We all knew Yes Bank was extremely aggressive with credit card promos in 2017, offering repeated 2x, 3x and 5x reward campaigns. However, by 2018 the approach had noticeably changed. Before analysing potential reasons, let’s review the Yes Bank Diwali 2018 promotion for its credit cards.
5X Reward Points on Yesbank Credit Cards
Yes Bank Credit Card Festive Offer Details
- Offer Period: 15th Oct to 15th Nov, 2018
- Offer: 5X reward points at selected merchants
- Partner Merchants: Amazon.in, BigBasket, Jabong, MakeMyTrip, OYO Rooms, Reliance Digital
- Minimum Spend: Rs. 20,000 for Yes First (YF) cards; Rs. 10,000 for Yes Premia and Yes Prosperity cards
- Maximum Bonus Points: 2,000 bonus points for Yes Private Card; 8,000 for YF cards; 4,000 for Yes Premia and Yes Prosperity cards
- Excluded Cards: Yes Bank Cashback, Cashback Plus, Corporate and Purchase credit cardmembers
- Fulfilment: Benefits credited on or before 31 December, 2018
One important factor is that many of the same merchants also featured in competing banks’ offers, such as HDFC’s 5x and 10x campaigns. That overlap reduced the distinct appeal of Yes Bank’s promotion and limited its competitive impact.
Bottom Line
The 2018 Diwali offer was a disappointment compared with Yes Bank’s 2017 promotion, which delivered far larger rewards. Observing Yes Bank’s recent promotional pattern suggested a pullback was likely. The bank also moved a large number of preferred cardholders into exclusive tiers, a change that could be costly and indicates a shift in their strategy.
There are a few plausible explanations for the reduced intensity of promos. Frequent high-value campaigns in prior years would have been expensive for the bank to sustain, especially when tech-savvy cardholders redeem points quickly. Those redemptions translate into real costs for issuers.
Additionally, the negative publicity and financial challenges Yes Bank faced around that period may have tightened marketing budgets and forced more conservative spending on credit card rewards and acquisition offers. These are reasonable inferences given the wider context.
Despite the pullback, it’s possible Yes Bank could return to more aggressive promotions when conditions improve. For now, many customers and observers see the 2018 offer as a significant step down from the scale of 2017.
What’s your take on Yes Bank’s 2018 Diwali promotion? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Update: Fulfilment was completed on 31 December 2018, as promised.