Overview of HSBC Canada

HSBC Bank Canada is the Canadian subsidiary of HSBC Holdings, which is one of the largest banks in the world with over $3 trillion of assets and $1 trillion of net loans (both in US Dollars). It is also one of the largest foreign banks in Canada. HSBC has operated in Canada for 40 years and offers a full suite of banking services to Canadians including several chequing and savings account options, credit cards and borrowing products. Currently the bank has 133 branches across Canada and a network of 3,500 ATMs in the country. In the following sections we review the bank’s offerings in three areas: Credit Cards, Chequing Accounts and Savings Accounts.

HSBC Canada Credit Card Offerings

The bank currently has 6 credit card options for its customers and potential customers, and in particular has a number of compelling bonuses as incentive for new customers to open accounts:

  1. HSBC World Elite Mastercard
    • Account Fees
      • Annual Fee: $149
      • Interest Rate on Purchases: 19.9%
      • Interest Rate on Cash Advances: 22.9%
    • Account Bonuses
      • Earn up to 80,000 points
      • Full annual fee rebate for the primary cardholder for the first year
    • Account Features include no foreign transaction fees, $100 in annual travel credits, travel reward rate of 3% for eligible purchases and 1.5% on all other travel-related purchases
  2. HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard
    • Account Fees
      • Annual Fee: $149 (HSBC Premier clients get a $50 rebate)
      • Interest Rate on Purchases: 19.9%
      • Interest Rate on Cash Advances: 22.9%
    • Account Bonuses
      • Earn up to 80,000 points
      • Full annual fee rebate for the primary cardholder for the first year
    • Account Features include no foreign transaction fees, $100 in annual travel credits, travel reward rate of 3% for eligible purchases and 1.5% on all other travel-related purchases.
  3. HSBC Jade World Elite Mastercard
    • To apply for this card you have to be a HSBC Jade client
    • Account Fees
      • Annual Fee: $299 (HSBC Jade clients get a rebate)
      • Interest Rate on Purchases: 19.9%
      • Interest Rate on Cash Advances: 22.9%
    • Account Features include no foreign currency conversion charges on purchases made in foreign currencies, a $200 annual travel enhancement credit and travel reward rate of 3% for eligible purchases and 1.5% on all other travel-related purchases.
  4. HSBC +Rewards Mastercard
    • Account Fees
      • Annual Fee: $25
      • Interest Rate on Purchases: 11.9%
      • Interest Rate on Cash Advances: 11.9%
    • Account Bonuses
      • Earn up to 35,000 points
      • Full annual fee rebate for the primary cardholder for the first year
    • Account Features include travel reward rate of 2 points for every $1 spend on eligible dining or entertainment purchases and 1 point for every $1 spent on all other everyday purchases.
  5. HSBC Cash Rewards Mastercard
    • Account Fees
      • Annual Fee: $0
      • Interest Rate on Purchases: 20.99%
      • Interest Rate on Cash Advances: 22.99%
    • Account Bonuses
      • Earn an additional 12.5% cash back on all purchases for the first 180 days (up to $1,000 in total purchases).
    • Account Features include 1.5% cash back for every $1 spent on eligible online purchases and 1% cash back for every $1 spent on eligible gas, grocery and drugstore purchases. Cardholders also earn 0.5% cash back for every $1 on all other everyday purchases.
  6. HSBC Travel Rewards Mastercard
    • Account Fees
      • Annual Fee: $0
      • Interest Rate on Purchases: 20.99%
      • Interest Rate on Cash Advances: 22.99%
    • Account Bonuses
      • Earn up to 25,000 points ($125 in value) when you spend $1,000 in the first 180 days of having the credit card account.
    • Account Features include 3 points earned for every $1 spent on eligible travel purchases, 2 points for every $1 spent on eligible gas and daily transportation purchases and 1 point for every $1 spent on all other eligible everyday purchases.

HSBC Canada Chequing Accounts

The bank currently offers five Chequing account options to its customers and currently is offering a promotion where customers can earn cash back of up to $500 when they open an HSBC Chequing account from May 16, 2022 to December 31, 2022. These are the Chequing accounts offered by HSBC Canada:

  1. HSBC Premier Chequing Account
    • This is HSBC Canada’s premium chequing account offering and customers need to meet strict criteria in order to qualify for the account or pay a monthly fee of $34.95. You must meet one of the following in order to avoid the monthly fee:
      • Maintain combined deposits and investments at HSBC Canada of $100,000
      • Hold a personal HSBC Canada residential mortgage of $500,000 or more
      • Have monthly deposits of $6,500 or more and $100,000 in assets in Canada
      • Be an HSBC Premier customer in another country
    • Account Features
      • Unlimited transactions (withdrawals and deposits)
      • Free personalized cheques
      • No wire transfer fees when you send foreign exchange wires under $10,000
      • Unlimited rebates on ATM transactions outside of HSBC Canada’s network (maximum of 2.00 rebate per withdrawal fee)
      • Get up to 4 authorized user cards for your family with no additional fee
      • Free overseas account
  2. HSBC Advance Chequing Account
    • This chequing account offering from HSBC Canada has a $25 monthly fee for customers that do not satisfy one of two conditions:
      • Maintain personal deposits and investments of $5,000 with HSBC Canada
      • Hold a personal mortgage with HSBC Canada of $150,000 or more
    • Account Features
      • Unlimited account transactions
      • 5 rebates per month of ATM fees when using ATMs outside of the HSBC Canada network
  3. Performance Chequing-Unlimited
    • This account is offered in both Canadian and US Dollars and has a lower monthly fee of $14.95. This fee is not avoidable and instead is what HSBC Canada requires in return for providing a Chequing account with unlimited transactions. Account holders also get free INTERAC e-transfers as part of their unlimited transactions.
  4. Performance Chequing-Limited
    • Unlike the Performance Chequing-Unlimited account, this account permits only 14 free monthly transactions. Each transaction above the 14 transaction limit costs $1.00. The Performance Chequing-Limited account has a low monthly fee of $4.00.
  5. Student Chequing Account
    • For students, HSBC Canada offers a Chequing account with no monthly fee or minimum balance requirements and unlimited transactions. In order to qualify you must be a Canadian resident, at least 17 years old and be enrolled as a full-time student in a Canadian post-secondary school education program.

The bank also offers HSBC Jade, a private banking service for high net worth individuals. To qualify you must have personal deposits and investments of $1 million or greater with HSBC Canada or must hold a combination of mortgages with an original amount of $1.5 million (or more) and personal deposits and investments of $500,000.

HSBC Canada Savings Accounts

HSBC Canada offers an array of savings account options including accounts for currencies other than Canadian or US Dollars, accounts with no minimum balance or monthly fees and tax-free savings accounts. These are the current savings accounts offered by the bank:

Other Products Offered By The Bank

In addition to its credit card and bank account offerings, HSBC Canada also has an extensive line-up of lending and wealth management products including mortgages, personal loans, personal line of credit, home equity line of credit and retirement products such as term deposits, guaranteed investment certificates, TFSA and RRSPs.

HSBC Branches in Canada

As mentioned earlier HSBC Canada has more than 100 bank branches across the country including in many of the largest cities in Canada. These branches tend to be full service branches with ATM access, retail services, safety deposit box availability and other services. These are the number of branches HSBC Canada has in major Canadian cities:

  • Brampton (2 branches)
  • Calgary (3 branches)
  • Edmonton (4 branches)
  • Markham (6 branches)
  • Mississauga (5 branches)
  • Montreal (5 branches)
  • Richmond (3 branches)
  • Richmond Hill (2 branches)
  • Toronto (12 branches)
  • Vancouver (15 branches)