HSBC Advance Card
Earn 1.5% cashback with no minimum spend and 2.5% cashback on all local & overseas purchases with a minimum spend of S$2,000
HSBC Advance Card Overview:
The HSBC Advance Card is a general spending cashback credit card for large spending of S$2000 and above. Spending less than S$2,000 monthly gets you 1.5% cashback while spending more than S$2,000 will get you 2.5% cashback. The maximum cashback you can earn per month is capped at S$70. The sweet spot is maximum $2800 spending.
Eligibility & Fees:
- Minimum Age: 21 years old
- Minimum Annual Income: S$30,000 (locals/PRs); S$40,000 (foreigners)
- Annual Fee: S$196.20, first year waived
Key Benefits:
- Get 1.5% cashback on all local & overseas purchases with no minimum spend
- Get 2.5% cashback on all local & overseas purchases if you spend more than S$2,000 in a calendar month
- Cashback capped at S$70 per calendar month; maximum sweet spot spend is S$2,800
- Complimentary travel insurance coverage for flight disruptions and personal accidents, with protection of up to S$1 million for you and your family. For more details, visit the frequently asked questions page.
- Take advantage of exclusive deals and offers available for both online and in-store purchases. Additionally, benefit from complimentary e-commerce protection for your peace of mind
How to Best Optimise it:
Best Used For Large Monthly Spending of S$2,000 to S$2,800
- You can earn 2.5% base cashback for monthy transactions above S$2,000. This has a higher than a general cashback card with no minimum spend. Even though there is no maximum spending cap, the maximum cashback that you can earn per month is S$70. This means at S$2,800 per month of spending, you would have earned the maximum cashback, assuming you spent on transactions that are not in the exclusion list.
Best Used Locally
- Even though you can spend locally or overseas, you should stick to local purchases and avoid the 3.25% FX Fee. Check out my post, ‘Best Cards for Overseas Spending’ to know more.
Best Used for the Following
- Wedding Banquets (See Best Cards for Wedding Banquets)
- Large Hospital Bills at Private Hospitals (See Best Cards for Hospital Bills)
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:
- Foreign exchange transactions (including but not limited to Forex.com);
- Donations and payments to charitable, social organisations and religious organisations;
- Quasi-cash transactions (including but not limited to transactions relating to money orders, traveler’s checks, gaming related transactions, lottery tickets and gambling);
- Payments made to financial institutions, securities brokerages or dealers (including but not limited to the trading of securities, investments or crypto-currencies of any kind);
- Payments on money payments/ transfers (including but not limited to Paypal, SKR skrill.com, CardUp, SmoovPay, iPayMy);
- Payments to any professional services provider (including but not limited to GOOGLE Ads, Facebook Ads, Amazon Web Services, MEDIA TRAFFIC AGENCY INC);
- Top-ups, money transfers or purchase of credits of prepaid cards, stored-value cards or e-wallets (including but not limited to EZ-Link, Transitlink, NETS Flashpay and Youtrip);
- Payments in connection with any government institutions and/or services (including but not limited to court costs, fines, bail and bond payment);
- Any AXS (including AXS Pay+Earn) and ATM transactions;
- Tax payments (including HSBC Tax Payment Facility);
- Payments for cleaning, maintenance and janitorial services (including property management fees);
- Payments to insurance companies (including but not limited to sales, underwriting, premiums and insurance services);
- Payments to educational institutions;
- Payments on utilities;
- The monthly instalment amounts under all card instalment plan (including HSBC 0% Card Instalment Payment Plan, HSBC PayLater Instalment Plan and HSBC Spend Instalment);
- Total purchase amount under HSBC 0% Instalment Payment Plan and HSBC PayLater Instalment Plan;
- Balance transfers, fund transfers, cash advances, finance charges, late charges, HSBC’s Cash Instalment Plan, any fees charged by HSBC;
- Any unposted, cancelled, disputed and refunded transactions;
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 |
Is it Worth it:
Advantages:
- One of the higher cashback in the general credit card category
- No minimum spend
Disadvantages:
- cashback capped at S$70 per month
- Not eligible to receive cashback on other bills, insurance premiums, or utilities.
Frequently Asked Questions:
How will my base cashback be reflected on my account: It is computed using the eligible purchases that are posted within the current calendar month, rounded to the nearest cent. It will appear on your card statement and be credited to your account before the end of the next calendar month.
Final Thoughts:
For people who want hassle-free shopping without a minimum spend requirement, the HSBC Advance Card is an excellent option. It offers you the best terms in earning rewards because it combines the features of an unlimited cashback card with regular cashback of 1.5%. Also, if you have a large expense (wedding or hospital bills) coming up, then this is a great choice to earn some cashback.
💳 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.
