HSBC Premier credit card - too good to be true?

[B A]

Anyone know whether you can view reward redemption history for premier card. I redeemed some KrisFlyer but I did not get any confirmation email or able to find a redemption history online.

 

[QF_Flyer]

Sorry I just notice I never replied to this - the Expat accounts I have are GBP and USD, not sure if they support Euros, I presume they do, since I have EUR currency accounts in AU and HK/SG of all places, but I have no need for one.

 

[QF_Flyer]

Anyone know whether you can view reward redemption history for premier card. I redeemed some KrisFlyer but I did not get any confirmation email or able to find a redemption history online.

HSBC Australia still uses the old HSBC website for some reason, so it may be slightly different, and my AU card is QF direct earn, so I can't check, but in the US and UK sites there's a points "statement", where you go as if to redeem, then scroll down beyond the bottom of the page. Not sure if AU is like that, as I've only had direct earn and Star Alliance (which is a completely separate page).

They did something to their rewards accrual a year or two back where it just permanently says "0" earned, this was with the Star Alliance card, but remains true with the Premier card. Not sure what's stopping them upgrading the website, but it's pretty poor.

 

[B A]

HSBC Australia still uses the old HSBC website for some reason, so it may be slightly different, and my AU card is QF direct earn, so I can't check, but in the US and UK sites there's a points "statement", where you go as if to redeem, then scroll down beyond the bottom of the page. Not sure if AU is like that, as I've only had direct earn and Star Alliance (which is a completely separate page).

They did something to their rewards accrual a year or two back where it just permanently says "0" earned, this was with the Star Alliance card, but remains true with the Premier card. Not sure what's stopping them upgrading the website, but it's pretty poor.

Thanks. It took about 5 working days for the KrisFlyer points to show up.

 

[QF_Flyer]

Thanks. It took about 5 working days for the KrisFlyer points to show up.

No worries, good data point for future transfers HSBC-SQ, thanks.

 

[Viridis]

Thinking of getting the Premier Mastercard again to replace my CommBank Ultimate.

Can anyone confirm that the HSBC card can transfer points to Cathay/Asia Miles please. I assume it can given the H and S in HSBC but just want to double check

 

[asterix]

Thinking of getting the Premier Mastercard again to replace my CommBank Ultimate.

Can anyone confirm that the HSBC card can transfer points to Cathay/Asia Miles please. I assume it can given the H and S in HSBC but just want to double check

Yes and Velocity. Just remember it has $199 annual fee now.

 

[BJReplay]

Yes and Velocity. Just remember it has $199 annual fee now.

First year free.

Unlike CBA Ultimate, points don't credit until statement date - so if you're building points, you only get access when your statement is issued (unlike CBA, where they credit as soon as your charge goes from Pending to non-pending).

Points can be transferred in 5000-point bundles only (rather than individual points as per CBA) and are 2 for 1 - so 5000 HSBC points = 2500 Cathay Pacific Asia Miles.

 

[Viridis]

Thanks both

Yes, I was aware of the fee but not of the points credit schedule. That’s fine though. Same as US Amex

I like the idea of the Ultimate …. but I hardly use it given the awful points value for local purchases. I swapped to the Qantas programme when CommBank ditched all of the redemption partners but I have a QF card and it’s not my favourite FF programme anyway

Thanks again for the info @asterix & @BJReplay

 

[SYD-YYZ]

Also need to be aware that it takes 3-5 business days for points to transfer into Asia Miles., not instantaneous like Amex. Not sure about KrisFlyer or Velocity as I’ve only transferred to Asia Miles.

 

[Viridis]

Thanks @SYD-YYZ . I’ll bear that in mind. Got enough AM for our next trip; I’ll just need to ‘plan ahead’ thereafter

 

[nthd_nthd]

Got the *A currently. Am I eligible for applying this card? Just curious. Haven't read their T&C and haven't done researched for HSBC AU.

 

[Viridis]

Am I eligible for applying this card? .

You need to be an HSBC Premier backing customer which is achieved by either depositing A$9k a month into your account or having A$150k of savings or investments with the bank

 

[mini2]

You need to be an HSBC Premier backing customer which is achieved by either depositing A$9k a month into your account or having A$150k of savings or investments with the bank

Moving $9k in and then moving it out the next day seems to do the trick. Do that song and dance for 3 months, then call them up asking for an upgrade. They'll say yeah nah but give it a few days, and you should receive an email confirming you've been upgraded.

 

[nthd_nthd]

You need to be an HSBC Premier backing customer which is achieved by either depositing A$9k a month into your account or having A$150k of savings or investments with the bank

Yes Im. But just worrying about my existing HSBC *A make me not qualified for this.

 

[dairyfloss]

Yes Im. But just worrying about my existing HSBC *A make me not qualified for this.

It's unrelated; the Premier World M/C is a standard product available to Premier customers at any time, and you can have multiple products. The only thing that would affect qualification is if you were unable to become a Premier customer, or anything within the standard application & credit checks that are done

 

[Viridis]

I realise that some people on this Forum have very valid personal and political reasons for staying clear of HSBC

But, I have to say that my experience to date (and I've had a banking relationship with them since the early 2000s) has been very positive

Given the relatively recent 'enhancements' to the Commbank Ultimate card, and the ongoing frustration with their credit limit policy, I cancelled the card and re-opened a Premier Mastercard account.

I visited a branch on Friday afternoon and the card was approved this morning. I have added the card to my phone wallet from the HSBC App without having to wait for the physical card to arrive and complete the formal activation process. It's $250 cheaper per annum than the Commbank Card

And they've given me a credit limit of $20k more than Commbank where it was like pulling-teeth to get what I had.

Sure it has the 3% forex fee but I put very few overseas transactions on non-Amex cards and I have the UK & US cards to cover that contingency (mostly).

Happy to have made the switch back. Just hope they don't flog themselves off to one of the big-four anytime soon

 

[BJReplay]

Given the relatively recent 'enhancements' to the Commbank Ultimate card, and the ongoing frustration with their credit limit policy, I cancelled the card and re-opened a Premier Mastercard account.

I had an HSBC Star Alliance Card (as did Mrs BJReplay), and we recently booked tickets to Sakura season visiting Seoul and Japan next year (with a top up of points from CBA to get us to the amount we needed) mainly on the Air Canada Aeroplan sign-up points we earned on those, but didn't renew those cards with the fees they were charging)

And they've given me a credit limit of $20k more than Commbank where it was like pulling-teeth to get what I had.

We had similar experiences with the Star Alliance cards - $20k each, with simple approval.

However, when I applied for HSBC Premier about 8 months after closing Star Alliance, I was knocked back.

I recently took the opportunity to re-apply while employed again (albeit under a casual contract) after I'd been earning for a few months and had lodged my tax return, and was offered a $10k limit - compared with CBA who offered me $40k.

I just can't figure banks approval processes out.

Sure it has the 3% forex fee but I put very few overseas transactions on non-Amex cards and I have the UK & US cards to cover that contingency (mostly).

BankWest platinum fee free credit for my fallback - I'm holding CBA until our trip next year, but will then close, and keep BankWest as my fallback card.

Happy to have made the switch back. Just hope they don't flog themselves off to one of the big-four anytime soon

Yeah, always a risk even for large foreign banks that they decide that their Australian banking operations simply aren't profitable enough to keep operating.

 

[Supersonic Swinger]

Just hope they don't flog themselves off to one of the big-four anytime soon

That exact thing could happen soon... AFR reported that HSBC was looking to sell their Australian retail operations in July and had appointed Citi to advise, and in this report from 2 months ago, now NAB is the frontrunner with ING a possibility. Others ruled out because they are too small, too large, or don't operate a credit card portfolio anymore (Macquarie).

HSBC’s retail operations are National Australia Bank’s to lose

As Citi receives bids for HSBC’s retail banking operations, some close to the process say demand would be stronger if the assets were split up.

www.afr.com

If it's NAB, expect the credit cards to be 'nabbed'. You just have to read the Citibank forum to see what NAB are now doing to those cards.

 

[albyd]

I visited a branch on Friday afternoon and the card was approved this morning. I have added the card to my phone wallet from the HSBC App without having to wait for the physical card to arrive and complete the formal activation process. It's $250 cheaper per annum than the Commbank Card

And they've given me a credit limit of $20k more than Commbank where it was like pulling-teeth to get what I had.

Sure it has the 3% forex fee but I put very few overseas transactions on non-Amex cards and I have the UK & US cards to cover that contingency (mostly).

Happy to have made the switch back. Just hope they don't flog themselves off to one of the big-four anytime soon

That was my experience - was surprised how quickly they approved it. I later reduced limit due to home loan application requirements. It was like pulling teeth to get a credit limit increase - took 4 weeks where I provided everything they asked for and managed to get it through finally as I had a mate in private bank.

I think everyone wants to get you on as a "new" customer but don't want to know you when you're trying to extend your relationship as you're not a "new" win. That's also why I like the charge card concept. Shame AMEX is the only issuer left in AU who issues them.

HSBC has given me until the end of the year to verify some information. I've been a customer since before 2000. I'm mostly over it. I know my main account number by heart otherwise outside of global Premier there's not much keeping me there. Will be interesting to see who they get sold to. I've already received an attractive BT offer to gussy up the pig before market (much like Citi did with FPO) and the cost is rising now NAB has taken over. YMMV.