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Credit Card | Minimum Salary | Annual Fee |
---|---|---|
Standard Chartered Smart Card | HK$96,000 | HK$0 |
Standard Chartered Asia Miles Mastercard | HK$96,000 | HK$1,800 |
Hang Seng MMPOWER Card | HK$150,000 | HK$0 |
DBS Black World Mastercard | HK$240,000 | HK$2,000 |
American Express Platinum Credit Card | HK$300,000 | HK$2,200 |
WeWa UnionPay Card | HK$0 | HK$800 |
EarnMORE UnionPay Card | HK$0 | HK$800 |
HSBC Red Card | HK$120,000 | HK$0 |
All Standard Chartered customers can earn rewards for eligible purchases. Rewards range from Asia Miles (with the Standard Chartered Asia Miles card), cashback, or 360° Rewards Points. Cardholders can exchange points for vouchers at merchants such as PARKnSHOP and IKEA. Other shopping categories include electronics, lifestyle products, and travel.
Citi PremierMiles Card and Citi Rewards Card are the signature cards for Citibank. The former one is a good choice for collecting Asia Miles with the earning ratio of HK$8=1 mile with no mileage conversion fee while the latter one offers many travel perks including up to 12 times of free access to the airport lounge. Moreover, you can earn bonus reward points for spending in supermarkets and department stores. These points can be redeemed for cash coupons, miles, or used to offset purchases.
DBS Black Card is famous for collecting miles. All DBS personal credit card holders (except for COMPASS VISA cardholders) can earn DBS $1 for every HK$250 spending, which can be used for cash rebate or other rewards under the Reward Scheme. But changes to the type of reward scheme can only be made once a year.
Enjoy year-round privileges at dining, shopping and travel hotspot throughout the year with your credit card. For movie lovers, get buy-1-get-1-free on Friday movie tickets at UA Cinemas with UnionPay Diamond Credit Cards. Visa Signature cardholders can enjoy up to HK$200 off upon designated spending amount at restaurants like Limewood and Sip Song.
Credit Cards often provide complimentary airport lounge access which some might even allow free companions entry. Take AE Platinum Card as an example, the principal card owner is entitled to a free membership in Priority pass, which allows access to over 1,000 lounges in the world. Citi Prestige Card cardholders can also get access to Mastercard Airport LoungeKey lounges worldwide.
Welcome offers come in various types including cash rebate, air miles, coupons or gifts. Popular gift options including suitcases and electronic devices. For example, DBS COMPASS VISA gives you a Le Maurice suitcase and WeWa UnionPay Card gives you a Jabra wireless headphone as a welcome gift.
There isn’t one credit card that is better than the rest. The best card for you depends on your lifestyle and regular spending habits. Here’s 3 ways to decide which card is best for you.
Firstly, you want to make sure you are benefitting from the things that you spend the most money on. For example, if you spend the most on dining every month, it would make sense to get a card that maximizes the benefits you get from spending all that money eating out.
It’s important to think about how you intend on using your card benefits. Do you prefer immediate cash rebates? Or would you prefer to collect and redeem Asia miles? Understanding what types of benefits you’d like is a major factor in deciding which card would be better for you.
Dig deeper into the card details to find one with the best overall value. For example, what is the expiry date for point redemptions? What are the international and domestic transfer fees? What is the required spending before you qualify for the sign-up bonus? These are a few of the important questions to think through as you shop for your new card.
Hong Kong credit cards are from 5 major card issuers. Visa and Mastercard take up most of the market, followed by American Express, UnionPay, and JCB. Visa and Mastercard are card issuers with a long history and are accepted everywhere in the world. On the other hand, American Express can be used in 130+ countries.
UnionPay credit cards are great for spending in China. Many Hong Kong banks have launched UnionPay dual-currency credit cards, such as HSBC UnionPay Dual Currency Credit Card and Standard Chartered UnionPay Dual Currency Platinum Credit Card to benefit frequent travelers to mainland China.
JCB credit cards are perfect for those who travel often to Japan because they offer many discounts on spending in Japan. Currently, only BEA and AEON have launched JCB credit cards in Hong Kong.
Visa and Mastercard credit cards are both globally accepted and offer different perks for members in different tiers, the most common types of Visa and Mastercard credit cards include Visa Platinum, Visa Signature, Visa Infinite, Titanium & Platinum Mastercard, World Mastercard and World Elite Mastercard.
Both Visa and Mastercard offer its own network benefits including travel, luxury hotel, dining and more when it comes to foreign spending, Mastercard often offers slightly better exchange rate, but for everyday card users, there is not much difference between Visa and Mastercard. It is suggested to find the right credit card by focusing on each card offer and perks of your choice, and be aware of annual fee, cash back, air miles or rewards that you are looking for.
There is no absolute limit on the number of credit cards you can have. Having more than one credit card can allow you to get different credit card offers and benefits for different cards, you can also earn various rewards like air miles or cashback on your daily spending.
However, applying for too many credit cards at a time can hurt your credit score and the chances of credit card approval. Even though the damage on credit scores are only temporary, if you are hoping to get a mortgage or personal loan in the coming months, it is best to keep your credit report nice and clean.
Annual fees aren’t the only type of credit card charges you might be paying. Many of these other common fees will impact the benefits you earn, so be mindful of them and actively monitor your spend.
Charged when you move a balance from one card to another, usually 3-4% of the amount.
If you don’t pay at least the minimum payment on your credit card payment due date, you may incur a late payment fee, usually $80-350 HKD.
If you love to travel, be cautious of this fee whenever a purchase is made outside of Hong Kong, as it is typically between 3-4% of the purchase amount.
Which cards suit me the most?
There's no best credit card that suits everyone. Let's pick a card based on your spending habits!
Looking to apply a credit card? Check out what our customers say about their experience of applying credit cards through MoneySmart (from Google Reviews)
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Yes. Visa, Mastercard, Union Pay and American Express credit cards are widely accepted in Hong Kong.