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HSBC

HSBC Live+ Credit Card

Cashback card: 10% back on dining, food delivery, groceries, shopping and utility bills, capped at ₹1,200 a month (reached at ₹12,000 of these spends), and 1.5% on most other spends with no cap. Amazon, Flipkart and Myntra earn 1.5%, not 10%. Spends abroad earn no cashback, but the forex markup is a low 1.99%.

  • ₹999 joining, ₹999 a year
  • Visa
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Pros and cons

Good

  • 10% on bills and utilities: 1st of 16 bills and utilities cards we compare
  • 10% on dining and food delivery: 2nd of 29 movies and dining cards we compare
  • Fee pays for itself from about ₹1,000 a month of groceries
  • Airport lounge visits with no published spend condition

Watch out for

  • Earns nothing on fuel, insurance, wallet loads, rent and government payments
  • Can't be used on UPI (not a RuPay card)
Who it's for
People who spend about ₹1,000 or more a month on groceries and use airport lounges.
Skip it if
You spend under ₹1,000 a month on groceries, or you need a card for UPI.

Worked out from the bank's published terms with the same rules for every card, never from what we earn. How we judge cards.

Rewards (value back as % of spend)

Everyday spends
1.5% (base rate)
Online shopping
1.5%
Fuel
0%
Groceries
10%
Travel
1.5%
Bills and utilities
10%
Dining and food delivery
10%

Fees and charges

Joining fee
₹999
Annual fee
₹999
Fee waiver
The ₹999 joining fee is charged after your first transaction. The ₹999 annual fee is charged at the end of each card year and refunded in full, with GST, if you spend more than ₹2,00,000 in that year across your main and add-on cards.
Forex markup
1.99%
Fuel surcharge waiver
No fuel surcharge waiver on this card. Limited offer until 31 Dec 2026: ₹250 cashback in a calendar quarter once contactless fuel spends reach ₹10,000 (each payment ₹1,000 to ₹5,000).

Benefits and eligibility

Airport lounge
2 domestic visits a year (no more than one every 6 calendar months) and 1 international visit a year, from 1 September 2026; no spend condition is published. HSBC's lounge-access page still shows the older 4 domestic visits a year.
Card network
Visa
UPI payments
No
Minimum income (salaried)
₹50,000 a month
Eligibility
Salaried: age 18 to 65, income at least ₹6 lakh a year. Self-employed: age 25 to 65, income at least ₹12 lakh a year. You must be an Indian resident living in one of 21 cities: Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Baroda, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi NCR, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Noida, Pune, Surat or Trivandrum. Approval is at HSBC's discretion.

Fees exclude GST. Reward rates are the value back you get at the bank's published redemption value; where a bank doesn't publish what a point is worth, we leave the rate blank rather than guess. See how we compare cards.

Compare it with other cards

Ready to apply for the HSBC Live+ Credit Card?

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CreditParakh is not a bank or lender. Approval, limits and final terms are decided by HSBC.

Related guides

What changed recently

  1. Lounge accessWorse for you

    Domestic lounge visits halve to 2 a year (no more than one every 6 months), and 1 international visit a year is added.

    Before: 4 domestic lounge visits a year · After: 2 domestic visits a year (one per 6 calendar months) and 1 international visit a year

    The before value is from HSBC's lounge-access page, which still lists 4 domestic visits a year. Marked worse because total visits fall from 4 to 3 and domestic visits halve.

    Bank's notice or terms
  2. OtherBetter for you

    The Live+ Reserve adds dining and lifestyle perks: a set menu, a complimentary drink or a complimentary dessert at participating restaurants, booked through HSBC's Times Prime portal.

    Before: No Live+ Reserve benefit · After: Set menu, complimentary drink or dessert at participating restaurants, plus partner lifestyle offers (₹1 card check per redemption)

    Offer period 1 August 2026 to 31 July 2027.

    Bank's notice or terms

All card changes, month by month

Questions people ask

Is the HSBC Live+ Credit Card worth it in 2026?

Yes, if you spend about ₹1,000 or more a month on groceries and use airport lounges. Below that, the Scapia Federal Bank Credit Card (Visa + complimentary RuPay) pays 2% for free. The catch: earns nothing on fuel, insurance, wallet loads, rent and government payments.

Is the HSBC Live+ Credit Card lifetime free?

No. It costs ₹999 to join and ₹999 a year, plus GST. The ₹999 joining fee is charged after your first transaction. The ₹999 annual fee is charged at the end of each card year and refunded in full, with GST, if you spend more than ₹2,00,000 in that year across your main and add-on cards.

Does the HSBC Live+ Credit Card work on UPI?

No. Only RuPay credit cards can be linked to UPI, and this isn't one.

Does the HSBC Live+ Credit Card give airport lounge access?

2 domestic visits a year (no more than one every 6 calendar months) and 1 international visit a year, from 1 September 2026; no spend condition is published. HSBC's lounge-access page still shows the older 4 domestic visits a year.

What earns no rewards on the HSBC Live+ Credit Card?

No cashback on fuel, wallet loads, rent and property payments, insurance, school and college fees, government payments, jewellery, hospitals, charity, gambling, tolls, local buses and commuter transport, money transfers, cash and quasi-cash, brokers, wholesale clubs, business-to-business merchants, or purchases converted to EMI at checkout. Spends abroad no longer earn cashback (one older line in HSBC's card guide still says they do). Rent payments also carry a 1% fee. HSBC goes by the merchant's category code, so the shop's code decides whether you get 10%, 1.5% or nothing.

Is there a limit on rewards with the HSBC Live+ Credit Card?

The 10% cashback on dining, food delivery, grocery, shopping and utility spends is capped at ₹1,200 a month in total, which you reach at ₹12,000 of these spends. In HSBC's own worked example, these spends earn nothing extra once the cap is reached.

Who can get the HSBC Live+ Credit Card?

The bank publishes a minimum income of ₹50,000 a month for salaried applicants. Self-employed people can apply: Income of at least ₹12 lakh a year; age 25-65; resident in one of HSBC's 21 listed cities. Salaried: age 18 to 65, income at least ₹6 lakh a year. Self-employed: age 25 to 65, income at least ₹12 lakh a year. You must be an Indian resident living in one of 21 cities: Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Baroda, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi NCR, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Noida, Pune, Surat or Trivandrum. Approval is at HSBC's discretion. Approval is at the bank's discretion.

How we checked this card: the CreditParakh team read HSBC's own terms and product page on 19 Oct 2026. Every fee, rate and rule above comes from those pages; where they disagree, we say so. We re-check every card monthly and log changes on card changes. See our editorial standards.

Last verified 19 Oct 2026 on HSBC's official page. Fees and rewards change; check the issuer's terms before you apply.