HSBC Advance Credit Card Still Gives Up To 3.5% Cashback

HSBC Advance Credit Card is the go-to cashback credit card for Heartland Boy once he reaches the spending limits on his UOB One Credit Card. In his previous review on the HSBC Advance Credit Card, he demonstrated how he was consistently getting a cashback rate of 2.5% to 3.5%. HSBC Bank has announced some changes that will affect existing HSBC Advance cardholders from 1 Nov 2020 onwards. Thankfully, the changes are not too detrimental as Heartland Boy illustrates how it is still possible to earn 2.5% – 3.5% for your eligible spend on the HSBC Advance Credit Card.

Changes To HSBC Advance Credit Card

1) Cashback Programme

From 1 Nov 2020 onwards, existing HSBC Advance Credit Card holders will earn 2 types of cashback as shown in Diagram 1.

A) The applicable Base cashback rate (either 1.5% or 2.5%) depends on whether one charges more than $2,000 in a calendar month on the HSBC Advance Card. The cashback cap for Base category is $70 per month.

B) The Bonus cashback rate (either 0% or 1% and capped at $300 per month), depends on whether cardholder meets the following criteria:

• Deposit a minimum of S$2,000 in fresh funds to your HSBC Everyday Global account monthly; AND
• Charge 5 transactions to your HSBC Advance Credit Card monthly

It also means that the optimal monthly spend on your HSBC Credit Card is now at $2,800 for a total cashback of $98 (cashback rate of 3.5%). This amount of spending makes the card holder eligible for the MAXIMUM Base cashback ($70/mth) as well as the qualifying Bonus cashback of $28/mth. As shown in Diagram 2, the maximum monthly spending to optimise the maximum cashback earn rate has been reduced from $3,570 to $2,800 prior to the changes.

2) Annual Credit Card Fee

Previously, the annual credit card fee was waived perpetually for HSBC Advance, Premier and Jade banking customers. However, this will no longer be the case. This fee waiver will only apply for a further 2 card anniversaries and thereafter, annual credit card fee of $192.60 (inclusive GST) will apply.

3) Monthly Service Fee

Existing HSBC Advance customer no longer need to worry about maintaining any HSBC Advance eligibility criteria and won’t be charged a monthly S$10 service fee for failing to do so. This will instead be replaced with the requirement to meet a minimum account average daily balance of $2,000, if not an account balance fee of $5 will apply. Till 30 Apr 2021, this will not be applicable as HSBC Advance customers adjust to the transition. There is no need to enrol or register in order to be eligible for this account balance fee waiver. Once this waiver is over, Heartland Boy will be closing this personal banking account (“ex Advance Account”) as he does not see the need to maintain a $2,000 minimum balance especially after opening the Everyday Global Account. That’s right, he has decided to open the HSBC Everyday Global Account to unlock the Bonus Cashback benefit. In this way, he continues to earn 2.5%- 3.5% on his HSBC Advance Credit Card.

How Does HSBC Everyday Global Account Work?

The HSBC Everyday Global Account is simply one account with 11 different currencies (SGD, AUD, GBP, EUR, USD, CAD, HKD, JPY, CHF, NZD and RMB). You will also receive an Everyday Global Debit Card sent to your registered address with the Bank. It supports FAST transfer, Worldwide funds transfer, global transfers and PayNow. The truth is that the interest rate on this multi-currency account is so paltry that Heartland Boy’s sole purpose owning it is to unlock the Bonus Cashback on his Advance Credit Card. Here is the step-by-step guide on how to easily apply for the HSBC Everyday Global Account without leaving the comfort of your seat.

Step 1: Apply for HSBC Everyday Global Account via Online Banking

Heartland Boy elected to apply for the HSBC Everyday Global Account via Online Banking. All it took was 2 seconds since all personal details will be referenced from his current HSBC Advance Account as shown in Diagram 3.

Step 2: Deposit $2,000 to meet minimum account balance fee

After 2 working days, he was notified that his HSBC EGA was successfully opened. To avoid the monthly minimum account balance fee of $5, he immediately transferred $2,000 into it so as to meet the monthly minimum average daily balance of $2,000.

Step 3: Set up recurring monthly fresh funds injection into new EGA

He proceeded to set up a recurring GIRO transfer of S$2,000 to meet the first condition of injecting $2,000 fresh funds to his HSBC Everyday Global account on a monthly basis. Since the interest rate in EGA is negligible, he sets up a recurring GIRO instruction to transfer out the same $2,000 the very next day. This arrangement is perpetual or at least until HSBC next changes the terms and conditions.

Step 4: Cancel previous recurring deposit (at least $3,500) GIRO in HSBC Advance Account [Optional]

Readers who adopted this approach to effortlessly get upgraded to HSBC Advance status to earn higher interest rate on the HSBC Advance Credit Card might want to unwind this GIRO setup with the latest changes.

All you need to do is to login to the Online Banking of the Bank where source of funds originates from and cancel this perpetual GIRO arrangement. Next, you got to login to HSBC Online Banking to also cancel the transfer of this funds out.

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SingSaver Black Friday Promo 2020 – Dyson Pure Cool Air Purifier Tower Fan, Apple Airpods Pro

SingSaver is running a massive Black Friday Promotion for products ranging from credit cards, insurance to personal loans. Giveaways include Dyson Pure Cool Air Purifier Tower Fan (worth $549), Apple Airpods Pro (worth $379), Sony True Wireless earbuds (worth $349) and cash prizes. Simply be amongst the first 10 to apply for the eligible products at any of the 4 specified time slots (9am, 12pm, 3pm, 6pm) each day during the promotion period of 26 Nov to 30 Nov (both days inclusive) to win. For those not amongst the first 10 during the specified time slot, not to worry as the usual SingSaver offers of Apple Airpods, Sony True Wirelss earbuds and cash prizes will still apply.

The 3 categories include the following eligible products:

Credit Cards: AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card, Citi Cash Back+ MasterCard, Citi Rewards Card, Standard Chartered Unlimited Credit Card, Standard Chartered Rewards+ Credit Card, HSBC Revolution Credit Card

Insurance: AXA Smart Home Insurance, MSIG MaidPlus Insurance, MSIG ProtectionPlus Insurance (PA)

Personal Loans: Standard Chartered Bank CashOne, HSBC Personal Loan, Citibank Quick Cash

Here’s how you can be amongst the first 10 for any of the time slot:

Step 1: Apply for any 1 of the 12 products by clicking “Apply Now”. Remember to submit your email correctly so as to receive your Rewards Redemption Form.

Step 2: Complete your application on the bank/provider’s website

Step 3: Follow the link in the email sent to you and submit your Rewards Redemption Form

Step 4: Check SingSaver’s contest winners page by 31 Mar 2021 to see if you have won! Note that the first 10 applicants for each product category (credit card, insurance, personal loan) in each of the 4 time slots will be selected based on submission time of their email address (Step 1) and Reward Redemption Form (Step 3). In addition, applicants must also fulfill all provider’s Reward Requirements in order to be considered a successful applicant. (eg: spending credit card after application, card activation etc) Full terms and conditions of the campaign can be found here.

Even if you are not amongst the first 10 submissions, you will still be eligible to receive the usual SingSaver awards such as Apple Airpods Pro, Sony True Wireless earbuds, and cash prizes as long as you meet the Reward Requirements. This is as good as it gets since there is only upside and simply no downside! Be strategic and apply at a time slot on a day when you think there’s least competition! Good luck!

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