HSBC is offering a new HSBC Cash Rewards credit card with no annual fee and a $150 bonus when you spend $500 or more in the first 3 months from account opening. Additionally, you’ll get 2% cash back on purchases made within the first 6 months from Account opening, and 10% Anniversary Bonus on all Cash Rewards earned each year. The card also comes with no foreign transaction fees and other decent travel benefits.
We recently applied for this HSBC Cash Rewards Mastercard to earn $150 cash back after spending $500 in the first 3 months of account opening. This a really low spending requirement to make in three months of opening to get a $150 bonus. The process was easy with HSBC and we instantly got approved which was a relief because other banks such as BarclayCard and Chase have made it harder and harder lately. The credit limit was much lower than we would get with other banks but we only need to spend $500 so that’s more than OK.
Rewards
2% cash back on purchases – You’ll make 2% cash back during the first 6 months from account opening then 1.5% cash back after those months are over.
10% Anniversary Bonus – Earn this bonus on all Cash Rewards earning each year.
Travel Benefits
Unlike many no annual fee cards this one has no foreign transaction fees. In addition, Travel benefits include up to $1 million in coverage if an accident should occur on a commercial passenger vehicle, $50,000 in coverage in the event of collision, damage or theft of a rental vehicle, and more. There is no need to pay for additional auto insurance coverage when you use this card.
Shopping Benefits
Purchase Assurance covers most purchases up to $1,000 against accidental damage or theft for 90 days from the date of purchase. Additionally, enjoy Extended Warranty that doubles your original warranty for up to one additional year and Price Protection can refund the difference if you buy an item and then see it advertised for less within 60 days.
HSBC Website
One bad thing about this card is that the HSBC website is archaic. You have to click around several times to make payments to your bills and redeem your points. To make a payment or view past statements you have to view the older site of HSBC that it allows you to click above the current transactions when you log-in. You will see an information box above transactions that says “Access pending transactions, view and pay your bill from a non-HSBC account, request credit line increase and more.” You then go there and you can do what you normally do on other credit card websites without the extra step.
Redeeming with HSBC Points
We never recommend redeeming points for gift cards unless they are on sale or if you really need that gift card for some unknown reason. Instead we always go for statement credits as the simpler redemption if it pays on a 1:1 value. With the HSBC Cash Rewards MasterCard you need to have 5,000 points for a statement credit which equals $50 in rewards! If you have an uneven number of points you can enter that amount over 5,000 and that will convert to cash. Some cards do not allow you to enter uneven amounts such as the AMEX Blue Card which makes you enter $25 increments. To begin the redemption process just login and click over to the rewards section and then click Financial Rewards tab for statement credits or bank transfers.
Bottom Line
This card was a no-brainer for us for the sign-up with low spend bonus and no annual fee. It’s a great card to carry for at least 6 months for the 2x cash back as well. Another hot card offer to apply for the same day as this card would be the Barclaycard Uber Visa which would be more of a long-term card for the 4% back on dining.
