While American Express is known for their premium cards with amazing customer support they also issue one of the highly rewarding entry-level credit card in the country in the name of Membership Rewards Credit Card (MRCC).
Even though its an entry-level credit card, you can get return on spend as good as any other super premium credit card and even more.
Overview
Fees
Joining Fee: 1,000 INR+GST
Annual Fee: 4,500 INR+GST
Reward Type
Reward Points
Return
1 – 10%
Rating
Benefits
Milestone Rewards, Fuel Surcharge Waiver
Table Of Content
Eligibility
| Credit Score | 750+ |
| Occupation | Salaried |
| Income for Salaried | Rs 6 Lakh+ |
Fees
| Joining Fee | Rs 1000+GST ~Rs 1180 |
| Welcome Benefit | 4000 Membership Reward(MR) points Extra 2000 MR points with referral |
| Annual Fee | Rs 4500+GST ~Rs 5310 |
| Annual Fee Waiver | Spend Rs 5,000 within the first 30 days to get Rs 500 cashback & Rs 250 Amazon gift voucher (for applying online) |
| Renewal Benefit | 5000 MR points if the annual fee is charged |
Rewards
| Type of Spend | Rewards Point | Return Rate @1 per RP |
| Retail Spends | 2 RP/Rs 150 | 1.3% |
| Incremental Annual Spends > Rs 4 Lakh | 10 RP/Rs 150 | 6.5% |
| Bail and Bond Payments, Education and Government, E-wallet, Financial Institutions, Fuel, Insurance, Jewelry, Money Transfer, Non-Financial Institutions, Real Estate Agent and Managers, Tax Payments, Utilities | 0 RP | 0% |
Any annual spends beyond Rs 4 Lakh earn 5X reward points. This has a cap of 15,000 RP and we hit this on spending Rs 2.25 Lakh.
We get a total of 20333 RP (5333 standard RPs + 15,000 accelerated RPs) on spends of Rs 6.25 Lakhs in a membership year.
Milestone
No Milestone Benefits.
Rewards Redemption
The HSBC Visa Platinum card has multiple redemption options in the reward redemption catalog. We can get Amazon, Flipkart and other gift vouchers as well. But, the value of 1 RP is around 20 paise in these cases. We would not recommend using these redemption options.
| Transfer Partner | Conversion Ratio |
| Air India – Flying Returns | 2 RP = 1 Air India mile |
| Club Vistara | 2 RP = 1 Club Vistara mile |
| Singapore Airlines – Kris Flyer | 2 RP = 1 Kris Flyer Mile |
| British Airways Executive Club – Avios | 2 RP = 1 Avios Mile |
| Etihad Airways | 2 RP = 1 Airmile |
| InterMiles | 2 RP = 1 InterMile |
So we get around 10167 miles on Rs 6.25 Lakhs spend. This makes it 1.6 Miles/Rs 100, a decent earn rate for an entry-level LTF credit card.
Hotel Transfer
| Transfer Partner | Conversion Ratio |
|---|---|
| Taj InnerCircle | 5RP = 1 TIC |
1 TIC point = ~Rs.5
For 45000 HSBC reward points in a year you will get 9000 TIC points. With this, you can get 7 nights stay in Taj Surya Coimbatore or 3 nights in Taj Fisherman’s Cove Chennai
Other Key Benefits and Charges
- Fuel Surcharge Waiver: 1% fuel surcharge waiver up to Rs 250 in a calendar month for transactions between Rs 400 and Rs 4000
- Foreign Currency Markup: 3.5%+GST ~4.1%
- Interest Rates: 3.49% per month
BookMyShow BOGO Offer
BookMyShow BOGO up to Rs 250 on the second ticket. Valid once per calendar month and for transactions done on a Saturday.
Complimentary Airport Lounge Access
- Domestic Airport Lounge Access: Not Available
- International Airport Lounge Access: Not Available
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Lifetime free credit card
- Redemption to redeem rewards against airmiles
- Good welcome benefits at zero annual fee
Cons
- Low rewards earning rate
- No lifestyle-related offers apart from a basic rewards program
- No complimentary lounge access is offered
Final Thoughts
So I have mixed views on this card as extracting value from it isn’t easy unless you’re into the points game. Airline transfers & Hotel transfers are the only ways to get handsome returns and suits only for those who could put 10L spend a year on it, nothing less, nothing more!
AmEx Platinum Charge Card
Do the reward points expire for the HSBC Visa Platinum credit card?
Yes, the reward points earned are valid for three years from the date of credit.
No, there is no airport lounge access on this card.
