How To Earn Extra 1% Cashback On ALL Credit Card Spending: HSBC EGA

Recently, I wrote a post about how to set up automatic credit card payments via GIRO.

Not only is it less prone to errors and more convenient, but it also allows us to earn a 1% bonus cashback on all credit card spending.

All you need to take advantage of this 1% cashback is an HSBC Everyday Global Account (EGA).

In this post, I’ll tell you everything you need to know to start enjoying a bonus of 1% cashback.

What Is The HSBC EGA?

The HSBC EGA is a multi-currency debit account under HSBC that, for the most part, is quite uninteresting.

It functions very similarly to any other multi-currency account from other banks – it allows you to convert and store money of various currencies in the account.

The exchange rate between currencies is decent, but is still worse than market leaders like Revolut and amaze.

It also comes with a debit card that charges 0 FX (foreign exchange) fees if you pay in a currency that you have a sufficient balance of in your account.

Check out my comparison on multi-currency debit cards here!

Finally, the base interest rate of the EGA is the market standard of 0.05%.

It occasionally runs promotions to award bonus interest, but there are none ongoing at the moment.

Everyday+ Rewards Programme

The main allure of the HSBC EGA is its access to HSBC’s Everyday+ Rewards Programme.

In fact, it is only eligible to HSBC customers with an EGA.

This rewards programme awards 1% cashback for the following:

1. eligible transactions made on personal HSBC credit cards/Everyday Global debit cards, and
2. GIRO bill payments excluding payments made to HSBC credit cards and self-initiated payments via Internet banking.

For point 1, standard exclusions apply – payments to mobile wallets, insurance, education, etc.

But other retail spending like shopping, dining, transport, etc. are eligible for 1% cashback.

For point 2, it means that only automatic GIRO transactions that have been previously set up with the bank will qualify.

This includes automatic GIRO transfers for non-HSBC credit card bill payments which you set up.

This means that any spending on non-HSBC credit cards that eventually go into your credit card bill will be eligible for 1% cashback.

In other words, as long as you make payments with a credit card and set up GIRO payments, you will be able to earn 1% cashback on all of your transactions.

This is a game changer in terms of maximising credit card rewards because this cashback is applied to the bill payment via GIRO.

So even if you originally made a payment for a transaction that is normally excluded from credit card rewards, like insurance, you will still get to earn 1% cashback on that transaction when it goes into your bill.

Initiating a GIRO payment by yourself via Internet banking will not qualify it for 1% cashback.

Automatic GIRO payments to HSBC credit cards will also not earn 1% cashback because they would already have earned 1% cashback on eligible transactions in point 1.

I have tested this personally and I have consistently been receiving the expected cashback.

How Does It Work?

Let’s take a closer look at how exactly the Everyday+ Rewards Programme works in order to earn 1% cashback on our credit card spending.

Eligibility Criteria

First, having an EGA alone does not qualify you for the programme.

There are some criteria that you have to actively fulfil first.

After HSBC has confirmed that you have met these criteria, you will then be enrolled into the Everyday+ Rewards Programme, which you will be notified of via SMS.

The eligibility criteria are as follows:

1. Deposit a minimum of S$2,000 (S$5,000 for HSBC Premier) into your EGA; and
2. Make 5 eligible transactions of any amount in the same calendar month.

These criteria are extremely easy to fulfil.

For point 1:

The deposit can be made via salary crediting or FAST from a non-HSBC account.

The amount deposited for the purpose of fulfilling this point can be withdrawn in the same calendar month.

In other words, the requirement is simply to have an incoming deposit of the respective sum – it is not required to retain this sum in your account.

To optimise your finances, I’d recommend crediting your salary into a high interest savings account like UOB One or OCBC 360, then make a transfer to your EGA.

Then, withdraw the money back into your high interest account.

Check out my post on the best savings account here!

For point 2:

An eligible transaction includes any of the following:

1. Posted transactions in SGD made with an HSBC personal Credit Card;
2. Posted transactions made with an HSBC Everyday Global Debit Card;
3. GIRO bill payments in SGD made via EGA (excluding self-initiated GIRO payments made from the online/mobile banking platform); and/or
4. Fund transfers from an EGA to a non-HSBC account.

As long as you complete 5 of any of these transactions, you will meet the requirement for this point.

I’d recommend completing this via #4 – executing 5 fund transfers from your EGA to a non-HSBC account (ie FAST).

While points 1 – 3 will work as well, as I’ll explain below, the transactions used to qualify you for the Everyday+ Rewards Programme are not eligible to earn 1% cashback.

This means that if you make 7 transactions of $10 each, only the transactions following the 5th transaction will earn 1% cashback, ie the 6th and 7th transactions.

Thus, it’s not optimal to use card or GIRO transactions to meet this requirement of 5 eligible transactions.

Instead, making 5 FAST fund transfers to your own non-HSBC accounts is an easy way to fulfil this requirement.

Since there is no minimum amount requirement, 5 transfers of S$1 each will get the job done.

Spend Period

The Spend Period begins the day after you have met all the eligibility criteria for the Everyday+ Rewards Programme.

It will last until the end of the next calendar month.

Only eligible transactions made within the Spend Period will qualify to earn 1% cashback.

In other words, if you meet the criteria for the Everyday+ Rewards Programme on 18 Aug 2023, your Spend Period will be 19 Aug 2023 – 30 Sep 2023.

Here, you can see why I explained that using card transactions to qualify for the Everyday+ Rewards Programme is not optimal.

Since the transactions made to qualify for the programme are not within the Spend Period, they will not earn 1% cashback.

Cashback Cap

The total cashback amount that can be earned from the Everyday+ Rewards Programme is capped at S$300/calendar month (S$500 for HSBC Premier).

This is an extremely high cap which we shouldn’t need to worry about for the most part.

To put things into perspective, you will need to have total card spending/GIRO bill payments of S$30,000 to earn S$300 cashback at a rate of 1%.

All cashback earned will be rounded to the nearest cent and credited into your EGA within 14 working days.

Each eligible transaction will have its earned cashback credited separately into your EGA.

How To Earn Bonus 1% Cashback On Credit Card Spending

Now, this is probably what you’re here for.

Here is an overview of the process to start earning 1% bonus cashback on all your credit card spending:

1. Sign up for an HSBC EGA
2. Apply for a credit card
3. Set up automatic GIRO transfer for credit card bill payment from HSBC EGA
4. Spend with credit card
5. Fulfil eligibility criteria for Everyday+ Rewards Programme
6. Let credit card bill be paid by automatic GIRO transfer
7. Earn 1% cashback on bill payment

Note that the above outline is for earning a bonus 1% cashback on non-HSBC credit card spending.

Remember that for HSBC credit cards, setting up automatic GIRO payment is not required.

1% cashback can be earned on the raw spending as long as you qualify for the Everyday+ Rewards Programme.

Now, let’s take a closer look at each step involved.

1: Sign Up For HSBC EGA

The first thing you need to do is, of course, sign up for an HSBC EGA.

This sounds like a simple feat – applying for a bank account – there’s nothing much to it, right?

After all, in today’s digital age, opening a bank account can be done within a few minutes online.

Wrong.

For whatever reason, HSBC only allows customers to open bank accounts online if:

1. you are a new-to-HSBC customer; or
2. you are an existing HSBC customer with an HSBC bank account.

In other words, if you own or use any HSBC products other than a bank account, like an HSBC credit card, you will not be able to open an EGA online.

If you belong to either of these categories, consider yourself lucky, and proceed to apply for an EGA online.

If you fall outside of these 2 categories like myself, the only solution is to head down to an HSBC branch to open the EGA.

When you do head down to the branch, make sure you go early.

From my experience, the branch is usually crowded, and opening a bank account takes 45 minutes – 1 hour.

I tried to do it during my lunch break once but left immediately after hearing that there was a 2 – 3 hour wait.

I had to go back on a Saturday morning, before opening hours, to get my EGA opened.

Obviously, this is way more inconvenient than it should be.

So, if you don’t already use any HSBC products, I’d strongly recommend signing up for an HSBC EGA online first before getting any HSBC products.

2: Apply For Credit Card

Naturally, you’ll also need a credit card to take advantage of this.

The only debit card this 1% bonus cashback is eligible for is the HSBC Everyday Global debit card, which comes with the HSBC EGA.

If you don’t already have a credit card you’d like to use, apply for one and wait for it to get approved.

While you’re at it, don’t forget to take advantage of sign-up rewards!

3: Set Up Automatic GIRO Transfer

After signing up for your HSBC EGA and desired credit card, the next step is to set up automatic GIRO transfers to pay your credit card bill.

I’ve already written a detailed guide on how to do this, so I won’t be going through the details in this post.

You can find the guide here!

4: Spend With Credit Card

Now that your automatic GIRO transfer has been set up, you’re ready to start spending with your credit card as normal.

5: Join Everyday+ Rewards Programme Every Month

While spending on your credit card, do also fulfil the criteria to be eligible for the Everyday+ Rewards Programme.

This is the most important step since it determines whether you can earn the 1% cashback.

After meeting both of the eligibility criteria as outlined earlier in the post, HSBC should send you an SMS informing you of your successful enrolment into the programme.

Also, remember that the spending period for the Everyday+ Rewards Programme only lasts until the end of the following month.

So, you’ll need to constantly renew your enrolment into the programme to ensure that your HSBC card spending and GIRO bill payments will always be eligible for 1% cashback.

At the minimum, you’ll need to do this once every 2 months.

For example, if you meet the eligibility criteria on 18 Aug 2023, your spending period will be from 19 Aug – 30 Sep 2023.

So, you’ll have to meet the eligibility criteria gain on 1 Oct 2023 to retain your enrolment in the Everyday+ Rewards Programme.

Personally, I perform the steps to meet the criteria every month so that I won’t forget.

6: Wait For GIRO Payment Of Credit Card Bill

After spending with your credit card and enrolling into the Everyday+ Rewards Programme, the next step is to let the automatic GIRO transfer do its thing.

However, as I explained in my guide, there is very little visibility to customers on the status of the GIRO payment setup.

After sending in your application for automatic GIRO payment to your credit card company, it can take 4 – 6 weeks for the GIRO order to be activated.

Your best chance of knowing whether or not your GIRO is activated yet is to check with the bank’s customer service.

But, from my experience, even they are not too clear on this – I was given the wrong information on 2 occasions.

So, the only way to know for sure is to wait and see if your credit card bill gets paid automatically via GIRO.

After receiving your credit card bill, do not make payment manually.

Instead, check for the expected GIRO debiting date as stipulated by your credit card company (usually 1 – 3 days before the bill due date).

When the date comes, check your EGA to see if there is any GIRO deduction for the amount of your bill.

If there is, you should also receive an SMS from HSBC informing you that a transfer was made.

From my experience, GIRO deductions are usually executed around 3 or 4 pm.

If no GIRO transfer was executed, it means that it has not been activated yet, so go ahead and make a manual payment for this bill and wait for the next one.

If the GIRO transfer was executed, congratulations – you’ll earn 1% cashback on the amount.

7: Earn 1% Cashback

After your automatic GIRO transfer has been made, all that’s left to do is to wait to receive the 1% cashback in your EGA within 14 working days.

Rinse and repeat this process with other credit cards if you own several, and you’ll be on your way to earning 1% cashback on all your credit card spending.

Not Limited To Credit Card Bills

I should also point out that the 1% bonus cashback on automatic GIRO payments is not limited to credit card bills only.

Any type of bill payment that you can set up in advance for payment via GIRO will be eligible as well – utilities, taxes, etc.

Think of the possibilities!

I chose to focus on credit card bills in this post because it is one of the most common types of bills that adults need to pay.

But if you have other bill payments that you need to make regularly, you can definitely consider taking advantage of the Everyday+ Reward Programme for those as well.

To summarise,

Setting up automatic GIRO payments for credit card bills not only automates a recurring task in our lives but also allows us to earn a bonus of 1% cashback on these bills.

Essentially, this means that we can earn an extra 1% cashback on all of our credit card spending, regardless of any normal credit card reward exclusion transactions.

While 1% cashback is probably not life-changing, it can and will add up over time.

It’s not the most convenient thing to set up, but once put in the work and get things going, you will reap the benefits very soon.

Will you take advantage of the Everyday+ Rewards Programme? Let me know in the comments below!