HSBC Live+ Card welcome offer: S$100 cashback and S$300 vouchers or other SingSaver gifts

Last week, HSBC launched the HSBC Live+ Card, a new cashback card that offers 8% cashback on dining, entertainment and shopping.

An 8% cashback rate is certainly attractive — perhaps better than 4 mpd in some situations — though it’s only available till the end of 2024, and you’ll have to contend with some finicky mechanics surrounding minimum spend and delayed crediting.

But assuming that’s not an issue, SingSaver has now launched some lucrative welcome offers for the Live+, which allow new-to-bank customers to stack gifts worth up to S$699 with HSBC’s offer of an additional S$100 cashback. 

HSBC Live+ Card welcome offers

HSBC Live+ Card

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Card T&Cs

New-to-bank customers who apply for the HSBC Live+ Card via the links in this article can enjoy both of the welcome offers below.

SingSaver

T&Cs

Apply by 21 July 2024

Customers who spend at least S$500 by the end of the month following approval will receive one of the following gifts:

• FLUJO SmartTrax Standing Desk (worth S$699)
• Dyson AM07 (worth S$459)
• Sony WF-1000XM5 (worth S$429)
• S$300 eVoucher (redeemable with Amazon, Courts, Dairy Farm Group, FairPrice, Grab, Klook, Shopee and more)

For example, if your card is approved in June 2024, the minimum spend must be clocked by 31 July 2024.

Don’t forget to fill out the SingSaver Rewards Redemption Form that will be sent to your email, within the first 14 days of application. Ensure that the name, mobile number and email address submitted to SingSaver are the same as that used in the credit card application. 

Gifts are fulfilled within three months of meeting the qualifying criteria. 

HSBC

T&Cs

Apply by 30 September 2024

Customers who make at least one qualifying transaction by the end of the month following approval will enjoy S$100 cashback from HSBC. 

This transaction can be of any amount, and the only exclusions are the usual suspects like insurance, education, utilities etc. Basically, there’s no reason why you should miss it.

This gift will be fulfilled according to the following timeline.

Eligibility

The above offers are valid for new-to-bank customers, defined as those who:

• do not currently hold any existing HSBC principal credit card (excluding the HSBC TravelOne Card or HSBC Visa Infinite)
• did not cancel any HSBC principal credit card (excluding the HSBC TravelOne Card or HSBC Visa Infinite) within the past 12 months

I want to emphasise again that holding the HSBC TravelOne Card and/or HSBC Visa Infinite does not, in and of itself, make you ineligible for this offer. HSBC sees these two cards as a separate category from the Live+/Revolution/Advance. I’ve explained this strange (but beneficial) distinction in the post below.

PSA: HSBC’s unusual definition of new and existing customers

Also note that applicants must provide consent to receive marketing/promotional materials from HSBC at the time of application, and to not revoke that consent until the gift is fulfilled. Do not forget this step, or you won’t receive a gift.

Recap: HSBC Live+ Card

The HSBC Live+ Card has a minimum income requirement of S$30,000 and an annual fee of S$196.20, waived for the first year. Subsequent years’ annual fees will be waived with a minimum spend of S$12,500, though it remains to be seen how strict HSBC is with that requirement.

Cardholders will earn up to 8% cashback on dining, entertainment, shopping and Caltex/Shell as follows:

HSBC Live+ Card
Category	Regular	Bonus Ends 31 Dec 24
Dining, Entertainment, Shopping	5%	3%
Petrol (Caltex and Shell)	5%	–
All other spend	0.3%	–

Category definitions are given below.

Do note that after 31 December 2024, the maximum cashback rate will be reduced to 5%, as the 8% rate consists of a limited-time 3% bonus. 

A minimum spend of S$600 per calendar month, for all three months in a calendar quarter is required. If the minimum spend is not met, a flat rate of 0.3% cashback will be awarded for everything.

The maximum cashback that can be earned with the Live+ is capped at S$250 per calendar quarter. There are no sub-limits for each of the bonus categories. 

This cashback will be credited to your account within two months after the end of each quarter. 

Should you wait till July?

It might not be the worst idea to delay your application until July.

Why? Today is 23 June. Let’s say HSBC takes three days to approve your application. That leaves you with just four days to clock the S$1,000 spend needed to earn 8% cashback for this quarter.

“That’s no problem”, you say. “I’ll just start spending in July”. Well you could, but then you’ll have wasted your first quarter concession. From July to September 2024, you’ll need to spend at least S$600 per calendar month to earn the 8% cashback, since your concessionary quarter ended on 30 June 2024. 

Now lets say you applied in July instead. Your first quarter concession would run from July to September 2024, allowing you to make one big ticket expenditure of up to S$3,125, earn 8% cashback, and forget about the card until October rolls around. The only downside here is that you’ll have wasted one quarter’s opportunity to earn 8% cashback, since this rate is only for a limited time.

I mean, if you know for sure you’ll have a big ticket expenditure to make by the end of June, go ahead and apply now, but it might be a nerve-wracking wait for your card to show up. 

Conclusion

HSBC Live+ Card

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New-to-bank applicants for the HSBC Live+ Card can now stack SingSaver and HSBC welcome gifts when they spend at least S$500 by the end of the month following approval.

It shouldn’t be too hard to meet the entire minimum spend on 8% categories, though you’ll need to spend at least S$1,000 in the first quarter to trigger that rate, and S$600 per month for every month in each quarter subsequently.

Remember that the 8% cashback rate is only valid till 31 December 2024, but on the plus side, the S$250 quarterly cashback cap has no sub-limits, unlike other cards. You can choose to spend on just a single category if that suits you best.