HSBC Gold Mastercard

The Good

• 0% Introductory APR on credit card purchases and balance transfers for the first 18 months from account opening, then a 12.24%, 16.24% or 20.24% variable APR
• No foreign transaction fee
• No annual fee
• FICO credit score for free

The HSBC Gold Mastercard is an easy-to-use, no-frills credit card, which charges no annual fee. The credit card offers 0% intro rates for 18 months, whereas the average 0% cards give you 10 months for all the new purchases and 11 months for the balance transfers. You could save a lot of money on interest an extra few months before higher regular rates take effect.

For instance, suppose you spend 10,000 dollars and repay the balance with 500 dollars monthly payments. With the credit card, even if you got the highest regular rate, you would still end up paying just 26 dollars in interest. However, a similar card offering 0% for only the first ten months would cost you about 332 dollars when all is done.

The Bad

• Low limit
• No cash rewards
• 4% transfer fee

Consumers with high credit score have reported being approved for credit limits as low as $1,500.  That’s a much lower limit than the competition.   There are also no rewards on this card, but that’s because rewards should only be used by consumers paying their bill every month.  This card is to help you not accrue large interest payments, so the “reward” is essentially the 0% interest rate for 18 months.

The largest negative on this card is 4% balance transfer fee.  If you are carrying a large balance currently, that can add up.  The American average household has roughly $8,000 dollars in credit card debt. The 4% fee of The of HSBC Gold Card would cost these household around $320, which is about $113 more than the average balance transfer credit card might charge. So, you may consider one of the 0% transfer cards with no balance transfer fee, if you do have a large balance transfer, you’ll likely want to consider a card with a 3% fee instead of the HSBC Gold Mastercard’s 4%.

The Summary

The HSBC Gold Mastercard is a solid card overall, although there are better deals from other carriers if you specifically want to transfer an existing balance. The card’s strength is 0% intro APR on new purchases with no annual fee. If you are looking for a card with at least 18 months of 0% intro APR on new purchases – of if you particularly want to bank with HSBC – this card is a good option.   But this is only true if you are scaling your existing spending on a credit card back.  While that’s always a good idea when paying down debt, it is necessary with this card because of the low limits.

HSBC Gold Mastercard® also offers extra benefits such as extended warranty and purchase assurance. If you hate pesky hidden fees and looking to pay off a balance, the credit card is a straightforward option which can help you get rid of your debt.