ATM use to debit cards, YES Bank salary accounts to get costlier from Oct

Charges for issuing debit cards will increase and the bank will ask customers to maintain minimum balance in these accounts

YES Bank will on October 1 increase fees for its Smart Salary accounts, changing terms for debit card issuance, ATM transactions, cheque penalties, and cash handling. Smart Salary Advantage, Smart Salary Exclusive, Smart Salary Platinum, and Smart Salary Platinum Pro accounts will be impacted.

 

Debit card fees

 

YES Bank will link debit card fee waivers to regular salary credits or maintenance of an average monthly balance (AMB).

 

Issuance fees: RuPay Debit Card for Smart Salary Advantage customers will cost Rs 199. For other variants, the joining fee will be waived if a salary credit of at least Rs 10,000 is received in any of the three months following account opening, or if an AMB of Rs 10,000 is maintained.

 

 

Renewal fees: Waived if the same salary credit or AMB conditions are met.

 

If conditions are not met, charges will range from Rs 199 (RuPay Debit Card) to Rs 599 (Explore Debit Card).

ATM and overseas transaction charges

 

For ATM usage, customers of Smart Salary Advantage and Exclusive accounts will continue getting 5 free transactions, after that:

 

Rs 23 per financial transaction and Rs 10 per non-financial transaction.

 

International ATM withdrawals will cost Rs 120 per transaction, while balance enquiries abroad are priced at Rs 20.

 

Debit card cross-currency mark-up stands at 3 per cent.

Cash transactions and branch services

 

Branch cash transactions will be free up to Rs 1 lakh or two transactions per month. Beyond this, a fee of Rs 4.5 per Rs 1,000 (minimum Rs 150) applies. Services like card replacement, PIN regeneration, or slip retrieval will also attract fees ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 250.

Non-maintenance charges and cheque penalties

 

If salary credit is not received for three consecutive months and AMB is not maintained, non-maintenance charges (NMC) will apply. The penalty is linked to the shortfall, ranging from 5 per cent to 10 per cent, capped at Rs 750 per month.

 

A bounced cheque will attract a Rs 500 fine for the first instance and Rs 750 from the second onwards. ECS returns due to insufficient funds will cost between Rs 500 and Rs 550 after first, while stop-payment instructions or physical statements will be billed at Rs 100 each.

 

For salaried customers, the key takeaway is that fee waivers are now conditional. Regular salary credit of Rs 10,000 or maintaining a balance cushion is essential to avoid charges. Those using multiple ATMs or depending heavily on branch transactions may need to reassess usage to keep costs low.