The HSBC Live+ credit card is a rebranded version of the HSBC Cashback credit card. The USP of the HSBC Live+ credit card is 10% cashback on essential spending i.e. grocery spending, food delivery and dining. The credit card also offers 1.5% cashback on offline spending. Sounds amazing, right? So, what’s the catch? Read to find out.
HSBC Live+ Credit Card
Key Features and Benefits
Fees:
- INR999+GST. Waived on spending 2lk per year
Joining Benefits
- Amazon GV worth 1000, on spending 20k in the first 30 days.
Rewards and Benefits
- Reward points:
- 10% cashback on all dining, food delivery and grocery spends. Capped at 1000 per month.
- 5% unlimited cashback on all other spends.
- Exclusions: Utilities, Fuel, Wallet, Rent, Education, Taxes, Insurance, Jewellery.
- Cashback gets credited directly to the card statement after the bill generation
- Lounge Access: 4 complimentary domestic lounge access in a year. There is no international lounge access.
Thoughts on the HSBC Live+ Credit Card
HSBC Live+ Credit Card – Positives
10% cashback
The USP of the HSBC Live+ credit card is the 10% cashback on all dining, food delivery and grocery spends. The cashback is capped at 1000 in a billing cycle.
The good part of this 10% cashback feature is that it works across all stores as long as the MCC is in the aforementioned categories. That is, you get cashback even in Dmart, Udipi restaurants and your friendly neighbourhood Kirana stores. Further, doesn’t matter if you order food from Zomato, Swiggy or any order food ordering app, you get 10% cashback.
1.5% cashback on all other spends
The HSBC Live+ credit card gives 1.5% unlimited cashback on other spends. However, there is a long list of exclusions (discussed later). I appreciate this feature as not many credit cards that offer1.5% reward rate on offline spending.
BookMyShow BOGO Offer
HSBC runs a Buy One Get One Free (BOGO) offer on all their credit cards and thus is applicable on the HSBC Live+ credit card too. Under this offer, you get one movie ticket of up to 250 free. The catch is the tickets need to be booked on a Saturday, however, the movie show can be on any day of the week. Further, there is a quota of 2000 tickets only. Thus, you need to play the fastest finger first here.
Negatives of the HSBC Live+ credit card
A long list of exclusions
The HSBC Live+ credit card has a long list of exclusions where you don’t get any reward points. These categories are utilities (electric, gas, water and sanitary), fuel, wallet load, rent payment, vendor payments, education fees, government taxes, insurance payments and jewellery purchases. The utilities and insurance payments are where payments generally happen online and should have been included for cashback.
Available only for residents of limited cities
HSBC credit cards are only available if you reside in any of these 16 cities – Chennai, Gurgaon, Delhi National Capital Region (NCR), Pune, Noida, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kochi, Coimbatore, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad or Kolkata. For people who don’t have residence proof from these cities, getting an HSBC credit card will be very difficult
HSBC Live+ cannot be your primary card
Given that the HSBC Live+ credit card has many exclusions for cashback. Thus, it cannot be your primary credit card in your wallet. You will need to use the HSBC Live+ credit card along with other credit cards to maximize your savings.
Comparing HSBC Live+ with other cashback credit cards
The HSBC Live+ credit card is a rebranded version of the HSBC Cashback credit card. Thus, makes sense to compare it to other popular cashback credit cards. Below is a snapshot that shows the cashback you earn with many popular cashback credit cards and the HSBC Live+ credit card.
You would notice that the HDFC Swiggy(Apply Now) and the HDFC Tata Neu Infinity(Apply Now) credit cards offer cashback on most categories and the SBI Cashback(Apply Now) on arguably the least. Further, among the merchant spending snapshot, you will be better off with an SBI Cashback credit card if your spending is mostly online but not confined to a single merchant. However, if you are confined to a single merchant then depending on the merchant you can pick a credit card that suits you the most.
Conclusion
The HSBC Live+ Credit Card is a solid choice for those seeking a cashback-focused credit card. Its generous rewards on dining, grocery, and food delivery make it a compelling option. However, the limited rewards categories and monthly cap may not suit everyone’s needs. Thus, you will have to use the HSBC Live+ credit card along with other credit cards to maximize the benefits.
Image Courtesy: www.hsbc.co.in. The article was published/updated on 24th Aug 2024.
Disclaimer
In the interest of full disclosure, Credit Cardz may earn a referral bonus for anyone that’s approved through some of the links in this post. However, opinions and views expressed here are of the author's alone and not those of the bank, credit card issuer, or anyone else and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
I’m having hsbc platinum credit card. Will they issue live + card?
if i am not wrong, HSBC gives multiple cards. you should be able to get it