HSBC Premier World MasterCard
 

Looks like the launch of this premium product from HSBC.

http://www.us.hsbc.com/1/2/3/persona...ier/privileges

No foreign transaction fees for the life of your membership seems to be the major benefit.

It also has the benefit of the home&away program for dining, travel etc...
It seems to be based out of HK, but the offers are global or by country.
I always thought the HK HSBC credit card products were the most superior in term of benefits relative to UK or US HSBC credit products.

I would imagine one must be a HSBC Premier or Private Bank customer to be accepted? I don't think there are T&C online

There was some discussion of this card in the "Best card for foreign exchange?" thread (around April 20):
http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=401958

Where are you seeing it's HK issued? At the bottom of the page you link, it says, "HSBC Premier World MasterCard® Credit Cards are issued by HSBC Bank Nevada, N.A." That's their standard subprime credit card issuing arm. I hope they're hiring dedicated CSR for their premier customers rather than their usual ones.

FW has a discussion thread on this card. Basically, you need $100,000 in deposits at HSBC to qualify.

I am subscribed to that thread, but I guess I missed a web page link with more info such as the one I gave.

If you click the home&away link it goes to a web page in HK, thus my conclusion that the program home&away is based out of HK. (I don't think I wrote that the card is HK issued by HSBC.)

Yes, the Home and Away program link takes you to the HK (home) HSBC site. HSBC seems to have the most discounts/deals in HK anyway.

On one of my many visits to HKG, I wound up at a bookstore buying a bunch of books. I gave them my HSBC MC to pay and wound up with 30% off because they were running a promo. Yay discount! ^

The big draw for me was the "no foreign transaction fee". So this and my Cap One card are the cards that go with me when I fly overseas...

On a semi-related note, HSBC Premier membership means that you can visit any of the lounges worldwide. Free coffee, newspapers and a place to relax during the day. And maybe get some leads on investments!

any truth in this? Do you need at least $100,000 in deposits to get this card?? I am going to S'pore/Malaysia and to Europe next year...I would love to have a card that does not charge foreign transactions fees....

EDIT: yep..even says on the page where you apply...so much for this card.

Not only $100K is necessary, but their CD rates are very low. Only the Online Savings accounts at 4.25% (only $1 needed to open) seem mildly interesting. One should be able to do better than that with $100K to use.

I know someone who has a Bank of Bermuda -- an HSBC Group bank-- Premier account with less than 25,000 in it on a consistent basis. Though it was set-up by this person's private banker by HSBC (Private Bank) in the US which supposedly has more than 100,000 in it. You probably have to have 100K to open, and then can reduce but they may catch on - especially when you have a dedicated relationship manager who knows thier clients well.

Anyone have info on the rewards program with this card? Do you earn either points or cash back? It's unclear on their website:

A world-class rewards program with no points expiration or earnings cap
Earn a full 1% cash back on every credit card purchase
Redeem points for gift cards at over 40 popular retailers, or opt for cruises and vacation packages

From what I can see on my statement, US$1.00 = 1 point. You can redeem the points for different rewards, such as trips, personal shopping, etc.

It's a very basic rewards program. I have this card because it doesn't charge a surcharge when I make purchases in foreign countries/currency. It also comes free with your Premier account.

Sign up for the HSBC Platinum Card, no international transaction fees, not 100K min to sign up. 1% cash back.

Unlike the Premier card mentioned by the OP, the regular HSBC Platinum cards impose a 3% forex fee.

I must be blind, i have a ton of transactions from overseas that nearly reflect the daily market rate of the currency i am using.

All HSBC credit cards currently offered to non-Premier US clients carry the following disclosure:

"The Foreign Transaction Fee is 3% of the U.S. dollar amount on transactions made in a foreign currency."

Source: https://www.hsbcapply.com/TermsPopupCore.jst

The card is only good for forex transcations.... the rewards are lousy....
but it has no annual fee

home&away discount can be had with premier debit card, so not really an added benefit to their MC

their general service is excellent. you get pretty much everything for free, draft etc, also some branchs have dedicated premier line. you only need to maintain HSBC premier status in one country and you can open HSBC premier accounts in other countries without the minimum requirement.

I believe this card in its current form was launched around June of 07.

It's a good card for non-US spending, and the customer service has been excellent. They seem to have a dedicated call center for premier customers based out of Buffalo, and it probably would take a customer longer to navigate their phone IVR system than to get connected to a rep. Usually.

The premier checking product is pretty nice as well. Low rate (below .5% ?), but very few fees. Free returned cheques, free bank cheques, but no free TT though.

That is good to know on the customer service. I can't say the same for the Saks World Elite MasterCard -- also servicd by HSBC and issued by HSBC

HSBC Cash or Fly Rewards Card - Opinions?
 

New wrinkle -- I've had a pitch for the HSBC Cash or Fly Rewards Mastercard. It's outwardly attractive because you can earn points which turn into cash credits toward any airline ticket, or just take a cash rebate, and it seems much more flexible (ironically) than the new FlexPerks program from US Bank. But I can't tell if the points expire. There's some ominous fine print in the offer: "There is no annual limit on the amount of points that can be accumulated or redeemed in an Account Year (12-month period)." Think that means the points evaporate at the 12-month mark?

I like the HSBC Global transfer and view services.
You can view all your global accounts together and transfer available instantly 24X7 hrs.

But you must remain similar 100,000 US dollar in one HSBC.:(

Does anyone know what the burn rate is for their rewards program when it comes to getting airline tickets? Is it based on what the paid fare would otherwise be, or do they have set awards, say Business Class to Europe from the US is XXX points? If there is a link to a website that gives better details, other than 1 point for every Dollar, I would appreciate it.

Thanks!

In Hong Kong you need One Million Hong Kong dollars to open the HSBC Premier Account. 100,000 US is around 780,000 Hong Kong Dollars....

As HSBC Premier Mastercard has no foreign exchange fee and I have a US HSBC issued one, I'm wondering whether I need to get a HK HSBC Premier Mastercard? I visited families in HK once or twice a year, and may sign for bills there.

So which one is better, use one single US HSBC card or two cards?

I maintain HSBC accounts in several countries and always request a local credit card since it's sometimes difficult to make an online purchase in another country without having a local address. It also can help sidestep the farkin' dynamic currency exchange that some merchants try to slip through. Yes I know they are supposed to ask you but a lot don't. Usually goes something like:

"I noticed you charged me in US dollars on my Schwab Visa, I'd prefer to pay in local $"
"Oh, I don't know how to do that, I'll call the owner & (s)he'll be here in 30 min"
"Fine, just cancel the transaction and bill it to my local HSBC card"

Loses the cashback but saves some sanity.

I have this card. I dont think you qualify for airport lounge access automatically.

Great post........

It's not airport lounges, it's the lounges that the HSBC Premier branches have (at least in Asia) with free coffee and refreshments, newspapers and magazines, comfortable chairs and business TV.

Guess I should have been more specific, sorry 'bout that.

And in HK, the branches also have Wi-Fi which is a nice touch. I've sat in a branch for 2 hours once just surfing the net. :)

I have this card and use it for purchases in sundry currencies/USD even though I live in Canada. 1% cashback is half decent considering as I found that some Canadian cards charge a lot more than 2.5% for sundry currencies (like CZK, ZAR, KRW, TWD) and only paying the 0.25% to exchange CAD to USD is a much better deal, also considering I save on USD purchases.

Fairly Good Card
 

Comparing this to other cards I've been pleasantly surprised. It doesn't have the cachet of the AMEX Centurion (nor does it have the absurd fee) but I have noticed the following benefits:
* As mentioned, no fx fee
* Great customer service
* Easy to use internet interface between accounts
* Home/Away Program
* Free Tablet Plus Membership [very good for booking hotel]
* Access to HSBC lounges [no idea where all of these are located, found one few randomly earlier in the year at San Jose, Costa Rica airport]
* The Premier Taxi in NYC [yes I found/used it once, pretty funny]
* One off promotions, very nice AA one [concierge from curb to lounge]
* Did I mention no fee. [not renewing Centurion, a waste compared to Plat.]

Anyway, I'm not employed by HSBC in any manner, but I have had good experiences with them. Happy Travels......

What exactly is "The Premier Taxi in NYC" ?

Yeah, I forgot about the Wi-Fi when I posted! When you land HKG and exit into the arrivals hall, there's a HSBC Premier branch with comfy chairs, coffee and free Wi-Fi. Also there's ATMs and bankers too. :D

Probably the lowest requirement is in Malaysia - RM200k, i.e. around US$60,000. So you could open a Premier account here if possible, and then use it to open Premier accounts in other countries.

It takes INR 2500K to open premier account in India. This roughly USD 55K @ 45INR exchange rate.

There are lower asset min. requirements in some 'emergining' countries where they seem keen to expand customer bases, like India, Egypt and Turkey. The min. requirements are around USD$50000 (they list in local currency).

The highest I've seen is SAAB Saudi Arabia (HSBC in KSA), almost US$300000 (SAR 1m) ;)

Nil forex transaction fees are much more preferrable personally, as it's a direct saving in my pocket.

Those reward schemes are not really as tempting as they seem - banks earn you transaction fees and return a proportion of fees as 'reward'. And worse is that ones need to keep spending more until they could accumulate enough bonus points for the rewards.

My home base is in Tampa, FL, but I'm HSBC Premier in the UK. I'm now in France for about 6 months and I've just signed up for Premier here (in Paris). Suprisingly they are going to give me a HSBC credit card in France immediately (albeit with a monthly fee) whereas I could not get one in the UK as I had limited recent credit history (but in France I have none !). I'll report back on my experiences with the Premier service here - one thing I have found is that they don't offer internet services in their lounges - that was a real PITA as I could not get WIFI to work at my hotel and I was forced to use one of those cafes - you know the ones where no food or drink is allowed. BTW - I'm also Citigold, but a fat lot of good that will do me in France.

Upcoming changes to HSBC Premier MasterCard travel rewards programme
 

I took part in an online research panel this morning for HSBC Premier about upcoming changes to the rewards programme associated with the HSBC Premier MasterCard. Since there may be others here who are interested in these upcoming changes, I thought I'd share what I learned. I should note that I'm in Canada, so I don't know if these changes apply only to the Canadian card.

The Travel and Merchandise Rewards Programme will be renamed HSBC Premier Rewards. The following is a summary of the proposed changes I recall being mentioned.

1. They will no longer charge a service fee for rewards redemptions.
2. "Flight Rewards" will be changing to "Travel Rewards". You will be able to book any travel (flights, hotels, car hire, packages) through any method (company website, Expedia, etc.) and can redeem your points within 60 days. They will no longer book travel through their own call centre. Full or partial rewards redemptions will be possible.
3. They will increase the redemption rate by 25%. For example, 10 000 points will be needed to cover $125 worth of travel spending.
4. A bonus of 2500 points will be credited to your account after spending $12 000 in a year. Another bonus of 5000 points will be credited at $24 000.
5. Points can be transferred to airline frequent flyer programmes. To start they will be partnering with Cathay Pacific, British Airways and Singapore Airlines.

I suggested improving the insurance package that comes with the card (adding flight delay coverage). Also, I suggested that instead of a 25% increase, if they increased it by 50%, I'd be sold on the new programme. They specifically stated that other airline frequent flyer programmes would be added in future, so I suggested Aeroplan as one to add. I also suggested allowing pooling of points from different cards (i.e., Premier MasterCards issued in different countries to the same person).

Overall, I think these are some solid changes. When they're implemented I'll be taking a very close look at the details and may well revert to using my Premier MasterCard for everything.

Any other comments on these proposed changes?

That will indeed be nice if it happens. Now my card is pretty much sock drawered, unless I feel the need for a backup card while traveling.

Baggage delay, Travel delay (both with reasonable terms), primary rental coverage would be nice too.

The insurance packages must differ significantly by country. I reviewed the insurance coverage that comes with my Canadian card the other day and found that it's not nearly as bad as I had been led to believe. It has 17-day travel medical, 31-day CDW for vehicles up to $65 000, baggage delay and loss (including theft), trip cancellation, trip delay, unexpected return home, etc. The only thing I would like to see added is flight delay insurance.

My US based card has no award redemption fee.

I should have mentioned earlier, if anyone else is a Premier customer with HSBC and is interested in taking part in similar online research panels, this is the place to sign up.