HSBC Live+ Credit Card

HSBC India · Open to apply

A cashback card: 10% on dining, food delivery, groceries, shopping and utilities up to ₹1,200 a month, 1.5% unlimited on most other spends. Forex is 1.99% but no cashback is earned abroad. Annual fee ₹999, waived at ₹2 lakh of yearly spend.

Annual fee
₹999 + GST a year
Joining fee
₹999 + GST
Fee waiver
Annual fee waived on ₹2,00,000 spend per card year
Base rate
Most other spends, 1.5% cashback: 1.5% cashback (about 1.5% at cash value)
Lounges
Domestic: 2 visits a calendar year; International: 1 visit a calendar year
Forex markup
1.99%
Data
From bank documents, checked 24 Oct 2026

Main earn rates

  • Dining, food delivery, grocery, shopping and utilities, 10% cashback: 10% cashback (about 10% at cash value)

Earns nothing on

  • International spends, no cashback
  • No cashback on fuel, rent, education, government, insurance, wallets, cash, gambling and jewellery
  • No cashback on tolls and business-to-business merchants
  • No cashback on Instant EMI transactions

Where the sources disagree

  • Period of the ₹1,200 cap on the 10% tier: The product page and services guide say "up to INR1,200 a month"; the Myntra launch offer T&C says the 10% cashback, Myntra included, "is collectively capped at ₹1,200 per billing cycle". We keep a calendar month; for the calculator, which values a year of monthly spend, the two give the same result.

Terms the calculator does not value

  • The 10% tier is decided by merchant category code, not by online or in-store. Shopping at physical apparel or electronics stores can earn 10% but the calculator's "shopping in stores" line has no category for them, so it is valued at 1.5%. Department stores (MCC 5311) are entered in the 10% tier.
  • The 1.5% tier has more 0% exclusions than are modelled: the other business-to-business MCCs (wholesale and B2B supplies such as 5045, 5065, 5122), hospitals (8062), local bus transport (4111), charity, wholesale clubs (5300) and collection agencies. Our health and other-travel categories are not zero-rated, since the table names only one or two of their MCCs; electronics earns 10% (5732) although its B2B codes 5045 and 5065 are 0%. The product page footnote on shopping was not readable.
  • The Myntra 10% offer runs only to 31 October 2026, while the calculator, valuing a year from today, counts it for the whole year while it is in force; from 1 November 2026 Myntra earns 1.5% again. The welcome offers count in the first year only.
  • The ₹1,000 welcome cashback "cannot combine any other welcome Offer/introductory Offer with this cashback Offer". The calculator adds every welcome item, so with the ₹750 activation voucher (and the ₹250 Amazon eGift voucher to 31 October 2026) the first year may be overstated by up to ₹1,000.
  • A ₹200 Starbucks eGift voucher for applicants who apply through the QR code on a tent card in a Starbucks store: online applications from 1 July to 31 October 2026 (any HSBC credit card); sent after the card is issued and activated and the next Starbucks purchase is made with it. Not for every new holder, so not valued.
  • The fuel offer's milestone counts all fuel spend toward ₹10,000 a quarter, but only contactless (tap) payments at domestic fuel stations count, and only fills from ₹1,000 to ₹5,000 ("A single fuel contactless transaction must have a Minimum transaction value of ₹1,000; and is limited to a Maximum transaction value of ₹5,000"); it is assumed met. The offer runs only from 26 July to 31 December 2026 (two calendar quarters), while the calculator, valuing a year from today, counts it in all four; it cannot be combined with any other offer.
  • Cashback arrives up to 45 days after the statement date, and is clawed back if the transaction is reversed. The calculator treats it as immediate.

Sources

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