Head-to-Head: HSBC World Elite Mastercard vs. National Bank World Elite Mastercard

In this edition of Head-to-Head, let’s compare two of the best Mastercards in Canada: the HSBC World Elite Mastercard and the National Bank World Elite Mastercard.

Mastercard is perhaps the most widely accepted card in the world, and each of these two cards presents a strong argument for being the top Mastercard in Canada and for deserving an ongoing place in your wallet.

Let’s pit these cards against each other using a range of criteria to find out which emerges as the most elite of the World Elite Mastercards.

Card Basics

Let’s begin with the properties that tend to matter most when comparing credit cards: welcome bonuses, annual fees, and earning rates.

1. Welcome Bonus

We’ll begin our Head-to-Head by looking at the most outwardly attractive part of a credit card: the welcome bonus.

Starting with the National Bank World Elite Mastercard, the current welcome bonus is for 70,000 À la carte Rewards. This all-time-high welcome bonus is broken down into three steps:

• 30,000 À la carte Rewards upon spending $5,000 in the first three months
• 10,000 À la carte Rewards upon signing up for credit card payment insurance
• 30,000 À la carte Rewards upon spending $12,000 in the first 12 months

You’ll receive the second batch of 30,000 À la carte Rewards after renewing the card for a second year, but since they’re worth up to $300, it could very well be worth the fee, as we’ll explore later in this article.

À la carte Rewards are National Bank’s proprietary loyalty points. We’ll look at how best to redeem them later on in this article, but for now, let’s just note that the total value of the welcome bonus is worth up to $700 if you earn the full bonus.

Now, turning our attention towards the HSBC World Elite Mastercard, there are two different welcome bonuses to consider: one for Quebec residents, and one for non-Quebec residents.

Generally speaking, the Quebec welcome bonus is usually higher and comes without a minimum spending requirement; however, it comes with an annual fee. On the other hand, the non-Quebec welcome bonus tends to be lower, but the first-year annual fee is typically waived.

At the moment, if you’re a Quebec resident, you can potentially earn up to 110,000