HSBC Canada Closes Off Applications for New Credit Cards

Late last year, it was announced that RBC would acquire HSBC Bank Canada in a deal worth $13.5 billion (CAD).  

It appears that we’re one step closer to the acquisition being completed, as this week, HSBC quietly closed off new applications for its suite of Canadian-issued credit cards.

HSBC Canada Closes Off New Credit Card Applications

It’s no longer possible to apply for any of HSBC Canada’s credit cards, as earlier this week, the bank removed the application buttons from its website. 

This development comes as a natural next step, as RBC is poised to complete its acquisition of HSBC Bank Canada, pending final approvals.

To be clear, the following credit cards are no longer open to new applications:

If you already have any of the above cards, then it’s business as usual until we hear otherwise. This means you can continue to earn and redeem HSBC Rewards points or cash back, with the usual earning and redemption rates, since the cards haven’t been discontinued altogether.

As for the future of the cards, it’s anyone’s guess whether or not RBC will keep them around once the acquisition is completed. 

On one hand, RBC offers similar products to some of HSBC’s, and it would be very unlikely for the HSBC equivalents to remain following the acquisition.

On the other hand, some cards, such as the flagship HSBC World Elite Mastercard, don’t have a direct alternative in RBC’s lineup, especially as a card with no foreign transaction fees. 

Given that this has been one of Canada’s best no foreign transaction fee credit cards for years, it would indeed be a loss for it to completely disappear from the Canadian market. 

We can certainly hope that it will live on in some way, shape, or form; however, whether it sticks around is anyone’s guess at this point.

Canada Loses a No Foreign Transaction Fee Heavyweight

If you didn’t manage to be approved for the HSBC World Elite Mastercard before this week, you’ll no longer be able to add the card to your portfolio, unless RBC decides to resurface it at some point in the future.

The HSBC World Elite Mastercard is an all-around excellent credit card, and indeed one of Canada’s best Mastercard products, for the following reasons:

• No foreign transaction fees
• 3% earning rate on travel, 2% earning rate on gas, groceries, and drugstores, 1% earning rate on everything else
• Flexible HSBC…