HSBC Visa Platinum Credit Card Review India: Fees, Rewards & Perks

Thanks to longtime reader Mouli for his valuable input in making this article possible.

I was asked to review the HSBC credit cards for several years but kept postponing it because I expected the bank to scale back its Indian credit card business. That didn’t happen. HSBC is selective in issuing cards—self-employed applicants may face more difficulty—but they remain active. This review focuses on the HSBC Visa Platinum Card, which appears to be the primary card HSBC promotes in India.

• Joining Fee / Annual Fee: Nil

A notable feature of HSBC credit cards in India is that they do not charge a joining or annual fee on their cards, including the Platinum variant.

Welcome Offers

• Limited-period: ₹2,000 Cleartrip voucher on your first transaction.
• 10% cashback (up to ₹2,500) if you complete at least nine transactions totalling ₹10,000 or more within the first 90 days.
• 3X reward points on dining, hotels and telecom for the first 12 months from card issuance.

Regular Offers

• BookMyShow vouchers worth ₹500 (two ₹250 vouchers) on spending over ₹50,000 in a calendar month. Capped at ₹3,000 per cardholder per year.
• Buy 1 Get 1 movie tickets for Saturday shows (can be booked any day of the week). Available once per month. Add-on cards are treated separately.
• Friday offer: ₹1,200 discount on roundtrip flights and ₹1,200 off on hotel bookings using code CTHSBCFRIDAY. Add-on cards are treated separately.
• Sunday offer: Up to ₹10,000 cashback (10%) on international flight bookings on MakeMyTrip. Add-on cards are treated separately.
• Swiggy offers: 50% off up to ₹125 on your first order; 25% off up to ₹150 on subsequent orders.
• 30% discount on Treebo hotel bookings.

Balance Transfer and Loan Facility

HSBC offers competitive rates for balance transfers (BT) and personal loans on card, which is often a decisive advantage for many customers. As Mouli notes, even with preferred relationships at other banks, he prefers HSBC for BT and loan offers because they often provide the lowest interest rates and low processing fees.

Recent examples include a BT rate of 10.9% interest with a 1% processing fee, and an incentive such as a ₹300 Uber voucher for taking a BT or loan.

Reward Points

• Earn 2 reward points for every ₹150 spent (excluding fuel transactions).
• Earn 5X rewards on purchases after cumulative annual spending crosses ₹400,000, up to an annual cap of ₹1,000,000.

At high spend levels, the card can generate substantial points. For example, an annual spend of ₹1,000,000 could yield roughly 45,000 reward points, assuming the accelerated 5X rewards apply on the incremental spend.

Redemption Options

Redemption with HSBC requires planning. The options are standard but not the most straightforward; the best value typically comes from transferring points to airline or hotel loyalty programs rather than catalogue redemptions.

Catalogue Redemptions

• Gift vouchers from popular retailers are available.
• Expected reward value: approximately 0.25% for standard catalogue redemptions, improving to around 1% if you maximize value through high annual spend.

Airline Transfers

• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer: 1 HSBC reward point = 1 KrisFlyer mile.
• British Airways Executive Club: 1 HSBC reward point = 1 Avios mile.
• Jet Airways (when available): 2 HSBC reward points = 1 JPMile.

Hotel Transfers

• Taj InnerCircle: 5 HSBC reward points = 1 TIC point.
• Estimated value: 1 TIC point ≈ ₹5, so reward rate can approach ~4.5% on very high spend levels (around ₹1,000,000 per year).

Example with Taj InnerCircle transfers:

Transferring 45,000 HSBC reward points in a year converts to 9,000 TIC points. Depending on the property and redemption pattern, that balance can cover multiple nights at premium Taj properties — for instance, several nights at mid-range Taj hotels or a few nights at higher-end properties. As with most hotel loyalty programs, maximum value depends on the chosen property and travel dates.

Bottomline

The HSBC Visa Platinum Card is a mixed bag. It is fee-free, offers strong balance transfer and loan pricing, and provides useful welcome and merchant offers. However, extracting strong rewards value requires significant annual spending and engagement with airline or hotel transfer partners. For regular cardholders with moderate spend, benefits are modest; the card shines mainly for those who can leverage the points transfer options and sustain high annual spending.

• Cardexpert Rating: 3.5/5

If you hold an HSBC credit card, feel free to share your experience in the comments below.