HSBC Hong Kong Cards review

The credit card charges an annual fee of HKD 0 and is listed as a no-annual-fee card, and Perpetual annual fee waiver, HK Express complimentary in flight drink and Virtual credit card includes a perpetual annual fee waiver on top. Rewards are paid in cashback, so spending still puts something back even though the yearly cost is nothing.

Currency conversion on the credit card is 1.95%, against a site median of 1%. That places the brand at 102 of 181 brands compared on conversion cost, so readers who spend abroad often should check that figure. The debit card instead holds 12 currencies.

The debit card charges a monthly fee of HKD 0 and runs on the mastercard network, so keeping it open costs nothing month to month. It is a debit card, which means spending comes straight out of your HSBC account rather than being extended as credit and repaid later.

The free ATM allowance on the debit card is HKD 0 free withdrawals, where the site median is €0 and the upper end of the field runs to €118.23. Worth checking your own arrangement rather than treating it as unlimited, since the credit card is a separate account type.

The credit card pays RewardCash: the highest rate at designated overseas and local merchants, a lower rate on online purchases and the lowest rate on other spending. The reward type is cashback and rewards are the rewards on the card, so there is no points scheme to track.

The debit card handles 12 currencies on the mastercard network, which covers a good deal of everyday spending abroad. The mobile payment acceptance listed in Perpetual annual fee waiver, HK Express complimentary in flight drink and Virtual credit card covers Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, so phone payments work wherever those are accepted. Both products are issued by The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited.

Support runs on phone and help centre, which means phone and a help centre rather than email or chat. For a bank founded in 1865 and operating as The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited in Hong Kong, that covers most routine questions on both the debit and credit card products, though a call takes the outside hours.