar 2024 at ₹35,000, raised to ₹1 lakh from Apr 2025); 6 international visits a year via Priority Pass, not spend-gated
1% fuel surcharge waiver on transactions between ₹500 and ₹4,000, capped at ₹500 per statement cycle (eff. 15-Jun-2026)
Should you get it?
- Best for: YES Bank customer wanting a mid-premium card with low 2% forex, Currently paying 2–3.5% forex markup on another card, Golf enthusiast who wants free rounds as a card benefit, Wants a low-forex card with lounge access at a modest relationship bar
- Premium tier — a solid all-rounder for steady monthly spend.
- Strongest value if you spend heavily on Online Shopping (3% back).
- Frequent travellers benefit from the included airport lounge access.
Pros & cons
✓ Pros
- Low 2% forex markup — cheaper on international spend than standard 3.5% cards
- Lounge access — 6 international + 12 domestic visits a year (domestic spend-linked)
- 24 YES Rewardz per ₹200 (~3%) on online spends, and 12 per ₹200 (~1.5%) on general retail
- Earns on utility, insurance and education at 6 per ₹200 — most premium cards pay nothing here
- 24 complimentary golf rounds per year — one free round every 2 weeks
✕ Cons
- YES Bank has smaller branch and ATM network than HDFC or ICICI
- Rebranded as RESERV — the old zero-forex, unlimited-lounge flagship is gone
- YES Rewardz have narrower redemption catalogue than Amex MR or HDFC SmartBuy
- A ₹100 + GST fee now applies each time you redeem reward points (effective 15 June 2026)
- Existing YES Bank credit cardholders are not eligible for a new card application
- YES Rewardz expire 3 years (36 months) after they are earned
Eligibility & documents
This is the figure for salaried applicants. Where YES Bank sets a separate one for the self-employed, its own eligibility page gives it.
Documents required
- 📄PAN card
- 📄Aadhaar / valid address proof
- 📄Latest 3 months bank statement
- 📄Income proof — salary slips (salaried) or ITR (self-employed)
- 📄Recent passport-size photograph
How to redeem rewards
Ways to convert what you earn into real value.
- 🎁Statement credit / cashback adjustment
- 🎁Online rewards catalogue (vouchers, merchandise)
- 🎁Flight & hotel bookings via the issuer rewards portal
- 🎁Airline / hotel partner point transfers (on eligible cards)
What your YES Reward Points are worth
Realistic value per point by redemption route — the difference is what most people leave on the table.
Capped at 50% of the point balance; ₹100 + GST per redemption request
Capped at 50% of the balance and ₹25,000 a calendar month
YES's best route — capped at 70% of invoice value; ₹99 + GST convenience fee on flights
Air India is YES's only transfer partner, and the flagship is NOT the best deal: YES Private and Private Prime convert 8:1 (⇒ ₹0.125/pt) while Marquee and every other card sit at 10:1 (⇒ ₹0.10/pt) — the rate YES itself publishes as '1 Air Mile per 10 Reward Points'. Both sit below the ₹0.25 flights-and-hotels route, so on YES transferring destroys value. No minimum; credited in up to 7 working days.
✈ Transfer partners
Direct transfers from this card only, ranked by what a point is worth in the destination programme. Full calculator, every currency →
The rebrand stripped the headline draws — forex is 2% (not zero) and lounges are spend-linked — so anyone applying for the old "zero-forex, unlimited-lounge" card will be disappointed.
Frequently asked questions
What is the forex markup?
Is lounge access unlimited?
What is the YES Rewardz point value?
Have YES Bank benefits been stable?
How does it compare to HDFC Infinia?
How has the YES First Exclusive Credit Card (now YES Bank RESERV) changed over time?
Has the YES First Exclusive Credit Card (now YES Bank RESERV) been devalued recently?
When did the YES First Exclusive Credit Card (now YES Bank RESERV)'s fees last change?
How did the YES First Exclusive Credit Card (now YES Bank RESERV) change in 2026?
The bottom line
Judge it on its 2026 terms: the old zero-forex, unlimited-lounge super-premium card is gone, replaced by the ₹2,499 RESERV — a capable mid-premium card with a low 2% forex, 6 international + 12 domestic lounges (domestic spend-linked) and rare insurance/utility earning. The earn rate is better than this card's reputation suggests: 3% online, 1.5% on general retail, 0.75% on the Select list. Good value at the new price, just not the flagship the catalog described.
How this page was built
Counted from this card’s own record: 8 earn rules, 1 of them capped, the spends listed as earning nothing and 4 recorded perks. The renewal fee is conditional — it is waived on a published spend target, so the fee you pay depends on what you spend.
Last updated 11 Oct 2026.
Sources & verification
Fees, reward rates, and benefits for the YES First Exclusive Credit Card (now YES Bank RESERV) are taken from YES Bank's official Most Important Terms & Conditions (MITC) and fee schedule — see the card's official page. Last updated 11 Oct 2026. Reviewed by Devchandra Sah. Always confirm current details on the issuer's site before applying. How we research →
Independence. CardAdvisor is an independent editorial publication. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or authorised to act for YES Bank. All issuer names, product names, and payment-network marks are the property of their respective owners and appear here for identification and comparison only. Card faces shown on this site are our own original illustrations — we do not display or host issuer card artwork or logos.
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Guides and reviews related to this card.
YES First Exclusive Credit Card (now YES Bank RESERV)
The card that once paired the two things travellers most want — zero forex and unlimited lounges — no longer exists under that name. YES Bank rebranded it as the RESERV and repositioned it down: the fee fell from ~₹10,000 to ₹2,499, forex is now low (no longer zero), and lounge access is spend-linked. What remains is a capable mid-premium card with rare insurance/utility earning, best judged on its leaner 2026 terms.
YES First Preferred Credit Card
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-Jun-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 come from a paid add-on, not the card. Just don't choose it for the badge it no longer wears.
YES Bank Wellness Plus Credit Card
A health-themed YES Bank card whose value is in services, not rewards — 12 fitness sessions a month, an annual health check-up (per the Aditya Birla Activ Health list), unlimited doctor consultations, and 5X points at pharmacies. But the base earn is a weak 0.6%, and per YES Bank's MITC the ₹1,499 annual fee is not waivable on spend. Worth it only if you will actually use the wellness benefits.
YES Bank Elite+ Credit Card
A ₹999 YES Bank rewards card built for online spend — 12 points per ₹200 online (~1.2%), 6 offline, with domestic and international lounge access and a BookMyShow discount. The joining fee waives on ₹20k in the first month and renewal on ₹2 lakh a year, so it's good value if you clear those bars and redeem points for travel, not vouchers.
YES Private Prime Credit Card
The value-conscious way into YES Bank's Private tier — invite-only, with the same market-low 0.50% forex, the same 2.5%/5% reward earn, the same ₹9,000 Oberoi voucher and the same unlimited lounges as the flagship, at a ₹20,000 joining fee instead of ₹50,000. The trade-offs: 4 guest lounge visits instead of 12, and a non-waivable joining fee.
YES Bank Essence Credit Card
A ₹799 lifestyle rewards card built around online spends — 12 YES Rewardz per ₹200 on fashion, beauty, dining, travel and grocery, a monthly movie buy-one-get-one and a spend-gated quarterly lounge visit. Honest everyday return is ~1.2% once you value points realistically; best if you redeem for flights and hotels.
YES Private Credit Card
YES Bank's most exclusive metal card — invite-only, with a market-low 0.50% forex, unlimited domestic and international lounges (12 guest visits, no international spend-gate), a ₹9,000 Oberoi voucher and generous golf, on top of a 20-points-per-₹200 domestic / 40-per-₹200 international earn (~2.5%/5%). The catch is a non-waivable ₹50,000 joining fee. A relationship card for existing YES Private clients and heavy overseas spenders.
YES Bank Select Credit Card
An affordable ₹599 entry card that leans on perks — one quarterly domestic lounge visit, four golf green-fee rounds a year and a monthly movie BOGO — rather than raw earn. Online spends make 8 YES Rewardz per ₹200 (capped 5,000/cycle), a modest ~0.8% at the everyday point value. Judge it on the perk bundle and low fee.
YES Bank Ace Credit Card
The budget option in YES Bank's range — a ₹499 no-frills online-shopping card with the easiest fee waiver going (₹50,000 annual spend). Earns 8 YES Rewardz per ₹200 online (capped 5,000/cycle), ~0.8% at the everyday point value. No lounge, golf or movie benefits — the extras are a coffee buy-one-get-one and purchase protection. Sold on Visa per our records and not UPI-linked.
YES Bank Marquee Credit Card
YES Bank's most interesting card — a genuine ~4.5% online earn rate (36 points per ₹200, redeemed for travel at ₹0.25) and a low 1% forex markup in a polished super-premium package, with a rich welcome bonus, 36 movie tickets and golf. The catches define it: voucher redemption was devalued to ₹0.15 (so redeem for flights/hotels, not vouchers), domestic lounge access is spend-gated, the transfer partners are thin, and YES Bank keeps revisiting its premium terms. Worth a slot for the online-focused traveller who redeems deliberately; not a card to build a wallet around.
Value timeline
Every real-world change to this card's rewards, fees and benefits we've tracked — newest first, each linked to its source.
Tracking since 2016 · last change Jun 2026
2026
- ▼ RedemptionEffective 15 Jun 2026
A ₹100 fee now applies every time you redeem reward points
No charge to redeem→₹100 + GST per redemption
From 15 June 2026 YES Bank charges ₹100 plus GST on every reward-point redemption on the RESERV. The bank's consolidated Most Important Terms and Conditions names only two cards for this fee — the RESERV and the Marquee — so it is targeted rather than bank-wide. It compounds the December 2024 rule that points can settle only 70% of a travel invoice: the cash portion of a redemption now carries a flat charge on top, and redeeming in small batches is the expensive way to do it.
Verification: YES Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
- ▼ FeeEffective 15 Jun 2026
Cash-advance, auto-debit-failure and cash-deposit charges raised
Cash advance 2.5% or 500 rupees; auto-debit failure 2% or 450 rupees capped at 1,500; branch cash deposit 100 rupees→Cash advance 2.5% or 650 rupees; auto-debit failure 2.5% or 500 rupees capped at 5,000; branch cash deposit 500 rupees
Three servicing charges went up together on 15 June 2026. The minimum cash-advance fee rose from 500 to 650 rupees, the charge for a failed auto-debit went from 2% or 450 rupees to 2.5% or 500 rupees, and depositing cash at a branch to repay the card went from 100 to 500 rupees. The auto-debit change is the one worth noticing: alongside the higher rate, the per-statement ceiling on that charge moved from 1,500 rupees to 5,000, so a large missed payment can now cost several times what it would have before. None of these touch ordinary card spending - they are the cost of borrowing cash, bouncing a payment, or repaying over the counter.
Verification: YES Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
- ▼ FeeEffective 15 Jun 2026
Forex markup raised from 1.75% to 2.00%
1.75% + GST→2.00% + GST
The market-low 1.75% foreign-currency markup this card launched with in 2016 — for years its single most quoted feature — rose to 2.00% plus GST on 15 June 2026. YES Bank's consolidated Most Important Terms and Conditions moves the RESERV, First Preferred and First Business variants together to 2.00%, while YES Private and Private Prime hold at 0.50%. At 2.00% the card is no longer a standout for overseas spending, though it stays below the ~3.5% that most Indian cards charge. A separate 1% dynamic currency conversion charge still applies whenever an overseas transaction is billed in rupees.
Verification: YES Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
- ▼ BenefitEffective 15 Jun 2026
Fuel surcharge waiver band narrowed to 500 to 4,000
400 to 5,000 rupees→500 to 4,000 rupees
The 1% fuel surcharge waiver still applies, but the window of transactions that qualify for it moved on 15 June 2026. YES Bank replaced the single 400-to-5,000-rupee band that covered its whole range with a per-variant table, and this card sits in the 500 to 4,000-rupee band. The floor rising to 500 rupees is the part most likely to bite: small top-ups that used to earn the waiver no longer do. The RESERV also loses at the top: its ceiling fell from 5,000 to 4,000 rupees, and the waiver stays capped at 500 rupees a statement cycle.
Verification: YES Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
- ▲ BenefitEffective 1 Jun 2026
Over-limit facility reinstated, at 550 rupees a transaction
Withdrawn since 1 May 2025 - spends above the sanctioned limit were declined→Available again, at a flat 550 rupee charge per over-limit transaction
YES Bank brought back the over-limit facility on 1 June 2026, thirteen months after withdrawing it. The RESERV was covered by both the withdrawal and the reinstatement. A transaction that takes the balance past the sanctioned limit now goes through rather than being declined, and carries a flat charge of 550 rupees plus GST. Whether any given account gets the facility, and how far over the limit it may go, is set by the bank from the customer's credit profile and repayment record rather than being a published entitlement. It is a convenience worth having in an emergency and an expensive habit otherwise, since the charge applies per offending transaction.
Verification: YES Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
Each change links to the issuer's own document — bank T&C, MITC, notice, press release or product page — where one is public. Where the bank published nothing, it's marked CardAdvisor Research and verified against the card's current terms. Independent of the live terms shown above. This timeline is one card's slice of our market-wide change record across every tracked card.
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Source: <a href="https://cardadvisor.in/cards/yes-first-exclusive#value-timeline">YES First Exclusive Credit Card (now YES Bank RESERV) value timeline</a>, CardAdvisor (CC BY 4.0).
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