The HSBC Premier Mastercard has launched a new local spending promotion, which offers cardholders an uncapped 1.8 mpd on travel, dining and entertainment merchants till 30 June 2025.
While 1.8 mpd isn’t necessarily the best rate out there, HSBC’s transfer partner variety, and the absence of a cap might make this promotion useful in certain situations.
As a reminder, the HSBC Premier Mastercard is also offering an uncapped 2.8 mpd on all FCY spend till 30 June 2025, so this would be a good time to rack up some valuable HSBC rewards points.
HSBC Premier Mastercard local spending promotion
From 9 April to 30 June 2025, HSBC Premier Mastercard customers will earn 1.8 mpd on SGD spend with travel, dining and entertainment merchants (defined below).
This consists of:
- The regular 1.2 mpd on SGD spend (awarded in the form of 3X HSBC points per S$1)
- A bonus 0.6 mpd on SGD spend (awarded in the form of 1.5X HSBC points per S$1)
No minimum spend is necessary, and there is no cap on the maximum miles that can be earned. Transactions must be made during the promotional period and posted by 30 June 2025 to be eligible.
Spending on supplementary cards will also be eligible to earn 1.8 mpd, with the points awarded to the principal cardholder.
What transactions are eligible?
Qualifying spend refers to SGD transactions (both online and offline) made at merchants with the following MCCs. If these transactions are made in FCY, they will earn 2.8 mpd per the current HSBC Premier Mastercard FCY spending promotion.
Travel
| MCC | Description |
| 3000-3299 4511 4582 | Airlines |
| 4411 | Cruise Liners |
| 3500-3999 7011 | Hotels |
| 4722 | Travel Agencies and Tour Operators |
| 4723 | Package Tours Operators (Germany Only) |
| 5962 | Direct Marketing-Travel Related Arrangement Services |
Dining
| MCC | Description |
| 5812 | Eating Places and Restaurants |
| 5462 | Bakeries |
Entertainment
| MCC | Description |
| 4899 | Cable, Satellite and Other Pay Television/Radio/Streaming Services |
| 5735 | Record Stores |
| 5815 | Digital Goods Media- Books, Movies, Digital artwork/images, Music |
| 7832 | Motion Picture Theatres |
| 7922 | Theatrical Producers (Except Motion Pictures), Ticket Agencies |
This would include all major airlines (except China Southern, which codes as MCC 3308), hotel chains and cruise liners, as well as Netflix, Spotify and Ticketmaster.
Do take care with the Dining category however, as it’s defined very narrowly and excludes some commonly-used dining MCCs such as:
- MCC 5811 Caterers (e.g. Eatz, Neo Garden, Stamford Catering)
- MCC 5813 Bars & Nightclubs (e.g. Brewerkz, Brotzeit, Harry’s)
- MCC 5814 Fast Food (e.g. Burger King, McDonald’s, Starbucks)
- MCC 5499 Misc. Food Stores (e.g. Crave, Famous Amos, Grain)
If you’re ever in doubt about the MCC of a transaction, here are three ways of checking it before actually spending.
| Method | Ease of Use | Reliability |
| ❓HeyMax | ●●● | ● |
| 📱 Instarem app | ●● | ●● |
| 🤖 DBS digibot | ● |
●●● |
| Note: “Ease of use” and “reliability” are all relative. HeyMax already provides a solid baseline for reliability, and the DBS digibot is still simple enough to use, despite requiring more steps than the other two methods. | ||
“Up to” 1.8 mpd
At this juncture, I should point out that the rate may be more accurately described as “up to” 1.8 mpd.
Why? HSBC has different conversion ratios for different partners, and the actual earn rate depends on which partner you choose.
| ✈️ HSBC TravelOne Airline Partners | |
| Frequent Flyer Programme | Conversion Ratio (HSBC Points : Partner) |
 |
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 |
| 🏨 HSBC TravelOne Hotel Partners | |
| Hotel Programme | Conversion Ratio (HSBC Points : Partner) |
 |
30,000 : 10,000 |
 |
25,000 : 5,000 |
 |
25,000 : 10,000 |
 |
25,000 : 10,000 |
So the 1.8 mpd rate we’ve been referring to only applies if you choose a partner with a 25,000 points : 10,000 miles ratio. Otherwise, the earn rates change as follows:
| Transfer Ratio (Points : Miles) |
HSBC Premier MC (Local)* |
HSBC Premier MC (FCY)^ |
| 25,000 : 10,000 | 1.8 mpd | 2.8 mpd |
| 30,000 : 10,000 | 1.5 mpd | 2.33 mpd |
| 35,000 : 10,000 | 1.29 mpd | 2 mpd |
| 40,000 : 10,000 | 1.13 mpd | 1.75 mpd |
| 50,000 : 10,000 | 0.9 mpd | 1.4 mpd |
| *3 points per S$1 on local spend ^7 points per S$1 on FCY spend (temp. upsize till 30 Jun 25) |
||
Note in particular that the transfer ratio for KrisFlyer has been devalued from 16 January 2025., and if you choose to convert HSBC points to KrisFlyer miles, the earn rate with this promotion is 1.5 mpd, instead of 1.8 mpd.
When will the bonus miles be credited?
Cardholders will initially earn the regular 1.2 mpd on SGD spend, with the bonus 0.6 mpd awarded within two months of the transaction.
Terms & Conditions
The T&Cs of this offer can be found here.
HSBC rewards points are among the best in Singapore
A 1.8 mpd earn rate doesn’t sound very impressive, especially when other cards would offer up to 4 mpd for travel, dining and entertainment.
However, HSBC rewards points are extremely valuable, and probably the best rewards currency in Singapore right now.
- Conversion fees are waived until further notice
- Conversions to all but two programmes (Hainan and JAL) are instant
- Rewards points pool across all HSBC cards
- While the minimum conversion block is 10,000 miles, the subsequent block is just two miles (so you could transfer 10,002 or 20,496 miles, for example)
- Even though non-expiring points would be nice, HSBC still offers longer validity than most competing banks at 37 months
- It has 16 airline and four hotel transfer partners, by far the most of any bank in Singapore
So assuming you’ve maxed out the 4 mpd caps on other cards, this would be a good opportunity to earn some extra HSBC rewards points at an accelerated rate.
Overview: HSBC Premier Mastercard
| HSBC Premier Mastercard |
|||
| Card T&Cs | |||
| Income Req. | S$30,000 p.a. | Annual Fee |
S$490.50* |
| Local Earn |
1.2 mpd | FCY Earn | 2.8 mpd^ |
| FCY Fee | 3.25% | Transfer Partners | 20 |
| Points Pool? | Yes | Transfer Fee | Waived |
| *Waived so long as HSBC Premier status maintained (min. AUM: S$200,000) ^Temporary upsize till 30 June 2025, otherwise 2 mpd |
|||
Back in October 2024, HSBC relaunched the HSBC Premier Mastercard and converted it from a cashback card into a miles-earning option. This came with a new look and additional benefits, such as airport lounge access, complimentary limo rides, and a badge upgrade to World Elite Mastercard.
The HSBC Premier Mastercard is the companion card for the HSBC Premier priority banking programme. It has an annual fee of S$490.50, which is waived if the cardholder has a HSBC Premier relationship and maintains a total relationship balance of at least S$200,000.
Principal cardholders enjoy four (Premier) or six (Premier Elite) free lounge visits per membership year, provided by Priority Pass. They also enjoy one (Premier) or two (Premier Elite) free airport limo rides per calendar quarter, subject to a minimum spend of S$12,000 in the preceding calendar quarter.
As a World Elite Mastercard, all principal and supplementary cardholders also enjoy the following benefits.
| 🏨 Hotel Elite Status | |
| 🚗 Rental Car Elite Status | |
| 👍Other Perks |
Conclusion
From now till 30 June 2025, HSBC Premier Mastercard customers can enjoy an uncapped 1.8 mpd on travel, dining and entertainment transactions charged in SGD.
If you’ve maxed out the bonus caps on higher-earning cards, or simply want to accrue some versatile HSBC rewards points, then this would be a chance to do so. Just remember that HSBC is not the bank you want to be earning KrisFlyer miles with, ever since the devaluation earlier this year.
