
HSBC Revolution Card
Earn 4 miles per dollar on selected online and contactless spend (until 31 October 2025)
HSBC Revolution Card Overview:
The HSBC Revolution Credit Card is a no-annual-fee rewards card, offering 4 miles (or 10 HSBC Rewards Points) per dollar on online & contactless spending, capped at S$1,500 per calendar month (until 31 October 2025), and 0.4 miles per dollar earn rate beyond this cap. It’s ideal for everyday spending, allowing points redemption for travel miles and supports point pooling with other HSBC cards.
Local Earn Rate for all other spending | 0.4 miles per dollar (1 HSBC point) |
Foreign Currency Earn Rate | 0.4 miles per dollar (1 HSBC point) |
Bonus Earn Rate(for selected local online spending) | 4 miles per dollar (10 HSBC points) |
Minimum Transfer | 25,000 HSBC Points (10,000 miles) |
Miles Earned in Blocks of | S$1 |
Spending Cap for Bonus Earn Rate (Per calendar month) | S$1,000 |
Foreign Currency Fees | 2.25% |
Transfer Fee (inclusive of GST) | Transfer Fee is waived indefinitely |
Points Expiry | 37 months |
Points Pooling | Yes (from 28 May 2024 onwards) |
Eligibility & Fees:
- Minimum Age: 21 years old
- Minimum Annual Income: S$30,000 (locals/PRs); S$40,000 (foreigners)
- Annual Fee: FREE
Key Benefits:
- Earn 4 miles per dollar (10 HSBC points per S$1) spent with selected online and contactless payment capped at S$1,500 per calendar month.
- Contactless payment, travel-related spends category, and S$1,500 cap will only be available until 31 October 2025.
- Earn 0.4 miles per dollar (1 HSBC point per S$1) spent in all other purchases in local or foreign currency
- No annual fee
How to Best Optimise it:
Best for Selected Online and Contactless Spending (until 31 October 2025)
- You can earn 4 miles per dollar bonus on selected online and contactless spend categories. Spending is capped at S$1,500 (13,500 Reward points) per calendar month. However, the upsized cap, contactless transactions, and travel-related spend will only be available until 31 October 2025.
- Note: Only transactions that are posted by 31 October 2025 will be eligible.
Category | MCCs | Description | Examples |
Travel-Related Spend | 3000 to 3350, 4511 | Airlines | Singapore Airlines, Scoot, Cathay Pacific, Emirates |
3351 to 3500 | Car Rental Agencies | Payless Car Rental, Thrifty Car Rental | |
3501 to 3999, 7011 | Lodging – Hotels, Motels, Resorts | Holiday Inn, M Hotel | |
4411 | Cruise Lines | Star Cruises | |
Excluded: MCC 4722 (online travel agencies like Agoda, Klook, Trip.com). | Excluded: MCC 4722 (online travel agencies like Agoda, Klook, Trip.com). |
Category | MCCs | Description | Examples |
Department Stores & Retail Stores | 4816 | Computer Network/Information Services | Amazon, Best Denki, Book Depository, Courts, Harvey Norman, Lazada, Qoo10, Shopee, Taobao |
5045 | Computers, Computer Peripheral Equipment, Software | ||
5262 | Marketplaces | ||
5309 | Duty Free Stores | ||
5310 | Discount Stores | ||
5311 | Department Stores | ||
5331 | Variety Stores | ||
5399 | Miscellaneous General Merchandise Stores | ||
5611 | Men’s and Boys’ Clothing and Accessories Stores | ||
5621 | Women’s Ready to Wear Stores | Petal & Pup, Roos, La Senza, Bossini, Hush Puppies, Dyson, Breville, Apple | |
5631 | Women’s Accessory and Specialty Stores | ||
5641 | Children’s and Infants’ Wear Stores | ||
5651 | Family Clothing Stores | ||
5655 | Sports Apparel, and Riding Apparel Stores | ||
5661 | Shoe Stores | ||
5691 | Men’s and Women’s Clothing Stores | ||
5699 | Accessory and Apparel Stores–Miscellaneous | ||
5732 to 5735 | Electronics Sales, Music Stores–Musical Instruments, Pianos and Sheet Music, Computer Software Stores, Record Shops | ||
5912 | Drug Stores and Pharmacies | ||
5942 | Book Stores | ||
5944 to 5949 | Clock, Jewelry, Watch and Silverware Stores, Game, Toy and Hobby Shops, Camera and Photographic Supply Stores, Card, Gift, Novelty and Souvenir Shops, Leather Goods and Luggage Stores, Fabric, Needlework, Piece Goods and Sewing Stores | ||
5964 to 5970 | Direct Marketing–Catalog Merchants, Direct Marketing–Combination Catalog and Retail Merchant, Direct Marketing–Outbound Telemarketing Merchants, Direct Marketing–Inbound Telemarketing Merchants, Direct Marketing–Continuity/Subscription Merchants, Direct Marketing–Other Direct Marketers–Not Elsewhere Classified, Artist Supply Stores, Craft Shops | Art of Newton Florentino, Iggy’s, Google Music, Google Drive, Lenovo | |
5992 | Florists | B1 Florists | |
5999 | Miscellaneous and Specialty Retail Stores | Amazon, Casetify, Atome (Use this to buy from agoda – but make manual payment from 2nd and 3rd payment) |
Category | MCCs | Description | Examples |
Dining (excl. hotel dining) | 5441 | Candy, Nut and Confectionery Stores | See’s Candies, Candy Empire, BreadTalk, Four Leaves, Bengawan Solo, Dunkin Donuts, Stamford Catering, How’s Catering, Neogarden, Putien, Saizeriya, Harry’s |
5462 | Bakeries | ||
5811–5813 | Caterers, Eating Places and Restaurants, Bars, Cocktail Lounges, Discotheques, Nightclubs and Taverns–Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) |
Category | MCCs | Description | Examples |
Transport & Membership Clubs | 4121 | Taxicabs and Limousines | Comfort, Grab (excluding GrabPay top-ups), Gojek, TADA, Ryde |
7997 | Clubs–Country Clubs, Membership (Athletic,
Recreation, Sports), Private Golf Courses | Fitness First, Anytime Fitness, Core Collective |
Best to Use with Atome as a Workaround for Merchants Not Earning 4 Miles per Dollar
Air tickets and hotels no longer qualify for the 4 miles per dollar reward when booked directly. However, you can still earn miles by using Atome to book through platforms like Agoda, Trip.com, or other participating merchants.
To get started, I recommend signing up for a Trip.com account here to receive S$20 in coins, which you can use to offset your expenses. Next, sign up for an Atome account here to get S$10 worth of points before making any bookings.
This method allows you to split your payment over three months, helping you stay within your card’s monthly cap of S$1,000 for earning 4 miles per dollar. While you won’t earn cashback through portals like Shopback or Azgo, you can still earn rewards through your Agoda or Trip.com account.
Important Note: Some users have reported that you need to trigger manual payments for the 2nd and 3rd installments, as auto-deductions on Atome are not recorded as online transactions.
Best To Pool Points Together with other HSBC Reward Points Earning Credit Cards
- If you own the HSBC TravelOne, you can pool the points from both cards in one transfer, saving you transfer fees. HSBC just announced that the transfer fees will be waived indefinitely!
Best for Redeeming Miles with Airlines Other Than Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer
- With 20 transfer partners (including 8 new ones), HSBC now has the most options in Singapore for using points. See “Transfer Partners” below.
- For example, you can use just 25K miles to redeem a one-way business class ticket with Infinity Mileagelands on Eva Air to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, or Korea, instead of 35K to 40K miles on Singapore Airlines for the same flight class and destination.
Use HSBC’s Free Entertainer Program
- You can get 1-for-1 discounts for dining places etc., and 15% discounts for selected restaurants with HSBC’s ENTERTAINER programme
What to Avoid:
Exclusion List:
MCC | Description |
4829 | Money Transfer |
4900 | Utilities – Electric, Gas, Water and Sanitary |
5199 | Nondurable Good |
5960 | Direct Marketing – Insurance Services |
6010 | Financial Institutions – Manual Cash Disbursements |
6011 | Financial Institutions – Automated Cash Disbursements |
6012 | Financial Institutions – Merchandise, Services, and Debt Repayment |
6050 | Quasi Cash—Customer Financial Institution |
6051 | Non-Financial Institutions – Foreign Currency, Non-Fiat Currency (for example: Cryptocurrency), Money Orders (Not Money Transfer), Travelers Cheques, and Debt Repayment |
6211 | Security Brokers / Dealers |
6300 | Insurance Sales, Underwriting, and Premiums |
6513 | Real Estate Agents & Managers – Rentals |
6529 | Remote Stored Value Load – Member |
6530 | Remote Stored Value Load – Merchant |
6532 | PSP-Member-Payment Transaction |
6533 | PSP-Merchant-Payment Transaction |
6534 | Money Transfer Member |
6536 | Moneysend – Intracountry |
6537 | Moneysend – Intercountry |
6538 | Moneysend funding |
6540 | Non-Financial Institutions – Stored Value Card Purchase/Load |
6555 | Mastercard Imitated Rebate |
7299 | Other Services–Not Elsewhere Classified |
7349 | CLEAN/MAINT/JANITORIAL SERV |
7399 | Business Services Not Elsewhere Classified |
7511 | Quasi Cash – Truck Stop Trxns |
7523 | Automobile Parking Lots and Garages |
7801 | Government Licensed On-Line Casinos (On-Line Gambling) (US Region only) |
7995 | Betting, including Lottery Tickets, Casino Gaming Chips, Off-Track Betting, and Wagers at Race Tracks |
8062 | Hospitals |
8211 | Elementary and Secondary Schools |
8220 | Colleges, Universities, Professional Schools, and Junior Colleges |
8241 | Correspondence Schools |
8244 | Business and Secretarial Schools |
8249 | Vocational and Trade Schools |
8299 | Schools and Educational Services (Not Elsewhere Classified) |
8398 | Charitable Social Service Organizations |
8651 | Political Organizations |
8661 | Religious Organizations |
8999 | Professional Services (Not Elsewhere Classified) |
9211 | Court Costs, Including Alimony and Child Support |
9222 | Fines |
9223 | Bail and Bond Payments |
9311 | Tax Payments |
9399 | Government Services (Not Elsewhere Classified) |
9402 | Postal Services – Government Only |
9405 | Intra-Government Purchases – Government Only |
9754 | Gambling-Horse Racing Dog Racing State Lotteries |
Past Buffs/Nerfs:
Buffs:
- From 1 July until 31 October 2025, HSBC made some past features available again:
- Earn 4 miles per dollar on Contactless Payments and on Travel-Related spending category
- Spending cap is increased to S$1,500
- Recently, HSBC announced that the rewards points conversion fee will be waived until 31 January 2025, but now, they are waived indefinitely—transferring your points is completely free!
Nerfs:
- The transfer rate from HSBC to KrisFlyer is set to be devalued. Until 16 January 2025, you can convert your rewards points at the existing rate of 25,000 points for 10,000 miles. After this date, the rate will change to 30,000 points for 10,000 miles. As a result, converting to KrisFlyer will no longer earn 4 miles per dollar.
- HSBC will only earn 0.4 miles per dollar (1x reward points) for these categories:
MCCs affected | Examples | Effective |
MCC 3000-3299, 4511 (Airlines), 3300-3499 (Car Rental), 3500-3999 (Lodging), 4411 (Cruise Lines) | Singapore Airlines, Scoot, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Avis, Hertz, Sixt, Europcar, Accor, Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, Royal Caribbean, Princess Cruises, Celebrity Cruises | 1 January 2025 |
5814 Fast Food | McDonald’s, Starbucks, Subway, Stuff’d, XNAP merchants, Old Chang Kee | 1 May 2024 |
5411 Grocery Stores/Supermarkets | Sheng Siong, NTUC, Giant, Don Don Donki, Redmart, etc. | 1 May 2024 |
5499 Misc Food Stores – Default | 7-Eleven, Hockhua Tonic, Nespresso, Deliveroo, foodpanda, GrabFood, WhyQ, Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks, Crave, Garrett, iHerbs | 1 May 2024 |
3000 to 3350, 3351 to 3500, 3501 to 3999, 4411, 4511 Travel related merchants. | Singapore Airlines, Scoot, Cathay Pacific, Emirates | 31st Dec 2024 |
7011 Lodging- Hotels, Motels and Resorts | Millennium Hotels & Resorts, M Social, Pan Pacific Hotels (including their restaurant), Rakuten Travel, Resorts World Sentosa, Airbnb, Marina Bay Sands | 1 January 2024 |
4722 Travel Agencies & Tour Operators | Agoda, Changi Recommends, Expedia, Hotels.com, Kayak, KKday, Klook, Pelago, Skyscanner, Traveloka, Trip.com, All brick-and-mortar travel agents (e.g. Chan Brothers, CTC, Dynasty, EU Holidays, Nam Ho etc.) | 1 January 2024 |
Is it Worth it:
Advantages:
- Major upgrade after the recent buff, but only for a limited period
- No annual fee forever; saves you the hassle of calling for an annual fee waiver
- You can earn 4 miles per dollar on daily spends or 2.5% cashback
- Transfer Fee is waived indefinitely
Disadvantages:
- Nerfed so many spending categories until it’s difficult to use
- May not be a great card to spend in foreign currency even with a 4 miles per dollar earn rate
Transfer Partners:
Here is the list of their current transfer partners:
- You should choose the ones with conversion rate of 25:000 to 10:000 for the best value. Since I find that conversion to hotel partners isn’t always worthwhile, so I’m sticking to airline partners.
Airline Partner | Conversion Ratio |
50,000:10,000 | |
35,000:10,000 | |
35,000:10,000 | |
35,000:10,000 | |
35,000:10,000 | |
35,000:10,000 | |
30,000:10,000 | |
30,000:10,000 | |
25,000:10,000 | |
25,000:10,000 | |
25,000:10,000 | |
25,000:10,000 | |
25,000:10,000 | |
25,000:10,000 | |
25,000:10,000 | |
25,000:10,000 |
Frequently Asked Questions:
- When will my points be credited: Usually after 1-3 working days of the transaction posting, 1X base HSBC Points are credited. Bonus 9X HSBC Points will appear on the cardholder’s statement at the end of the second calendar month, and they will be credited by the end of the subsequent calendar month from the date of transaction.
- How long are my points valid for: 37 months. Just before it expires, you can transfer it to Krisflyer, and once the points are correctly credited into Krisflyer, you’ll receive an additional 36 months. This provides you with a considerable amount of runway—roughly six years—to burn through the miles.
- How do I claim miles for HSBC revolution: I covered it in a TikTok video here.
- Will my points still remain in my HSBC account if i carry other HSBC credit cards: Points will be pooled across all credit cards for redemption purposes, but if you’re planning to cancel a credit card, make sure to redeem all points you’ve earned on that card. If not, it will be gone.
Additional Resources:
Limited Time Bonus T&Cs (Until 31 October 2025)
Final Thoughts:
- For travel-related spending, consider transitioning to the DBS Women’s World Mastercard. If you prefer using the HSBC Revolution for travel, then you have to use Atome method mentioned above. While the HSBC Revolution isn’t ideal for overseas use due to its 3.25% foreign currency fee, it serves as a solid backup card, pooling points with other HSBC cards and earning 4 miles per dollar on gym memberships, online shopping, ride-hailing services, and payments via Atome, ShopBack Pay, or Kris+.
💳 Credit cards change their T&Cs every so often and it is difficult to stay updated. That’s why I created a Telegram Broadcast where you can receive timely bite-sized updates to get the most out of your spending.
💡 We believe in always paying our credit card bills on time and in full. It is only by doing that, can we fully maximise our credit card benefits.