HSBC Credit Cards

There’s no way to proactively check if you pre-qualify for an HSBC credit card. Sure, HSBC mails pre-approved credit card offers to potential applicants whose basic credit profiles indicate they will have a very good chance of getting approved. But you can’t request one. HSBC credit card pre-approval is invite-only, in other words.

But even though HSBC won’t let you check whether you pre-qualify, you can still take similar steps to determine whether applying is a good idea. Basically, you can pre-qualify yourself for an HSBC credit card by seeing how well you meet your chosen card’s approval requirements. Just bear in mind that official pre-approval typically gives you a roughly 90% chance of actually getting an account when you apply. So barely meeting a card’s minimum requirements may not cut it.

Here’s how to (pre) qualify for an HSBC credit card:

• All HSBC credit cards require good or excellent credit. Generally, good credit starts at a score of 660, and excellent credit begins at 719. However, we recommend considering good and excellent credit to mean 700+ and 750+, respectively. Your approval odds won’t be very good if you barely meet a card’s minimum requirements, after all.

You can check your latest credit score for free on WalletHub.

• You must demonstrate the ability to pay an HSBC credit card’s monthly bills. Unfortunately, that’s hard to estimate because HSBC doesn’t disclosure its cards’ minimum credit limits.
  
• You need $100,000+ in an HSBC bank account to get the HSBC Premier Mastercard and $10,000+ to get the HSBC Advance Mastercard.

In short, there’s no way to tell if you pre-qualify for an HSBC credit card. But if you have good to excellent credit, applying for an HSBC card might be worth a shot. If your credit is bad, fair, or limited, don’t worry. You may not be eligible for one of HSBC’s credit cards, but there are still plenty of offers from other issuers.

HSBC credit card rewards are points or “Cash Rewards” units that can be redeemed for cash back, gift cards, travel, or charitable donations, depending on which credit card you have. HSBC credit card rewards points are worth around 1 cent each, but it can vary based on how you redeem them. For example, points redeemed for travel on the HSBC Premier World and World Elite credit cards are worth more than cash back redemptions.

Points can be earned by making purchases on any of the 6 eligible HSBC credit cards: HSBC Premier World Elite, HSBC Premier World, HSBC Advance, HSBC Cash Rewards World, HSBC Platinum with Rewards, and HSBC Cash Rewards Student. Rewards are earned at different rates depending on which HSBC credit card you have. Some HSBC cards give extra points for different categories of spending, such as travel or dining, while others give a flat rate for all purchases.

The best HSBC rewards credit card is the HSBC Premier World Credit Card. The HSBC Premier World Mastercard offers a good middle ground between points-earning potential and annual fees. Travel purchases – including plane tickets, hotels, car rentals, and more – give 2 points per $1 spent. You’ll get 1 point per $1 spent on everything else. Plus, points from this card have a higher redemption value for travel than most other HSBC credit cards, at $0.0125 per point, and you’ll get 35,000 points for spending $3,000 in the first 3 months.

There’s no limit to how many HSBC credit card reward points you can earn. And the points don’t expire. That said, credit card points can be devalued by the card issuer at any time, so it’s best to redeem them often.

You can pay your HSBC credit card bill online, over the phone, or through the mail. Paying your HSBC credit card online is the easiest way to pay. Just sign into your HSBC credit card account on the HSBC website or the HSBC app, then select the credit card you want to pay. If you’re paying with an HSBC checking or savings account, click “Move Money” to make a credit card payment. If you’re paying with a non-HSBC account, click “My Account” and then “Payments.” From there, click “Make a Payment,” and choose the amount you’d like to pay along with which bank account you want to pay from.

To make an HSBC credit card payment over the phone, call the number on the back of your credit card. Have your HSBC card around so you can easily input your credit card number when prompted by the automated system. The prompts will then guide you through the process of making a payment on your HSBC credit card.

If you’d rather mail in an HSBC credit card payment, send a check or money order – along with the payment coupon from your credit card statement – to this mailing address: HSBC Bank USA, N.A. / P.O. Box 4657 / Carol Stream, IL 60197-5255.

No, HSBC credit cards do not report to all bureaus. HSBC reports to Experian, Equifax, and Innovis. As you can see, TransUnion is left out.

HSBC stopped reporting data to TransUnion in 2016. This is a "business" decision and it affects all customers, therefore the credit benefit of using an HSBC credit card will be limited.

For example, if you go to apply for a loan or a new credit card and the lender calculates your credit score based on your TransUnion credit report, it will be as if you never had the credit card.

Some cardholders report HSBC Gold MasterCard credit limits as high as $25,000, but of course, that should be taken with a grain of salt.

Basically a higher credit score also helps you qualify for a higher credit limit. But not only that, as our debt-to-income ratio also plays an important role, so ideally that should be