HSBC Advance Credit Card - up to 3.5% Cashback on all purchases!
As we bid farewell to Singapore's best credit card for miles earlier this month, the brand new HSBC Advance Credit Card while nowhere near as impressive as its predecessor, offers up to 3.5% cashback on all eligible purchases. With the proliferation of unlimited cashback cards in the market, this could be a strong contender in the cashback card market if you typically charge a fairly consistent range of expenses to your credit card each month.
Photo Credit: HSBC
Unlike bonus category cashback credit cards like the Standard Chartered SingPost Platinum Visa Credit Card which offers up to 7% cashback on eligible transactions made online, the HSBC Advance Credit Card offers up to 3.5% cashback on all eligible transaction made online or offline (regardless of spending category) so long as minimum spend of S$2,000 is met each month (otherwise, you will benefit from a lower rate of cashback). Looking at the competition in the market like the Unlimited Cashback Credit Card and the True Cashback Card which offer only 1.5% cashback (albeit unlimited) on eligible transactions, the HSBC Advance Credit Card appears to be a relatively superior card - of course this depends on how much you spend at the end of the day.
| Spend Amount | Customer Type | Cashback Percentage | Cashback Cap | Spend Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S$2,000 & Below | Regular Customer | 1.50% | $70 | |
| HSBC Advance | 2.50% | $125 | ||
| More than S$2,000 | Regular Customer | 2.50% | $70 | $2,800 |
| HSBC Advance | 3.50% | $125 | $3,571 |
The HSBC Advance Credit Card offers a flat 3.5% cashback (2.5% for non HSBC Advance customers) if a minimum of S$2,000 in eligible transactions is charged to the card and the monthly cashback is capped at S$125. This means that any dollar above S$3,571 (or S$2,800 for regular customers) will not earn any additional cashback - you should think about charging these transactions to the Unlimited Cashback Credit Card for instance. While the competition does offer unlimited cashback at 1.5%, you will have to spend at least S$8,333 (or S$4,666 for regular HSBC customers) in order to breakeven with the HSBC Advance Credit Card - this is definitely a card worth considering but do remember that you will have to satisfy the requirements of being a HSBC Advance customer in order to fully maximise the benefits on this card.
Probably the best sign-up offer for Citi Credit Cards - get S$400 cash reward with minimum spend of S$500 within 30 days for new customers.