If you’re holding the popular HSBC Revolution card in Singapore, which offers 4 mpd earning on a range of useful categories for up to S$1,000 spend each month, unfortunately there’s some bad news – with the bank trimming its list of eligible transactions from May 2024.

This will see spend at grocery stores and supermarkets excluded from bonus miles earning, while most food delivery and fast food purchases will also become ineligible.

If any of your bonus spend with this card regularly falls into these categories, it’s a significant factor you need to be aware of around a month from now, since you’ll need to divert that spend to other cards to avoid earning almost no miles at all in these categories.

With groceries and food delivery potentially making up a large portion of monthly spend, some people find it’s worth having the Revolution card just for these categories alone, especially given that it also includes Redmart and Amazon Fresh orders.

That will make the removal of these categories a huge hit for many cardholders, especially after spend at travel agencies and tour operators like Expedia, Airbnb and some hotels was excluded from bonus miles earning on the Revo card at the start of the year.

Excluded MCCs from 1st May 2024

From 1st May 2024, transactions within the following Merchant Category Codes (MCCs) will no longer earn 10X bonus points (4 mpd) with the HSBC Revolution card, but instead will revert to this card’s standard unattractive 1X points (0.4 mpd) rate.

The final calendar month in which you will be able to tap the card’s 4 mpd rate for spend in these categories is therefore this month – April 2024.

This significant cut in bonus earn categories means the HSBC Revolution card will become useless for supermarket spend and for most food delivery services, the latter sometimes coding as MCC 5812 but more often as MCC 5014 or MCC 5499 (and you won’t want to take the risk after 1st May 2024).

New bonus earn list for HSBC Revolution cards

Here’s a rundown of the latest eligible MCCs for online and contactless purchases that will earn at the 4 mpd rate for the first $1,000 of monthly spend using the HSBC Revolution card from 1st May 2024.

Non-eligible spend, or any amount over the S$1,000 calendar month cap, will earn at the basic 0.4 mpd rate.

Travel-related including Airlines, Car Rental, Lodging, Hotels, Motels, Resorts, Cruise Lines and Travel Agencies
Eligible MCCs	Example Merchants
3000 to 3350 3351 to 3500 3501 to 3999 4411, 4511	Singapore Airlines, Scoot, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Jetstar, Hertz, Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, Royal Caribbean
Department Stores and Retail Stores
Eligible MCCs	Example Merchants
4816, 5045, 5262, 5309, 5310, 5311, 5331, 5399, 5611, 5621, 5631, 5641, 5651, 5655, 5661, 5691, 5699, 5732, 5733, 5734, 5735, 5912, 5942, 5992, 5999 5944 to 5949 5964 to 5970	Amazon, Isetan, Marks & Spencer, Takashimaya, TANGS, Timberland, Mothercare, H&M, Zara, Pandora, Tory Burch, Uniqlo, ASOS, Skechers, Foot Locker, Zalora, Apple, Dell, Best Denki, Harvey Norman, Gain City, Courts, Qoo10, Cotton On
Dining and Bars
Eligible MCCs	Example Merchants
5441, 5462, 5811, 5812, 5813	LeVeL33, Haidilao, Putien, Zouk, Harry’s, Altimate
Transportation and Membership Clubs
Eligible MCCs	Example Merchants
4121, 7997	Comfort, Grab, Gojek, TADA, Ryde, Fitness First, True Fitness, Sentosa Islander

Primarily from 1st May 2024 this card will only earn 4 mpd for airline (including SIA, Scoot and Jetstar) spend, transactions at department stores, retail stores, restaurants and bars, plus taxi and ride-hailing transactions.

Which cards still earn bonus miles for supermarket spend?

You can still earn bonus miles with MCC 5411 merchants with some other cards on the market in Singapore, subject to their required payment methods and monthly caps.

Cards earning bonus miles
for MCC 5411

Card	Earn rate	Spend Cap per calendar month
UOB Lady’s	4 mpd	S$1,000 (Lady’s) or S$2,000 (Lady’s Solitaire) Online or in-store Subject to Family as one of your bonus categories
Citi Rewards	4 mpd	S$1,000 per statement month Online spend only
DBS WWMC	4 mpd	S$1,500 Online spend only
UOB PPV	4 mpd	S$1,100 Online or in-store
UOB VS	4 mpd	S$1,000 Contactless in-store only

You can also use the Citi Rewards card in-store for 4 mpd earning, provided it’s paired with the free Amaze card by Instarem.

Any spend made on the Amaze card comes with the same MCC as it would using your credit card directly, but codes as an online transaction, even for in-store spend.

Which cards still earn bonus miles for food delivery?

You can still earn bonus miles with MCC 5499 / MCC 5814 merchants with some other cards on the market in Singapore, subject to their required payment methods and monthly caps.

Cards earning bonus miles
for MCC 5499 / 5814

Card	Earn rate	Spend Cap per calendar month
UOB Lady’s	4 mpd	S$1,000 (Lady’s) or S$2,000 (Lady’s Solitaire) Subject to Dining as one of your bonus categories
Citi Rewards	4 mpd	S$1,000 per statement month
DBS WWMC	4 mpd	S$1,500
UOB PPV	4 mpd	S$1,100
KF UOB	3 mpd	Uncapped Subject to min. S$800 spend on SIA transactions in your membership year

Our review

You can check out or full review of the HSBC Revolution card, based on its current perks and bonus categories, with the product scoring a 4.5-star rating from us.

With the upcoming removal of MCC 5411, 5499 and 5814, it’s sadly hard to see this card retaining anything close to a rating like this once our next update is published.

From 1st May 2024, you’ll no longer earn 4 mpd with your HSBC Revolution card on groceries, food delivery platforms and at fast food restaurants, severely damaging the card’s appeal going forward.

While the news of some travel spend being excluded from the bonus category earlier this year took the edge off the card, this effectively decimates it – many of our readers are currently maxing out the monthly limit on these regular spend categories alone.

It’s hard to see much appeal for the Revolution card going forward, which is a big shame as this spend will soon need to be diverted onto other bonus earning cards on the market, which you may already be maxing out within their own bonus categories, effectively reducing your total monthly bonus miles haul from next month.

(Cover Photo: Shutterstock)