The HSBC Live+ Card pays 5% cashback on dining, shopping, entertainment and petrol at Caltex and Shell, and 0.3% on everything else. This HSBC Live+ Card review finds the rate is real but conditional: you must spend S$600 in every month of a calendar quarter, cashback stops at $250 a quarter, and one missed month drops the whole quarter to 0.3%.
All figures come from HSBC’s card page, programme terms and tariff, as at November 2026.
What the HSBC Live+ Card Pays
| Spending | Cashback | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Dining | 5% | $600 spent in each month of the quarter |
| Shopping | 5% | Same |
| Entertainment | 5% | Same |
| Petrol at Caltex and Shell in Singapore | 5% | Same |
| The four categories, minimum spend not met | 0.3% | None |
| All other eligible purchases | 0.3% | None |
HSBC’s terms define the categories by merchant category code:
- Dining: restaurants, fast food, caterers and bakeries, but not dining inside hotels.
- Shopping: department stores, clothing, shoes, bags and sporting goods shops, online marketplaces, discount and variety stores, and duty-free shops.
- Entertainment: streaming and pay-TV, digital books, films and music, cinemas and record shops.
- Petrol: Caltex and Shell stations in Singapore only.
HSBC also offers a temporary higher rate on some categories to newly issued cards for their first two quarters. That is a time-limited offer, so this review uses the standing 5%.
How we reviewed it
We read HSBC’s card page, the Quarterly Cashback Programme terms effective 13 March 2026 and the 2026 tariff. We then tested the rules against a household budget of our own.
We do not include sign-up gifts. We are not paid by HSBC, and this is not a recommendation to apply.
The Rules That Decide What You Get
The streak. The minimum is $600 of eligible purchases in each month, for all three months of the quarter. Quarters are calendar quarters: January to March, April to June, July to September, October to December.
The first quarter is different. In the quarter your card is issued, the test is $1,000 of eligible purchases across that quarter. The monthly rule starts from the next quarter.
The cap. All cashback under the programme is capped at $250 a quarter per card account. At 5%, that is reached at $5,000 of category spend in a quarter, or about $1,667 a month.
The timing. Cashback arrives within two months after the quarter ends. Spending in January may be rewarded as late as May. The credit offsets future bills and cannot be withdrawn.
What does not count. Utilities, insurance premiums, school fees, hospital bills, tax, government payments, AXS payments, e-wallet and prepaid top-ups, payments through services such as CardUp and iPayMy, and instalment plan amounts earn nothing and do not count towards the $600.
A Year on the Card, Worked Through
An illustrative household spends $900 a month on the card: $500 on dining, shopping, streaming and petrol, and $400 on other eligible purchases.
A quarter that meets the rule
- Category spend: $1,500 × 5% = $75.00
- Other spend: $1,200 × 0.3% = $3.60
- Quarter total: $78.60
Four such quarters give $314.40 a year, an effective 2.9% on $10,800.
A quarter with one short month
Suppose one month comes in at $550 because of a holiday. The quarter’s spend is $2,350, all at 0.3%:
- $2,350 × 0.3% = $7.05
One month that is $50 short costs about $70.
The annual fee from year two
HSBC waives the $196.20 fee after the first year only if annual spend exceeds $12,500. This household spends $10,800, so the fee may apply:
- $314.40 − $196.20 = $118.20, or about 1.1%
A flat 1.5% card with no conditions would pay $162 on the same spend. Illustration only, using HSBC’s published rates as at November 2026.
The short version: The HSBC Live+ Card pays 5% only to people who spend at least $600 on it every single month, and it waives its fee only above $12,500 a year. Between about $1,050 and $1,700 a month, with most of it in the four categories, it pays well. Outside that range, check the maths.
Fees and Eligibility
- Annual fee: $196.20 including GST. Waived in the first year, then waived if annual spend exceeds $12,500. Supplementary cards have no annual fee.
- Minimum income: $65,000 a year for new HSBC customers, for existing customers with less than $50,000 at HSBC, and for foreigners. Singaporeans and permanent residents with $50,000 or more at HSBC need $30,000 if salaried or $40,000 if self-employed. Minimum age 21.
- Foreign currency fee: 2.25% of the transaction, plus up to 1% from the card scheme.
- Interest: an effective 27.8% a year, with a $100 late payment charge.
The interest rate matters more than the cashback rate. MoneySense explains that when a bill is not paid in full, interest applies to the balance and to new purchases. One month of interest on $3,000 at 27.8% is about $70, close to a full quarter of cashback in our example.
The Catches in Plain Terms
- Spending to keep the streak. Buying something extra to reach $600 is a cost, not a saving.
- No groceries. Supermarkets are not a 5% category. Our groceries card comparison covers cards that reward them.
- Petrol is brand-specific. Only Caltex and Shell stations in Singapore qualify. See the petrol card comparison.
- Hotel restaurants are excluded from dining.
- Cashback is slow. If you close the card or the account is not in good standing before crediting, HSBC may not pay the cashback.
- This card earns no HSBC Reward points. Cards issued from 21 June 2024 are outside HSBC’s points programme, so there is no route to miles.
Who the HSBC Live+ Card Does Not Suit
- Households whose card spend sometimes dips below $600 a month.
- Households spending under $12,500 a year, who may pay the fee from the second year.
- People whose main costs are groceries, utilities, insurance or school fees, none of which earn 5%.
- New-to-HSBC applicants earning under $65,000.
- Anyone carrying a balance. Use the debt payoff calculator first.
Cards to compare it with
- The HSBC Revolution Card has no annual fee and no minimum spend, and pays points instead of cashback.
- The HSBC Advance card pays 1.5% with no minimum spend, capped at $70 of cashback a month. It is covered on our HSBC credit cards page.
- Our cashback cards comparison and dining cards comparison set cards from other banks alongside.
- If you are choosing between cash and miles, the cashback or miles guide shows the method.
What To Do Next
- Check your last 12 months of card statements. Count the months below $600 and total the year against $12,500.
- Split your spending into HSBC’s four categories and everything else, using the merchant list in the programme terms.
- Confirm the current rates on HSBC’s Live+ page, since terms and promotions change.
- If you take the card, set a reminder near month-end to check you have passed $600, and pay each statement in full.
