HDFC Infinia Vs YES First Exclusive Credit Card – Who Wins the Game?

Based on various articles we have published in the past, such as this and this we all pretty well know that yes first exclusive card and HDFC Infinnia Card are two the best super premium cards in India. If there is one card that one aspires to own, there is very high probability that these two are among them.

Well, due to some recent changes  put forward by HDFC Bank, Yes First Exclusive may very well be the best card to be owned on the MasterCard Platform in India. Even, much better than the mighty Infinia. Some may question my analysis but I’ll elaborate a bit more to show a clearer picture.

HDFC Infinia Vs YES First Exclusive Credit Card – A Tough Battle

Let’s make a comparison:

• Rewards Points:
  • Yes First Exclusive: 2.5% value in return as points
  • HDFC Infinia: 3.3% value in return as point
• Mark Up fees:
  • Yes First Exclusive: 1.75% (Lowest in India)
  • HDFC Infinia: 2%
• Interest on Revolving Credit:
  • Yes First Exclusive: 1.2% for Yesbank SB Customers and 1.99% for others
  • HDFC Infinia: 1.99% for everyone.
• Lounge Facility:
  • Yes First Exclusive: Unlimited to both Primary and Add-On card members through a)Priority Pass (Global) b) MasterCard (India)
  • HDFC Infinia: Unlimited to both Primary and Add-On card member through Priority pass (Global) b)VISA/Mastercard (India) however, this is restricted to primary card holder only.
• EMI:
  • Yes First Exclusive: Minimum Threshold of only ₹2500. You continue to get points on EMI facility also. Foreclosure charges- 2%
  • HDFC Infinia: Minimum Threshold on ₹3000 and you don’t get points on EMI. Foreclosure charges- 3%
• E-Wallet Loading:
  • Yes First Exclusive: You get points for loading e-wallets too. So, all those ardent wallet users, this is your go to card now.
  • HDFC Infinia: You don’t get any points for loading e-wallets now.
• Insurance Payments:
  • Yes First Exclusive: No upper limit or capping on reward points earned. Plus you get 1000 RPs (worth ₹250) with each new registration.
  • HDFC Infinia: You can only earn a maximum of 2000 RPs for your insurance payments.
• Eligibility and availability:
  • Yes First Exclusive: You could have owned this card LTF when there was an offer of credit limit matching from any competitor bank credit card if your credit limit was north of 5 lakh. Now you need to have an minimum gross salary of ₹50 Lakh/annum to be eligible to apply. You pay ₹10K as annual/joining fees.
  • HDFC Infinia: You cannot apply for this card straightaway. There is no clear cut guideline. You can be a very HNW individual but still are at the risk of not getting the card as this is an Invite Only Card. No LTF option. You pay ₹10K as annual/joining fees.
• Some super offers:
  • Yes First Exclusive: 25% Flat off on Bookmyshow Movie tickets upto ₹250 cap/month. (You earn points too on the transaction). Yes First Exclusive: 25% flat off on bill on KFC and Pizza Hut in designated stores.
  • HDFC Infinia: 2X RP’s on dining 5X on bigbasket & 10X on smartbuy are good ones.
• Fuel Transaction Surcharge Waivers:
  • Yes First Exclusive: Eligible txns: ₹400-₹5000. Upper limit of surcharge waiver is ₹1000/month. Full surcharge will be waived off till it’s less than ₹1000.
  • HDFC Infinia: Eligible txns: ₹400- ₹1 lakh. Upper limit of surcharge waiver is ₹1000/month. There is a catch here. Max limit of surcharge waiver is only 1% of the transaction now. You may be charged anywhere between 1% to 2.5% based on what petrol pump and bank tie up is there. But you will be reversed a maximum of only 1%.
• Redemption Capabilities:
• The Yes First Exclusive: Huge redemption option including various gift cards like Amazon, Cleartrip, Shopper Stop, West side and the list is huge. This helps you to redeem your points for literally anything. You can even gift these vouchers to friends/relatives.
• HDFC Infinia: Redemption options are relatively restricted only to Flights, Movies, Recharge etc, that too only at their own redemption site. 

I hope this exhaustive comparison will show that Yes First Exclusive Card is now really having a lot of advantage over HDFC Infinia Credit Card now. And the best thing is that those who have got this Yes First Exclusive Card LTF don’t have any strings attached and can very well stop thinking about chasing an Infinia now.

Though, there maybe cases where Infinia wins the battle by big numbers. For eg., if you spend a lot on their frequent promos like 2X/5X/10X Reward Points, you end up saving a lot by end of the day. Hence, to decidewhich one to go for, always you need to check what benefit you’re looking for. For ex, if its priority pass that you’re chasing, Yes First Exclusive can get you easily compared to Infinia as its quite tough to get approved.