A few months ago, we learned that the Royal Bank of Canada(RBC) had decided to buy the activities of HSBC Bank Canada. If this deal is expected to close later this year, I’ll tell you why I think you should get the HSBC World Elite® Mastercard® now.
Current welcome offer
Here is the welcome offer currently being offered by the HSBC World Elite® Mastercard®:
The HSBC World Elite Mastercard is an excellent no-conversion-fee credit card for foreign currency purchases, especially for your travel purchases.
For a limited time, you can get:
- Up to 110,000 points* (a $550 value in travel rewards) if you live in Quebec and with no minimum purchase!
- Up to 80,000 points* (a $400 value in travel rewards) and first-year annual fee waiver if you live outside Quebec
With the HSBC World Elite® Mastercard®, you can earn:
- 6 points per dollar for travel purchases (flights, hotels, Airbnb, all-inclusive, etc.)
- 4 points per dollar for grocery, gas or drugstore purchases
- 2 points per dollar for all other purchases (including Costco)
This means a 1 to 3% return, depending on your purchases!
You can easily redeem your points on any travel purchase made with the HSBC World Elite Mastercard (flights, hotels, Airbnb, all-inclusive, etc). But you can also transfer your points to three airline loyalty programs: British Airways Executive Club, Asia Miles and Singapore Airlines Krisflyer.
In addition, the HSBC World Elite Mastercard comes with:
- $100 Annual Travel Credit (for airport lounges, for example)
- Unlimited access to Boingo WiFi hotspots around the world
- 10% discount for hotel bookings on Expedia or Agoda
- Premium insurance for your travels and purchases
Finally, the HSBC World Elite Mastercard does not charge any conversion fees for foreign exchange transactions: you save 2.5% for each transaction.
My opinion on future offers
While HSBC used to change its welcome offer several times during the year for this card, it has now been many months that the offer is unchanged:
- Up to 110,000 points for Quebec residents
- Up to 80,000 points and first-year annual fee rebate for residents outside Quebec
Only the end date of the offer is extended (currently to February 28, 2023).
A welcome credit card offer is made to attract new customers to join a bank. The bank can then offer them other banking products such as a chequing account, a savings account or a mortgage.
Now that the acquisition offer has been made by RBC for the HSBC Bank business, and both parties have set the price, what interest would HSBC have in spending more to acquire new customers? None.
In my opinion, it appears highly unlikely that the current excellent offer for the HSBC World Elite® Mastercard® will be better after February 28, 2023. At best, it will simply be extended.

A credit card with a grandfather clause?
In Canada, few credit cards do not charge foreign currency conversion fees. In fact, of the country’s major institutions, only HSBC and Scotiabank issue them:
Royal Bank of Canada does not issue No-FX-fee credit cards.
By acquiring HSBC Bank Canada’s customer portfolio, will RBC change the unique features of this credit card? For example:
- No conversion fee for foreign currency transactions
- $100 annual travel credit
No one knows. However, I doubt that RBC will change this for existing customers transferred from HSBC Bank. In my opinion, however, the bank may no longer offer this credit card for new customers. Former HSBC clients would then benefit from a grandfather clause.

A conversion of HSBC Rewards points into Avion Rewards points?
HSBC Rewards and RBC Avion Rewards are two similar loyalty programs. In addition to the fact that they are primarily designed for travellers, they both allow you to redeem your points with partner programs.
RBC | HSBC |
Asia Miles Cathay Pacific | Asia Miles Cathay Pacific |
British Airways Executive Club | British Airways Executive Club |
American Airlines AAdvantage | Singapore Airlines Krisflyer |
WestJet Rewards |

Here are the current conversion rates offered by HSBC and RBC to the two programs they have in common:
Partner | RBC | HSBC |
Asia Miles Cathay Pacific | 1:1 | 1:0.32 |
British Airways Executive Club | 1:1 | 1:0.4 |
In addition to these partnerships, both institutions offer their clients the possibility to use their points for travel booked with their card:
RBC | HSBC |
10,000 points = $100 | 10,000 points = $50 |
In my opinion, if RBC were to merge the HSBC Rewards program with RBC Avion Rewards, RBC would have to convert HSBC points with Avion Rewards points at a rate close to 10,000 HSBC points = 5,000 RBC Avion Rewards points.
Of course, all this is conditional. But I’ll wait and see by keeping my HSBC points rather than using them for travel purchases or converting them into other programs!
Bottom Line
For five years, the HSBC World Elite® Mastercard® has accompanied me on all my international travels. With this card, I saved thousands of dollars in foreign currency conversion fees (instead of paying 2.5% on each transaction, as other credit cards in Canada charge). And thanks to HSBC Rewards points, I’ve been able to fly First Class on Singapore Airlines, Qatar Airways’ QSuite or Qantas in Australia with my family.
Since the announcement of the acquisition of HSBC Canada (where I am also an HSBC Premier customer) by the Royal Bank of Canada, I have been apprehensive about the future of this credit card. So, if you don’t currently have this card – or haven’t had it for 12 months – I strongly encourage you to become (again) a cardholder by taking advantage of the current welcome offer.
Or even become an HSBC banking customer with these welcome offers of up to $500 (in effect until March 31, 2023).
Before it’s too late 😉