This article combines highlights from the 知识星球 posts from 大的要来了, as well as usage experiences from some long-time HSBC users.

About HSBC

HSBC (HSBC) is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services groups. Its full name is The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited. HSBC’s deposits are insured by the FDIC, so there’s no need to worry about it collapsing.

HSBC has bank accounts and credit cards in multiple countries, and these accounts are linked and work together. In other words, if you open an account in one country, you can also open accounts globally. So this article introduces HSBC accounts in different countries/regions and the related credit cards. HSBC’s advantages are summarized below:

  1. Transfers between HSBC accounts worldwide are instant and incur 0 fees.
  2. Sending and receiving wire transfers are both free.
  3. You can open credit cards in other countries by using deposits.
  4. Supports initiating RTP push transfers and receiving RTP transfers (an instant U.S. interbank transfer system, like an upgraded version of ACH).
  5. Relationship APY can be activated; current interest rate is 3.6%.

Opening an Account and Bonuses (U.S.)

HSBC Checking in the U.S. has a very high opening bonus, so if you are in the U.S., start here. Even if you do not have enough funds to meet the bonus requirements, you may still consider opening it.

Opening bonus

You can earn up to $3,000 by depositing or investing. There are several tasks you can complete.

The details are below. The deposit and investment thresholds are still quite high. All three bonuses can be stacked together; complete each requirement to get each bonus, for a maximum total of $3,000.

  • Bonus 1: $500 reward — receive a $10,000 Direct Deposit for three consecutive months.
  • Bonus 2: $1,000 reward — deposit $100,000 and maintain it for three consecutive months.
  • Bonus 3: $1,500 reward — before September 30, 2025, complete one mortgage application through HSBC and receive the disbursement by December 31, 2025. Then deposit or invest $200,000 and keep it for three consecutive months. If you complete this bonus, you can also automatically get the $100 bonus from the second item above.

Direct Deposit (DD), in addition to regular payroll, can also be triggered via ACH transfers from Chase or Wells Fargo. This is a very good bonus setup; I’ve also added it to the bank account bonus leaderboard.

A key thing to note is that this account opening bonus is now a once-in-a-lifetime offer. The terms include a fine print line: if you currently have or previously had a U.S. HSBC account, you are not eligible for the bonus.

Customers who have a current or past HSBC account in the U.S. on file are not eligible for this offer

How to open

HSBC US has sold off customers below the Premier level, so it starts at HSBC UWells Fargoremier. The application requirements are simple: you only need to be 18+, have an SSN, have a U.S. phone number, and a U.S. address (preferably held for at least a year). If you do not meet the requirements, you may consider opening at a local branch or by phone, but we recommend first opening through the bonus link and completing identity verification later through other channels.

For account opening, if you open Checking directly on the official website and the system auto-denies it, a record will remain on file. If you are denied, you can try:

  1. calling 888.662.4722 to request help with account opening
  2. visiting a Branch for in-person assistance

In addition, if you already have HSBC accounts in other countries, you can use the same documents to open a U.S. account through HSBC International Services. After submitting your application, it will be assigned to an RM (relationship manager) in your current country for handling. So you can also contact your RM directly and ask for help with opening.

Also keep these points in mind:

  1. HSBC’s processing is usually slow, so be patient. A friend of mine took about two weeks total for opening, document upload, and approval.
  2. During application they may ask whether you want to open a Saving account at the same time. It’s usually not worth it; after account opening succeeds, opening a Relationship Saving account is better (covered later).

Relationship APY

The Relationship Saving account mentioned above has a base rate of only a pitiful 0.05% APY. You activate Relationship APY (currently 3.6%) if any of the following is met:

  1. Monthly debit card spending of $500
  2. Pay at least $500 to your HSBC credit card from Premier Checking. You can transfer directly from Checking to the credit card on the transfer screen, and the limit is restored instantly.
  3. Make a $5,000 Direct Deposit to Premier Checking every month

Official details:

Direct Deposit

As mentioned above, making a $5,000 Direct Deposit to Premier Checking each month can waive the monthly fee and activate Relationship APY at the same time. You can do this by transferring from yourself to yourself:

  1. HSBC’s DD validation is very lenient; almost any ACH Push (not Wise, not RTP) can qualify as Fake DD. For more methods, see here.
  2. If you are still unsure, just test it yourself. Starting from your account opening month, you have 4 months (1+3) where you won’t be charged a monthly fee even if you don’t qualify, so feel free to iterate.
  3. ACH Push must be pushed to Premier Checking; pushes to other accounts do not count.
  4. Calculation is based on calendar months, so don’t wait until the last few days of the month to do Fake DD.

To check whether DD was successful, use these methods (don’t directly ask customer service whether DD succeeded; human agents can tell):

  1. Check whether the monthly Statement shows the monthly fee. However, since the first 4 months are fee-free even if you fail the requirement, you cannot tell during that period.
  2. Wait for an HSBC email notification that Relationship APY has been activated (not consistently triggered).
  • Open a Relationship Saving account and use the activation of Relationship APY to confirm whether it was successful. If the DD succeeds in month X, it will activate Relationship APY for month X+1. As mentioned earlier, DD calculation is based on the calendar month, but DD confirmation is based on the statement. In other words, a DD posted in month X can activate month X+1 Relationship APY, but the system will only confirm the activation once these DDs appear on the Checking statement. So the quickest way to check DD status is to wait until the DD appears on the Checking statement, then ask live chat whether Relationship Saving’s Relationship APY was successfully activated (ask about APY, not DD). If the statement hasn’t been issued yet, it can’t be verified yet.

    • Monthly fees

    HSBC Premier has a $50 monthly fee, but it can be waived through certain balances or actions. To waive the fee, you need to meet one of the following conditions:

    1. A combined balance of $100,000 across all accounts, including investment accounts. But trading fees are high, so you can choose to transfer stocks in from another broker via ACATS and just hold them there.
    2. Make $5,000 in Direct Deposit to Premier Checking each month.
    3. Loan
    4. private bank status

    If you don’t want to hold stocks or do DD, you can consider putting in $100,000 and activating Relationship Saving, which has a 3.6% rate. Not bad.

    Usage experience

    Don’t move money in and out quickly for daily use.

    1. On the website, Bank to Bank transfers are regular ACH transfers and can connect up to 5 other accounts. The Transfers button is used for transfers within the HSBC group, Wise, and RTP. If an account you connected under Bank to Bank transfers supports receiving RTP, that account will appear in Transfers and show the transfer method as Real Time Payment (RTP).
    2. HSBC customer service in any country—whether by phone or online chat—may ask whether you are currently in that country. If you don’t mind and want to avoid hassle, you can answer YES. The agent won’t verify your actual location.
    3. In HSBC Global View on the website, you can log in and connect your HSBC accounts from other countries so one account login can show the balances of all connected accounts. But note that even if you do not connect them in Global View, HSBC internal systems can still see all your HSBC accounts in other countries.

    HSBC Global Accounts

    Global: As long as the account in the primary relationship country qualifies for Premier, all linked HSBC accounts in other countries can unconditionally become Premier and be fee-free:

    1. You can open HSBC accounts in other countries by contacting RM. Each country’s HSBC account only records whether it is the primary relationship account, and does not track which country is currently the primary one. So if you want to change the primary relationship country, you only need to contact the RM in the original primary-country and the RM in the new primary-country; the other countries can be left alone.
    2. HSBC policies differ by country. For example, in CN, opening requires an online appointment and then opening in person at a branch.
    3. If you already have an Everyday Global Account (available in SG, AU, MY, etc.; in HK the version is called HSBC One), do not open a Global Money Account. GMA is a cut-down version of EGA. Both are multi-currency accounts, but GMA cannot receive direct transfers from outside HSBC; the transfer must come from an HSBC account linked to the same country. So if the currency you need does not have a corresponding HSBC account in that country, you have to exchange currency through HSBC. EGA is the full-function multi-currency account, with no GMA-style restriction on cross-currency in/out transfers.
    4. If you have to exchange at HSBC, prioritize UK and HK. HK has EGA and decent FX rates (possibly better than Wise), while the UK has even better FX rates but only the cut-down GMA.
    5. Don’t open HSBC Expat. It is very sensitive and has a lot of global DP.

    HSBC Credit Cards

    HSBC issues credit cards in many countries. Even if you are not in that country or region, you can obtain these cards by first opening a local HSBC checking account and then applying for the card.

    US HSBC Elite

    HSBC Elite stands out with 5X travel points. Although from July 2025, rides, parking, and rent no longer count as travel, earning 5X points on common airfare and hotel OTA purchases is still extremely rare.

    The perks are also pretty good.

    HSBC China

    HSBC China is special: strictly speaking, you can only open one set of cards for life. Once closed, you cannot reapply, and card upgrades/transfers are not allowed (except one exception: moving from a lower-tier card to a higher-tier card can be done through manual handling). Also, only one set of supplementary cards can be opened. So the advice is to open the best card straight away to avoid regretting it later. HSBC China credit cards are the easiest UnionPay Diamond cards to get on the mainland (excluding no-fee “water-diamond” variants). Benefits and annual-fee waiver require keeping CNY 500,000 on deposit at HSBC China. Conveniently, HSBC CN Premier’s month fee waiver threshold is also CNY 500,000.

    HSBC Hong Kong cards

    The famous Pulse UnionPay card is very suitable for spending in the mainland.

    You can use a 3-month fixed deposit to improve your card approval odds. New-money fixed deposits get a bonus, but note that HKD new-funds quota updates in real time, while non-HKD needs to wait until the next day to update. So transfer money in first, then make the fixed deposit the next day.

    A quirk of HSBC HK accounts is that if a foreign currency balance is 0, that foreign currency account is automatically hidden. The only workaround is to transfer in a small amount of HKD first, then exchange inside HSBC to activate the foreign-currency account, after which foreign currency can be transferred in.

    HSBC Singapore

    In 2025 it was heavily cut, and HSBC SG no longer has much worth having. Card-collectors can consider HSBC Revolution, $0 annual fee.

    Summary

    If you need global transfers, opening an HSBC account is still quite good. Also, around the world, local credit cards can be opened based on the main account at no monthly fee, so this is a very convenient way to establish a local presence.

    US HSBC Checking has especially high rewards, so if you are in the US, you can start there.