YES First Exclusive Credit Card (now YES Bank RESERV)

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.

• 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

• 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

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)

Evaluated against its current specifications, the card has transitioned from its original super-premium status into the mid-tier RESERV at an accessible ₹2,499 fee. It maintains a competitive 2% forex markup, 6 international lounge visits alongside 12 domestic visits annually (subject to domestic quarterly spend criteria), and rare reward accrual on insurance and utilities. The earn structure delivers practical value—3% on online retail, 1.5% on offline purchases, and 0.75% across Select categories. While it no longer represents the top-of-the-line flagship it once was, it remains an appealing, well-rounded mid-premium offering at its lowered pricing.

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 verified 16 Aug 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.

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 · 12 changes · last change Jun 2026

▲ Revaluation ▼ Devaluation ◆ Neutral / reversed

▼ Redemption Effective 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

▼ Fee Effective 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

▼ Fee Effective 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

▼ Benefit Effective 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

▲ Benefit Effective 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

▼ Benefit Effective 1 May 2025

Over-limit facility discontinued

From 1 May 2025 YES Bank discontinued the over-limit facility across its credit cards including the RESERV; spends above the sanctioned limit are now declined and the ₹500 over-limit charge no longer applies.

Verification: CardAdvisor Research · Confidence: High

▼ Lounge Observed 30 Oct 2024 · Effective 1 Apr 2025

Domestic lounge spend threshold raised to ₹1 lakh/quarter

₹35,000 / quarter → ₹1,00,000 / quarter

Announced 30 October 2024 and effective 1 April 2025, the prior-quarter spend needed for the RESERV's domestic lounge visits (3 per quarter) rose from ₹35,000 to ₹1,00,000 — the third such tightening in eight months.

Verification: CardAdvisor Research · Confidence: High

▼ Reward Effective 1 Apr 2025

Government, marketing & advertising spends stop earning

From 1 April 2025 the RESERV earns no reward points on government, marketing and advertising transactions, narrowing the spends that qualify for its earn rate.

Verification: CardAdvisor Research · Confidence: High

▼ Redemption Effective 1 Dec 2024

Point redemption capped at 70% of invoice

Full invoice redeemable in points → 70% of invoice, max 2,00,000 points/month

From 1 December 2024, YES Rewardz points can cover only 70% of a flight or hotel invoice on the RESERV, the remaining 30% payable in cash, with point redemption capped at 2,00,000 points per calendar month.

Verification: CardAdvisor Research · Confidence: High

▼ Lounge Effective 21 Mar 2024

Domestic lounge access made spend-linked

Unlimited / unconditional → Prior-quarter spend required (₹10,000, soon ₹35,000)

From 21 March 2024 the RESERV's previously unconditional domestic lounge access became spend-linked — initially requiring ₹10,000 of prior-quarter spend and soon raised to ₹35,000 — turning a headline "swipe and walk in" perk into a spend-gated one.

Verification: CardAdvisor Research · Confidence: Reconstructed

◆ Benefit Effective 2023

Rebranded and repositioned as YES Bank RESERV

Super-premium, ₹10,000 fee → Mid-premium RESERV, ₹2,499 fee

In late 2023 YES Bank rebranded the First Exclusive as the RESERV and moved it down-market: the fee fell from ~₹10,000 to ₹2,499 (joining waived on ₹40,000 in 30 days, renewal on ₹3 lakh) and earning was restructured to 24 YES Rewardz per ₹200 online in select categories (~3%), 12 per ₹200 offline and 6 per ₹200 elsewhere.

Verification: CardAdvisor Research · Confidence: Reconstructed

◆ Launch Effective 2016

Launches as YES FIRST Exclusive super-premium card

YES Bank launched the YES FIRST Exclusive in 2016 as a super-premium card — a ₹10,000 fee, a market-low 1.75% forex markup, unlimited domestic and international lounge access, 10 reward points per ₹100 (~2.5%), a 50,000-point welcome bonus (~₹12,500) and complimentary Taj Epicure membership.

Verification: CardAdvisor Research · Confidence: Reconstructed

↓ Show all 12 changes 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: YES First Exclusive Credit Card (now YES Bank RESERV) value timeline — CardAdvisor

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Source: YES First Exclusive Credit Card (now YES Bank RESERV) value timeline , CardAdvisor (CC BY 4.0).

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Quick summary

Type Premium credit card

Reward rate 1.5%–3%

Best for YES Bank customer wanting a mid-premium card with low 2% forex

Joining fee ₹2,499

Annual fee ₹2,499

Reviewed by

Devchandra Sah · Cards tested, miles earned, trips booked — for over a decade

Last verified 16 Aug 2026

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