Ready Player 2: Side Stepping the HSBC Live+ Quarterly Cashback Mechanic
It’s the 4th quarter of the year and I’m signing up for HSBC Live+… again! You see, HSBC Live+ gives a generous 8% cashback making it one of the top cashback cards around. My gripe with it is that I find quarterly cashback mechanics pretty annoying.
The solution? Apply for HSBC Live+ “again” to avoid the quarterly spend requirement.
Great promo ending soon
It’s worth noting that the current promo is excellent and at present moment set to end really soon. HSBC has dropped the public offer for HSBC Live+ to just S$200 cashback, so a gift of your choice on top of S$100 cashback is too good to pass:
Here comes a new challenger
While we obviously can only have one HSBC Live+ under our own name, there’s really nothing stopping a family member, relative, trusted friend etc. from applying a second card. Also known as a “Player 2 strategy”, this is what I’m going to do so that I don’t have to meet the S$600 per month spend requirement of my HSBC Live+ now that it has entered the second quarter.
While miles are largely tied to the cardholder’s name and there’re the issues of conversion fees and leftover points, cashback is straightforward and basically fungible. A Player 2 strategy is hence a lot easier for cashback cards rather than miles/points cards.
For those who are not familiar with the card, I talked about the spend requirements of HSBC Live+ here. Essentially, HSBC Live+ has a provision that allows you to just spend S$1,000 within the entire calendar quarter instead of meeting the monthly S$600 spend requirement, but only in the card’s first quarter.
I wouldn’t say it’s difficult to hit at least S$600 per month, given that things like heymax vouchers work but S$1,000 across 3 months is a lot easier. After using the HSBC Live+ relatively extensively last quarter, I like how I didn’t have to worry about minimum spend since I reached S$1,000 pretty easily in less than 2 months.
8% cashback rate set to end 31st December 2024… for now
Incidentally, after this quarter, the card’s generous 8% cashback rate is set to end with no extension in sight. I don’t currently have any insider info on this, but I personally suspect the rate would continue beyond this year so stay subscribed for updates.
Might a Player 3 be necessary at that point? Perhaps, but terms and conditions can be changed quite easily and new credit cards are upon us soon so who knows whether this would be relevant next quarter. For now at least, a Player 2 strategy would work very well for me and there’s a good sign-up promo that is going away really soon.
Seth Wee was a licensed financial adviser representative from 2009 to 2025, with over 16 years of experience in Singapore’s financial advisory industry.
He started Sethisfy.com in 2019 to share practical insights on credit cards, banking products, and miles strategies, helping readers identify financial products that deliver the best value. Seth has been featured in CNA, Channel 8, Today, and a host of other publications. In 2025, he was also part of a panel at CPF’s Ready For Life festival.
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Did anyone manage to select the reward option for existing customers via singsaver form? The option doesnt seem to exist.
Just choose whichever reward on SingSaver’s form. The existing customer reward will be given by HSBC.