The HSBC Revolution Card earns 10 Reward points per S$1 on online and contactless payments at listed travel, shopping, dining and transport merchants, and 1 point per dollar on other spending. It has no annual fee and no minimum spend. This HSBC Revolution Card review finds two limits matter most: the bonus stops at $1,000 of eligible spend a month, and the points convert to KrisFlyer at a weaker ratio than HSBC’s “4 miles” headline suggests.
All figures are from HSBC’s pages, programme terms and tariff, as at November 2026.
What Earns 10X Points on the HSBC Revolution Card
Two tests must both be met.
How you pay. The payment must be a Visa contactless transaction, including Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, or an online transaction, including card details saved with a merchant.
Where you pay. The merchant must fall under one of the category codes in HSBC’s terms:
| Group | What is included |
|---|---|
| Travel | Airlines, hotels and other lodging, car rental, cruise lines |
| Shopping | Department stores, clothing and shoes, electronics and computers, online marketplaces, pharmacies, bookshops, jewellery, toys, gifts and other speciality retail |
| Dining | Restaurants, caterers, bakeries, bars and confectionery shops |
| Other | Taxis and limousines; country clubs, sports and golf memberships |
Not on the list: supermarkets, fast food restaurants, petrol, and travel agencies and tour operators. HSBC’s page also says hotel dining is excluded from the dining group. All of these earn 1 point per dollar.
Some spending earns no points at all, including utilities, insurance, education, hospitals, government and tax payments, e-wallet top-ups and payments through services such as CardUp and iPayMy.
How we reviewed it
We read HSBC’s card page, the Revolution Reward Points Programme terms effective 1 April 2026, HSBC’s rewards page and programme terms, and the 2026 tariff. The worked example uses our own spending figures.
We leave out sign-up gifts. We are not paid by HSBC, and this is not a recommendation to apply.
The Cap and the Higher Tier
Each dollar of eligible spend earns 1 base point and 9 bonus points. Bonus points are capped at 9,000 a calendar month, so the bonus ends at $1,000 of eligible spend. Base points are not capped.
HSBC calculates points on the month’s total eligible transactions, rounded down to the nearest dollar, not on each purchase separately.
There is a second tier. Cardholders who keep an average daily balance of at least $50,000 in a sole HSBC Everyday Global Account earn 19 bonus points per dollar, for 20 in total, with a cap of 22,800 bonus points. That cap is reached at $1,200 of eligible spend a month.
What the Points Are Worth
HSBC’s rewards page lists different ratios for different airlines.
| Programme | Points for 10,000 miles | Miles per $1 at 10X | Miles per $1 at 1X |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asia Miles, British Airways, Qantas, Flying Blue | 25,000 | 4.0 | 0.4 |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 30,000 | 3.33 | 0.33 |
| Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, United | 35,000 | 2.86 | 0.29 |
HSBC’s tariff shows the miles and hotel points redemption fee as waived until HSBC decides otherwise. Points expire at the end of a 37-month period starting the month after they are awarded, and points on one card account cannot be moved to another.
A year of spending, worked through
An illustrative cardholder spends $700 a month on eligible online and contactless purchases and $500 a month on other eligible spending such as supermarkets.
- Bonus spend: $700 × 10 = 7,000 points
- Other spend: $500 × 1 = 500 points
- Monthly total: 7,500 points. Over a year: 90,000 points
Converted:
- KrisFlyer: 90,000 ÷ 3 = 30,000 miles
- Asia Miles: 90,000 ÷ 2.5 = 36,000 miles
Assume, for illustration only, 1.5 cents a mile. That is $450 through KrisFlyer or $540 through Asia Miles, with no annual fee and, at present, no conversion fee to subtract.
Taken as cash instead. HSBC’s pay with points rate is 4,000 points for $10, then 400 points per $1. So 90,000 points offset $225. On that route, 10X is worth 2.5% and 1X is worth 0.25%.
Across the full $14,400 spent, the card earned about 2.1 KrisFlyer miles per dollar. The headline rate applies to the bonus spend only.
The short version: The HSBC Revolution Card costs nothing to hold and pays 10 points per dollar on the first $1,000 a month of eligible online and contactless spend. For KrisFlyer collectors that is 3.33 miles per dollar, not 4. Supermarkets and fast food earn the base rate.
Fees and Eligibility
- Annual fee: none, for principal and supplementary cards, according to HSBC’s 2026 tariff.
- 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% charged by Visa.
- Interest: an effective 27.8% a year, with a $100 late payment charge.
No annual fee does not mean no cost. MoneySense explains that once a bill is not paid in full, interest applies to the balance and to new purchases. A month of interest on $3,000 at 27.8% is about $70, more than the $25 that the card’s best month of bonus points is worth when taken as cash.
The Catches
- Both tests apply. A contactless payment at a supermarket earns 1 point per dollar, because supermarkets are not a listed category. An online payment to an insurer earns nothing, because insurance is excluded altogether.
- The merchant’s code decides. HSBC does not set the category code. A café inside a hotel or a restaurant coded as fast food may not earn the bonus.
- Overseas spend still carries the fee. Up to 3.25% on foreign currency reduces the value of points earned abroad. See our guide to overseas card fees.
- The income bar. Applicants new to HSBC need $65,000.
- Points lapse. Thirty-seven months is long, but points left on an unused card do expire.
Who the HSBC Revolution Card Does Not Suit
- People who want one card for all spending. The base rate is about a third of a mile per dollar.
- Households whose main card costs are groceries, petrol, utilities or insurance.
- People spending far more than $1,000 a month in the bonus categories, unless they also hold $50,000 with HSBC.
- People who prefer cash rewards. At 2.5% on a capped $1,000 a month, a cashback card may be simpler.
- Anyone carrying a balance. The debt payoff calculator comes first.
Cards to compare it with
- The Citi Rewards Card has a similar 10-points structure and cap. It converts to KrisFlyer at 25,000 points for 10,000 miles, charges a transfer fee and an annual fee, and excludes travel and mobile wallets.
- The HSBC Live+ Card pays cashback instead, with a monthly minimum spend.
- The Citi PremierMiles Card is a flat-rate miles card for spending that earns no bonus here.
- Our rewards cards comparison, dining cards comparison and HSBC credit cards page give the wider picture.
What To Do Next
- Total three months of spending that is both online or contactless and at a listed merchant type. Compare it with the $1,000 cap.
- Decide which airline programme you would use, and apply that programme’s ratio from HSBC’s rewards page.
- Check the current category list on HSBC’s Revolution page before relying on it.
- Run your figures through the cashback vs miles calculator, using the method in our cashback or miles guide.
