HSBC Revolution Card – MoneySmart Review 2020

The HSBC Revolution Card is a no-frills credit card that lets you earn HSBC rewards points for most things that most Singaporeans do anyway — dining out, online shopping, travelling and more.

Unlike cashback cards that force you to work your brain and micromanage your expenses, this HSBC credit card has no minimum spend and no limit on the rewards that you can earn.

Sounds like the HSBC Revolution Card may make a worthy companion? Keep reading.

 

HSBC Revolution Card terms and conditions

HSBC Revolution Card
Annual fee	$0
Supplementary annual fee	$0
Interest free period	20 days
Annual interest rate	25.90%
Late payment fee	$55
Minimum monthly repayment	3% or $50, whichever is higher
Foreign currency transaction fee	2.80%
Cash advance transaction fee	6% or $15, whichever is higher
Overlimit fee	$40
Minimum annual income	$30,000 (Singaporean/PR) / $40,000 (self-employed Singaporean/PR, or non-Singaporean)
Card association	Visa
Wireless payment	Visa payWave, Apple Pay

 

How does the HSBC Revolution Card work?

The HSBC Revolution Card is a rewards credit card, which means you accumulate HSBC Rewards points as you spend. Once you have enough, redeem them for selected goods and services, or air miles. You can even utilise the HSBC Singapore app to opt for payment of big ticket purchases in monthly instalments.

This card offers 10X Rewards points (or 4 miles per dollar) on online and contactless spending. Here’s a breakdown on what that means: 10X Rewards points = 1 Reward point (base point) + 9 Rewards points (bonus points). While there’s no monthly cap on the base points you earn, bonus points are subjected to a monthly cap of 9,000.

For everything else, you earn 1X Reward point for each dollar spent.

There is no minimum spending requirement for the rewards, which means you don’t need to stress out about having to spend thousands of dollars on the card every month.

Note that Rewards points are valid for 37 months only. So check the actual expiry date on your card statement or HSBC Internet Banking profile.

 

Who should use the HSBC Revolution Card?

With no minimum spend and no expenditure cap, the HSBC Revolution Card is one of the easiest cards to reap benefits from. It’s particularly suitable for young Singaporeans who just started working — there’s zero pressure to spend. Chalk up high Rewards points when you make online purchases, and opt for contactless payment when you dine out and buy groceries.

But like all rewards cards, the biggest problem is that you don’t get any actual money back. Those are cashback cards. Instead, you earn Rewards points, and how attractive these points are to you really depends on whether you have any use for what’s in their rewards catalogue.

The most practical options would be to exchange your points for petrol or grocery vouchers. You can also turn your points into instant rewards via the “Pay with Points” feature on the HSBC Singapore app. So you can offset your spending from 4,000 points for $10, and every incremental $1 at 400 points thereafter.

 

HSBC credit card promotions

Zalora

• 20% off storewide with no minimum spend for new Zalora customers. Promo code: “HSBCNEW2020”. Valid till 31 December 2020.

Colour Me Mats

• 10% off with the promo code “HSBCCMM”. Valid till 31 May 2021.

TC Acoustic

• 10% discount for all Klipsch products. Valid till 30 April 2021.

 

Alternatives to the HSBC Revolution Card

Let’s check out how this card stacks up against other rewards cards aimed at entry level earners.

Citi Rewards Card – You earn a very attractive 10X rewards (4 miles per dollar) when you shop for shoes, bags and clothes, both online and offline. Get 10X rewards too for practical reasons too, like buying groceries online and spending on rides with Grab and Gojek.

DBS Woman’s Card – This one offers 5X DBS points (2 miles per dollar) for every $5 spent online and overseas, but expenditure is capped at $1,000 a month, which is easily burst if, say, you use it for travel bookings. However, DBS has a much better redemption catalogue with vouchers from CapitaMalls Asia, FairPrice and more, and some of them are cheaper to redeem.

UOB Preferred Platinum Card – Get up to 10 UNI$ for every $5 spent on online shopping and entertainment, and mobile contactless payment. Total UNI$ awarded is capped at $2,000 per month.

As mentioned, these points are only as useful as the rewards in the catalogue, so make sure you “shop” around before deciding. It’s not that simple to just compare the earn rates because the banks’ points are different “currencies” when it comes to redeeming rewards.

The only thing that you can compare apple to apple is air miles. If you’re serious about chasing air miles, the 10X rewards cards will definitely get you there faster.

However, if you’re just starting to manage your finances, you don’t want to be overwhelmed with too many terms & conditions. The HSBC Revolution Card still wins as the least troublesome card thanks to its huge range of bonus rewards categories and lack of expenditure cap.

 

Which is your go-to rewards card? Share your recommendations in the comments!