YES Bank’s latest push: A credit card just for women that goes beyond shopping

Women are increasingly making their own decisions about spending, saving and financial planning. That shift is also changing how banks look at women as customers, with more focus on products designed around their individual financial and lifestyle needs.

YES BANK is betting on this change with its YES Essence Credit Card, designed specifically for women as primary cardholders. The card is currently available to salaried women and combines rewards on everyday spending with benefits around healthcare, travel, shopping and lifestyle.

Anil Singh, Country Head – Credit Cards & Merchant Acquiring at YES BANK, told Business Today that the bank's decision to create a card specifically for women came from studying how their financial behaviour is changing.

“Women customers are emerging as a distinct and important segment across every sphere – education, the workplace, business, and leadership. Even the ways institutions and organisations engage with women are evolving to address their needs and aspirations,” Singh said.

From add-on users to primary cardholders

Women have traditionally been viewed as supplementary or “add-on” users of credit cards, with the primary financial relationship often held by another family member. YES BANK said it saw an opportunity to approach women as independent customers.

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“Historically, women cardholders were viewed as ‘add-on’ holders but at YES BANK, we identified women as a potential customer segment whose preferences differ slightly from other customers,” Singh said.

The bank used customer feedback and surveys while developing the card.

“Multiple surveys and customer feedback strengthened our conviction to create specific products tailored to these differentiated preferences,” he said.

The result is a card that goes beyond shopping rewards and brings together everyday spending, travel, wellness and financial information.

“Our YES Essence credit card is designed keeping in mind the needs of women as our primary cardholder. The idea behind YES Essence was to identify what women value in their everyday lives and create something that goes beyond the usual shopping and rewards – supporting lifestyle, travel, wellness and financial awareness,” Singh said.

What does the card offer?

YES Essence offers accelerated rewards on categories such as dining, groceries, shopping, beauty and travel. Cardholders can also earn up to 10,000 YES Rewardz after reaching spending milestones.

The card comes with welcome vouchers across fashion, beauty, travel and fitness brands. Other benefits include a birthday voucher, buy-one-get-one movie tickets and complimentary coffee at selected mall outlets across India.

It also includes a subscription to a business and financial news platform, giving customers access to content on markets and personal finance.

Singh said ease of accessing and redeeming these benefits was an important part of the card's design.

“Initial activation and spending have been encouraging. The ease of accessing and redeeming benefits is an important part of our YES Essence credit card,” he said.

 Credit card include a health check-up

One of the more unusual features of YES Essence is its annual preventive health check-up, which includes women-centric screenings such as cancer-marker tests.

Singh said the bank wanted the card to address an area that women often overlook while managing work and family responsibilities.

“We wanted our credit card proposition to go beyond spending. Today, women are juggling between their careers, and family, while deprioritising their health, so we have developed YES Essence credit card as a nudge for them to prioritise their health,” he said.

The bank also wanted to go beyond the standard health check-ups offered with many financial products.

“We wanted to go a step further and include women-centric screenings like cancer detection, which is an important check-up for their health,” Singh said.

The aim, he added, was to make preventive healthcare a meaningful part of the product rather than simply another complimentary benefit.

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Women are making more financial decisions themselves

According to Singh, the shift is not limited to credit card spending. Women are increasingly making independent choices around travel, dining, wellness and experiences, as well as long-term financial planning.

“Women are taking greater ownership of their financial decisions, both in their day-to-day spending and in their long-term financial planning. We have observed that women make their own choices around travel, dining, wellness and experiences,” he said.

“As their aspirations are evolving, we believe that financial solutions should evolve too,” Singh added.

The bank believes rising participation of women in economic activity and wealth creation will further increase demand for products designed around their needs.

Self-employed women may be next

For now, YES Essence is available only to salaried women. Self-employed women are not currently eligible, although YES BANK is considering extending the product to them.

“We have been receiving positive and encouraging response for our YES Essence credit card, which gives us the confidence that the proposition is resonating with the segment we designed it for,” Singh said.

“The proposition is currently available for salaried women customers only, but we are already evaluating an extension to the self-employed customers within our franchise,” he added.

YES BANK also offers YES Essence savings accounts. Singh said this could eventually allow the bank to build a wider range of financial products for women.

“We already have YES Essence saving accounts, which provides an opportunity to build a broader ecosystem for the women customers. As we deepen our understanding of the segment, we may consider addressing their other financial needs as well,” he said.

For now, the bank's focus is on understanding customer response to the credit card and whether its combination of everyday rewards, lifestyle benefits and preventive healthcare meets the needs of women.