SBI vs HSBC Credit Cards: HSBC's Compact Lineup Against SBI's Reach

HSBC's lineup is short, with eight cards on our list, and two of them cost more than ₹1,00,000 a year. SBI Card is the opposite: dozens of cards, most under ₹5,000. HSBC still has two or three that beat SBI on specific points, so this is a narrow-case comparison.

Cashback

HSBC Live+ costs ₹999 (waived at ₹2 lakh) and lists 10% on dining, groceries, utilities and online spend, capped at ₹1,200 a month in each category, plus 1.99% forex and 1.5% base. The income floor is ₹1,00,000 a month. The HSBC RuPay Cashback card is ₹499 with a ₹2 lakh waiver and lists 10% on dining and groceries under a ₹400 monthly cap. SBI Cashback is ₹999 and lists 5% online up to ₹2,000 a month. Live+ pays more on more categories, but asks for a higher income. Our HSBC Live+ review and SBI Cashback review show the detail.

Mid-range and entry

HSBC has little at the entry tier. The Visa Platinum and RuPay Platinum list no annual fee, 0.3% base earn and income floors of ₹50,000 and ₹30,000. SBI SimplyCLICK, SimplySAVE and Unnati offer much better earn rates. For first-time applicants SBI is the practical choice, with floors starting at ₹10,000 a month.

Travel

HSBC TravelOne costs ₹4,999 (waived at ₹8 lakh) and lists 4% on travel, 6 domestic and 4 international lounge visits, and a ₹50,000 floor. SBI Miles ELITE is ₹4,999 with 3% on travel, 8 and 8 lounge visits, and 1.99% forex. Miles PRIME costs ₹2,999 with 2% on travel. SBI wins on lounge visits and forex, while TravelOne leads on the headline travel rate. Read the HSBC TravelOne review for how the points convert.

Premium and invite-only

HSBC Premier Mastercard costs ₹20,000, lists 0.99% forex, 3% base and a ₹3,00,000 floor. Taj at ₹1,10,000 has unlimited lounge access, 0% forex and a ₹3,00,000 floor. Privé is ₹2,75,000. SBI's top end is Aurum at ₹9,999 (waived at ₹12 lakh) and KrisFlyer Apex at ₹9,999. HSBC's premium cards are for people who want a banking relationship at the high end; the SBI cards cost a small fraction. See the HSBC Premier review and Privé review.

Co-brands and income floors

HSBC has none on our list. SBI offers IndiGo, Air India, KrisFlyer, IRCTC, Flipkart, Reliance, Tata and others. If a co-brand matters to you, HSBC is out of the running.

Live+ and Premier ask for ₹1,00,000 and ₹3,00,000 a month, TravelOne asks ₹50,000, the RuPay Cashback asks ₹30,000. SBI starts at ₹10,000 and reaches ₹60,000 at Elite. Most applicants below ₹1,00,000 will find SBI more open.

Who should take which

High-income cashback user who spreads spend across dining, groceries and utilities: HSBC Live+. Lounge-focused traveller at ₹4,999: SBI Miles ELITE. Beginner: SBI SimplyCLICK or Cashback. Frequent overseas traveller with serious income: HSBC Taj or Premier, if the fee makes sense against your forex spend. Almost everyone else lands on SBI.

Card guides and a cashback face-off

Read the SBI credit cards guide and the HSBC credit cards guide. To see how Live+ stacks up against another cashback rival, try HSBC Live+ vs SBI Cashback.