HSBC Revolution Card Review: Still worth it in 2025?

Over the years, the HSBC Revolution card has been a great tool for miles accumulation in Singapore. However, it is slowly losing its shine, due to multiple nerfs in recent years.

Here’s a compilation of recent nerfs involving the HSBC Revolution card:

1 Jan 2024: Hotel/Accommodation spendings no longer earn 4 mpd
1 May 2024: Groceries, Fast Food and Misc. food stores no longer earn 4 mpd
15 Jul 2024: Contactless payments no longer earn 4 mpd
1 Jan 2025: Flight, Travel bookings no longer earn 4 mpd
16 Jan 2025: Points conversion to KrisFlyer devalued

I should also mention that this card has improved in 4 ways too:

28 May 2024: 6 new transfer partners, free points transfers, instant points transfers and points pooling with other HSBC cards

Let’s find out if the HSBC Revolution card is still worth it in 2025. Grab a cup of coffee, here’s everything that you need to know.

Key information about the HSBC Revolution Card

Here’s a quick rundown of the important details of the HSBC Revolution card.

HSBC Revolution Card

Suitesmile rating:

Card tier
Visa Platinum

Annual fee
No annual fee, ever

Income requirement
S$30,000/year
^{(equivalent to S$2,500/month)}

Foreign currency fee
3.25%

Points expiry
37 months
^{(after transaction month)}

Transfer partners
7
^{(useful ones)}

Transfer ratio
2.5 points = 1 mile

Min. transfer block
25,000 points
^{(10,000 miles)}

Transfer fee
Free

Points pooling
Yes

General earn rate
1X point per dollar
^{(0.4 mpd)}

Bonus earn rate
10X points per dollar
^{(4 mpd)}

Earning block
Every S$1

Calendar/Statement month
Calendar

Transaction/Posting date
Posting

Sign-up bonus
Check here

In a few words
With no annual fee, free points transfers, 7 useful transfer partners and a 4 mpd earn rate, this is one of the best cards for online shopping (Shopee, Lazada etc.). While this card gives you access to great frequent flyer programs (FFPs) like Infinity MileageLands and Executive Club, keep in mind that it is not good for conversions to KrisFlyer. Other spendings like flight/hotel bookings, dining and in-person shopping have a very poor earn rate of 0.4 mpd.

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Pros and Cons of the HSBC Revolution Card

Here are the pros and cons of the HSBC Revolution card, as compared to other Singapore credit cards.

HSBC Revolution Card’s annual fee

While most competent credit cards in Singapore have an annual fee of at least S$196, the HSBC Revolution card does not come with one.

This is a huge advantage, making this card low-maintenance over the others, as you wouldn’t have to request for an annual fee waiver every single year, and worry about what to do with your points if a waiver is not granted.

✍️ There is only 1 other good credit card in Singapore which doesn’t come with an annual fee, and that is our Card of the Year for 2024, the Trust Cashback card.

Earn rates on the HSBC Revolution Card

HSBC Revolution cardholders earn 10 points per dollar (equivalent to 4 miles per dollar) on online shopping, as long as the transaction has a whitelisted Merchant Category Code (MCC). Enjoy this great earn rate for up to S$1,000 worth of eligible spending per calendar month, with no minimum spending required.

All other transactions earn just 1 point per dollar (0.4 mpd).

Here are the whitelisted MCCs that earn 4 mpd (only when transacted online):

Can I check the MCC before paying?

It requires a little trick, but you can! To do this, you’ll need an Amaze card to intentionally get a payment declined.

Here are the steps:

1. Make sure that you have $0 or low balance in your Amaze wallet
2. Link your Amaze card to the Amaze wallet (instead of a credit card)
3. Next, attempt to pay for the online transaction using your Amaze card details
4. The transaction will not go through (due to insufficient balance), but you can now check the MCC of the transaction in the ‘Activity’ tab in your Amaze app

Additional note: As the Amaze card is a Mastercard, you may see minor differences in the MCC descriptions of a Visa card like the HSBC Revolution.

Related: How to Check Merchant Category Code (MCC) Before You Pay

Which popular merchants qualify?

HSBC Revolution can earn 4 mpd at the following merchants, where the MCCs are widely known (and eligible).

• Shopee
• Lazada
• Amazon
• Zalora
• Grab (rides only)
• Gojek
• TADA
• Comfort Zig

Which popular merchants DON’T qualify?

“Online Shopping” is a pretty generic term and may be confused for “online spending”. These popular merchants have MCCs that are not eligible for the 4 mpd earn rate:

• GrabFood
• Foodpanda
• Klook
• Fairprice Online
• Hotels
• Airlines

Calendar or statement month?

Bonus earn rates on credit cards typically have monthly caps, which come in two forms

1. Calendar month (ends on the last day of the calendar month)
2. Statement month (ends the day before your statement date)

The HSBC Revolution card’s bonus earn rate is capped at S$1,000 worth of spending per calendar month. This translates to a total of 10k points (4k miles) that can be earned in every calendar month.

Transaction date or posting date?

Credit card providers determine monthly qualifying spend based on either:

1. Transaction date (date of the transaction, in Singapore time)
2. Posting date (date when the transaction is posted in your credit card account, usually 1 to 3 days after the transaction)

The HSBC Revolution card considers the posting date. So, if you want the transaction to count for the current calendar month, it is advisable to complete the purchase around 4 to 5 days before the last day of the month (e.g. 25 June).

HSBC rewards exclusions

HSBC shares a list of transactions that are excluded from earning rewards points. Using the HSBC Revolution card for the following transactions will not earn any points:

tl;dr: There’s nothing out of the ordinary here. Most of these are also excluded from earning miles/cashback on other cards.

When are HSBC Revolution points credited?

Base points are credited immediately when the transaction is posted, while bonus points earned on the HSBC Revolution card are credited by the end of the following calendar month.

So, for an eligible online shopping transaction that earns 4 mpd, you’d receive:

• 1X base point credited when the transaction is posted (usually 2-3 days after transaction)
• 9X base points credited by end of the following calendar month

This totals up to 10 points per dollar spent, which converts to 4 miles per dollar when transferred to a good FFP (more on this later).

Here are a couple of examples:

HSBC Revolution points expiry

Points earned on the HSBC Revolution card expire 37 months (3 yrs 1 mth) after the calendar month in which the points were earned. Here are a couple of examples:

How to check expiring HSBC points?

The HSBC mobile app shows if there are any points expiring in the next 6 months.

HSBC points pooling

Points earned on the HSBC Revolution card pools with those that are earned on other points-earning cards like the HSBC TravelOne card. In other words, points from all HSBC cards can be combined and transferred out at one go.

Additional note: Although HSBC points across multiple cards can be pooled, the system stores them separately in each card. So, if you are cancelling the Revolution card while still holding the TravelOne card, the remaining points that were earned on the HSBC Revolution card will be gone.

HSBC transfer partners

Points earned on the HSBC Revolution card can be converted to miles on the following FFPs.

Technically, this card has 20 airline/hotel transfer partners. However, due to a number of reasons like poor transfer ratio and usefulness of the loyalty programs, HSBC cards only has access to 7 useful transfer partners; still far better than most other Singapore credit cards.

Related: Credit card transfer partners in Singapore (all banks)

0 Good conversion ratio, useful FFP
0 Good conversion ratio, poor FFP
0 Poor transfer ratio
0 Unlock useful FFP through an additional step*

^{*Transfer HSBC points to British Airways Executive Club (BAEC) first to enjoy good conversion ratio, then, convert BAEC Avios to another FFP in the Avios family for free.}

How to transfer HSBC points?

HSBC cardholders can transfer credit card points to FFPs easily using the HSBC mobile app. Here’s a quick guide, as shared by HSBC:

How long do HSBC points transfers take?

HSBC points transfers to all useful FFPs are usually instant. This is a huge advantage over other Singapore credit cards that take at least 2 days, and as slow as 1 month.

HSBC cardholders can also keep their points in the card and transfer them immediately when they find award availability, without worrying about the award availability disappearing while waiting for the points transfer to be completed.

^{Note: HSBC mentioned that points transfers to Hainan Airlines Fortune Wings Club may take up to 5 working days, and up to 10 working days to Japan Airlines Mileage Bank. But you shouldn’t be transferring HSBC points to these 2 FFPs anyway, due to poor transfer ratios and limited use cases.}

Best ways to redeem HSBC points

While HSBC points cannot be transferred to KrisFlyer at a good ratio, it gives you access to other FFPs with great award rates to regions that are overdemanded (hence, overpriced) on KrisFlyer. These are:

• Japan, South Korea
• Europe

Here’s a quick comparison:

There are many other factors to consider, such as award availability, fuel surcharges and other taxes and fees. But the general take away is: HSBC points give you choices and depending on where you are flying, access to better award rates and availability.

Read more about the cheapest ways to fly to the following destinations using credit card miles:

• North Asia
• Europe
• US/Canada

Redeem HSBC points for cashback

HSBC points can also be converted to cashback using the Pay with Points feature in the HSBC mobile app.

Points can be redeemed at the following conversion blocks:

• 4,000 points = $10 cashback
• 20,000 points = $50 cashback

If you using the HSBC Revolution card for online shopping only (like you should), this is equivalent to a 2.5% cashback rate (instead of 4 mpd).

ENTERTAINER with HSBC

Cardholders also get a complimentary membership on ENTERTAINER with HSBC. Through the mobile app, members can enjoy 1-for-1 deals on dining, takeaway, entertainment, travel and wellness.

📄 More about ENTERTAINER with HSBC

HSBC Revolution sign-up bonus

New cardholders of HSBC can usually get fantastic sign-up bonuses such as cash, miles or gadgets worth between S$200 and S$800 when applying for a credit card.

Previous HSBC credit cardholders who cancelled their last card with the bank (as principal cardholder) more than 12 months ago will also qualify as a new cardholder.

Click here to check the latest sign-up bonuses for the HSBC Revolution card.

Should you get the HSBC Revolution Card?

As mentioned earlier, the HSBC Revolution card has undergone many nerfs in the past year. While you may often read about miles chasers hating on it, the fact remains — this card holds 5 major advantages over other miles/rewards credit cards in Singapore.

I’ve mentioned them multiple times above, but allow me to reiterate, one last time:

✅ No annual fee: Others charge at least S$196/year. Sure, a waiver request is possible, but that’s something extra to think about, and a potentially problematic situation if/when a waiver is not granted.

✅ Access to 7 useful FFPs: Most cards have just 2 or 3 useful transfer partners; only Citibank cards offer better

✅ Free points transfers: Others charge around S$27 per transfer

✅ Instant points transfers: Others take at least 2 days, up to a month

✅ 3 years points expiry term: Most cards offer 2 years or less

❌ But…it’s not good for earning KrisFlyer miles

So, you now understand the pros and cons of the HSBC Revolution card. Should you get it?

You should get the card if you:

• Shop online often (at eligible merchants)
• Often max out the superior Citi Rewards card (S$1,000/month)
• Are aware of the benefits of FFPs other than KrisFlyer
• Plan to use the miles to fly to regions where other FFPs are stronger than KrisFlyer (e.g. Europe, Japan/South Korea)
• Want to take advantage of a great sign-up bonus (e.g. get a free Sony camera worth S$769 after spending S$800)

P.S. This card is part of my 2025 miles & credit card strategy.

You should NOT get the card if you:

• Don’t like to travel much
• Don’t shop online much
• Don’t usually max out the superior Citi Rewards card (S$1,000/month)
• Plan to use the miles to fly to regions where KrisFlyer is stronger than other FFPs (e.g. China, India, Istanbul, Australia, NZ)

✍️ Apply for the HSBC Revolution card

Important documents

📄 HSBC Revolution Credit Card’s 10X Reward points programme T&Cs

📄 HSBC Rewards Programme T&Cs