HSBC automatically converting Advance Mastercard to Premier

[Ph0XeLua]

Hello! Did anyone else with a HSBC Advance Mastercard get auto "promoted" to a Premier card? I got a letter sent to my house saying HSBC is going away from the Advance card program, but I don't see any notification on their website and they still appear to be taking applications. I'm asking because I already have a Premier card, so now I'll have two of the same card with different limits. HSBC won't consolidate the limits, so I'll be forced to cancel one - since having two of the same card just sounds confusing and annoying. The Premier card requires you keep a Premier checking account open, with requirements (5k monthly direct deposits or 60k cash balance) if I want to avoid annual fee. Thoughts on if I should just keep them around or cancel my relationship with them altogether? I just bought a house, so I'll be gardening for a while.

[Anonymous]

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@Ph0XeLua wrote:

Hello! Did anyone else with a HSBC Advance Mastercard get auto "promoted" to a Premier card? I got a letter sent to my house saying HSBC is going away from the Advance card program, but I don't see any notification on their website and they still appear to be taking applications. I'm asking because I already have a Premier card, so now I'll have two of the same card with different limits. HSBC won't consolidate the limits, so I'll be forced to cancel one - since having two of the same card just sounds confusing and annoying. The Premier card requires you keep a Premier checking account open, with requirements (5k monthly direct deposits or 60k cash balance) if I want to avoid annual fee. Thoughts on if I should just keep them around or cancel my relationship with them altogether? I just bought a house, so I'll be gardening for a while.

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A lot of us have, or have had, two cards of the same type, ideally for some purpose (i.e. to double a cap) but not always.   It wouldn't force me to cancel  one if the credit limit was useful in some way.   But with an AF...: will the one Premier checking account do for both?  If not, then certainly cancel one!

Only you can know if cancelling the relationship is worthwhile.   Are you getting any value now, is this unwanted change making things seem worse?  If the relationship does nothing and there is a better alternative, then maybe, but (nearly!) all issuers can do things that annoy from time to time...

[chuckwood]

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@Ph0XeLua wrote:

Hello! Did anyone else with a HSBC Advance Mastercard get auto "promoted" to a Premier card? I got a letter sent to my house saying HSBC is going away from the Advance card program, but I don't see any notification on their website and they still appear to be taking applications. I'm asking because I already have a Premier card, so now I'll have two of the same card with different limits. HSBC won't consolidate the limits, so I'll be forced to cancel one - since having two of the same card just sounds confusing and annoying. The Premier card requires you keep a Premier checking account open, with requirements (5k monthly direct deposits or 60k cash balance) if I want to avoid annual fee. Thoughts on if I should just keep them around or cancel my relationship with them altogether? I just bought a house, so I'll be gardening for a while.

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Did you look at the fine print too see if the upgraded one would have the annual fee if conditions are not met? I am curious too see if they would not charge an an annual fee since it the upgrade was done without you asking them too.

[zerofire]

HSBC is actually planning to convert all of the cards that they no longer issue to a Premier MasterCard. I had a HSBC Cash Rewards MasterCard that I was not selected for transfer to Citizens and when I called in to negotiate they offered to do an early conversion. I pulled up the description and went no way as I had better cards by a metric mile. In the end the only agreement was a closing of the account and ending the relationship.

[chuckwood]

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@zerofire wrote:

HSBC is actually planning to convert all of the cards that they no longer issue to a Premier MasterCard. I had a HSBC Cash Rewards MasterCard that I was not selected for transfer to Citizens and when I called in to negotiate they offered to do an early conversion. I pulled up the description and went no way as I had better cards by a metric mile. In the end the only agreement was a closing of the account and ending the relationship.

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That is good to know. I have a Cash Rewards also that was not converted. I have not recieved any letters and was curious because I was wondering if that was down the pipeline for them to convert everyone left to one card. 

[Ph0XeLua]

I actually got my new card today and it says no annual fee. However, to be eligible for the Premier card, website says you need to have a Premier checking account. I'm guessing if you close the checking account, the credit cards will automatically close? I will check and revert back.

[zerofire]

I never had a checking account. Just the card. Regardless it was a card that did not offer rewards that are worth it.