HSBC Platinum Credit Card

It’s not unusual to get a basic credit card with no annual fee. What is highly unusual is to get a platinum credit card without an annual fee, not just as an introductory offer for the first year, but every single year. Although the stated annual fee for the HSBC Platinum Credit Card is an already reasonable $129, it’s relatively easy to have the fee refunded every year. And remember that a platinum credit card comes with a lot of benefits, in this case, a rewards scheme and airport lounge passes, as well as a suite of useful insurance policies, all of which can be yours absolutely free of charge.

But if you’d also like to start the relationship with a zero interest balance transfer, that can be yours too. And HSBC balance transfer offers come with a very special feature. You can still benefit from up to 55 interest-free days on purchases every month, even though you a balance transfer that you haven’t yet repaid.

Annual fee refunded for low $6,000 annual spend

Spending $6,000 annually on your credit card – just $500 per month – is not difficult: groceries, fuel for your car, a restaurant meal – goodbye $500 per month, hello free credit card. You don’t need to change your normal spending pattern to qualify for a free platinum credit card while this offer lasts.

Supplementary cards on the account (e.g. for your partner) are always free of charge.

Earn rewards on your everyday purchases

Making purchases expressly for the purpose of earning rewards is illogical and not cost-effective. But earning rewards for everyday, unavoidable spending is totally reasonable, and that’s exactly what this card allows you to do. For every dollar you spend in Australia, using the card, you’ll earn one HSBC Rewards Plus point. For every dollar you spend with overseas merchants, including online purchases, you’ll earn two points.

Points are capped at 10,000 per monthly statement period, but that’s a fairly generous limit. You’d need to be spending at least $100,000 per year using your card in order to hit the cap on a regular basis.

What can you do with the points? All of this:

• Choose from a range of merchandise in the online Rewards Plus catalogue – everything you would expect to find in an upmarket department store
• Exchange points for retail gift cards, including national brands like Coles, Woolworths, Myer, Bunnings, JB Hi-Fi and Westfield – 5,000 points per $25
• Get a cashback on your HSBC credit card account – 7,500 points per $25 cashback
• Convert your HSBC Rewards Plus points to Virgin Australia Velocity frequent flyer points at the rate 2 HSBC points = 1 frequent flyer point
• Swap points for accommodation vouchers with hotel groups Fairmont, Choice and Swissôtel, starting at 5,000 points for a $25 voucher
• Exchange your points for a gift voucher with Flight Centre, starting at 20,000 points for a $100 voucher

Complimentary insurance policies

Because you can have the annual fee refunded, these insurance policies really are free, unlike the similar policies accompanying high-fee cards. Here’s what you’ll get, without paying an extra cent if you meet the fee refund criterion:

• Annual multi-trip international travel insurance for primary and supplementary cardholders and their families, covering emergency medical expenses, luggage, delays, unavoidable cancellation and even loss of income as a result of an injury sustained while travelling. (Cover is activated by using the cards to pay at least 90% of each traveller’s fare.)
• Rental vehicle insurance excess waiver, worldwide.
• Transit accident insurance, providing cash compensation for loss of life, limb or eyesight sustained as the result of an accident while travelling as a passenger on a plane, train, bus or ferry, where the fare was paid with the card.
• Purchase protection insurance, covering goods purchased with the card for 90 days against loss, theft or accidental damage &ndash: generous $125,000 annual claim limit.
• Extended warranty insurance, doubling the manufacturer’s Australian warranty on items bought with the card, up to a maximum of 12 additional months.
• Guaranteed pricing scheme, refunding the price difference if an item you purchased with the card in a store appears in a printed catalogue with a price more than $75 lower, up to 21 days after the purchase.

Free airport lounge passes

The primary cardholder is entitled to receive two lounge passes every year, to Lounge Key airport lounges. One of the free passes may be used by a guest accompanying the primary cardholder, and additional visits are available at a cost of $US27 per person.

Lounge Key provides access to over 1,000 airport lounges worldwide, regardless of which airline you are flying with. There are Lounge Key lounges in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Cairns, Darwin and Coolangatta.

Big potential savings on selected dining, travel and retail purchases

Cardholders will be automatically enrolled in the Frequent Values dining and retail program. There is a long list of restaurants offering a 20% bill discount, hotels with a 20-50% reduction, plus additional discount offers on retail gift cards, car hire, travel, entertainment, health and beauty, and more.

Platinum concierge service

You may know what facilities are available in your hometown, but what happens when you are travelling interstate or overseas? This card gives you access to the Visa Platinum concierge service anywhere in the world, to assist with advice and reservations for restaurants, travel, accommodation, entertainment and other lifestyle services. The platinum concierge staff are local experts, and may even know more than you do about the best places to eat, stay and be entertained on your own doorstep.

Balance transfer at zero interest for 12 months

Transfer balances from your existing non-HSBC credit or store cards, up to a liberal 90% of your new approved credit limit, and pay no interest at all on the balance for 12 months, with no upfront balance transfer fee to pay.

A zero-interest balance transfer to a platinum card is likely to appeal to someone who has either just made a major purchase with their existing card, maxing out their credit limit, or to someone who can afford to repay their balance but would appreciate the opportunity to leave some funds on deposit and earn interest.

Unlike nearly every other credit card balance transfer offer, with this one you won’t forfeit interest-free days on purchases

HSBC zero-interest balance transfers comes with a remarkable feature that makes this card stand out from its competitors.

With most credit cards, having a balance transfer is an ‘either/or’ option. That is, for as long as there is an unpaid balance transfer on your card, you won’t qualify for the normal monthly interest-free period of up to 55 days on purchases. This means that you’d probably not use the card for purchases while the balance transfer was unpaid, thus missing out on rewards points and other benefits that require purchases to be made.

But HSBC does things differently. Provided you repay your purchases balance in full every month, plus any amounts taken as a cash advance, you will still continue to qualify for 55 interest-free days on purchases, in spite of the presence of an unpaid balance transfer.

High interest rates are avoidable

The balance transfer revert rate (the rate you’ll pay on any remaining balance when the 12-month interest holiday is over) is the cash advance rate of 21.99% p.a. The interest rate on purchases is 19.99% p.a. Both these rates are at the high end of credit card interest rates, and you can avoid paying them by diarising the offer expiry date and regular payment due dates, and by planning both your purchases and your finances so that funds are available for full repayments when required.

Pay with your smartphone

The card is enabled for both Apple Pay and Google Pay. So if you have a compatible mobile device, you can enjoy the convenience of using it for fast, secure payments.

A good range of credit limits

The minimum income for this card is $40,000, so even the lowest available credit limit is a reasonably significant $6,000. But big spenders on high incomes can qualify for substantially higher limits to suit their needs.

One fee that even big spenders will want to avoid is the very disagreeable $200 overseas emergency card replacement fee. Hang on to the card carefully when travelling the world.

Other platinum rewards cards with no or low annual fee

Although the HSBC Platinum Credit Card is not strictly speaking a ‘no annual fee’ card, it effectively becomes one in any year where you use it to spend $6,000, which is likely to be most years for most cardholders.

While there’s no shortage of prestige cards offering an annual fee rebate in the first year, the opportunity to avoid a fee thereafter is extremely rare. Perhaps the strongest competitor is the American Express Essential Credit Card, which has no annual fee and, while not a platinum card, nevertheless has rewards points and some insurance cover (though not travel insurance).

You can compare other cards with no annual fee, or a first year fee rebate, on our ’No annual fee’ page in our Features section.

A card for those who want it all for nothing

The HSBC Platinum Credit Card proves that you can have it all and pay nothing. Enjoy loyalty points on your routine spending plus two airport lounge passes every year, benefit from complimentary insurance cover including the highly desirable overseas travel insurance policy, and pay no annual fee because the fee waiver spending target is extremely low. And have your cake and eat it too, with a zero-interest balance transfer offer that allows you to retain your interest-free days on purchases.

You can't balance transfer to the HSBC Platinum Credit Card at the promotional balance transfer rate from:

• HSBC