This is good info... thanks for sharing! 
Side note: For 'giggles' I tried to register using my Venture WEMC and it gave an error. In the past I've been able to use this card to 'validate' WEMC bennies so I'm not sure where the issue is; thankfully LoungeKey does provide a toll-free number for help.
I know that it's not uncommon for people to sometimes have issues getting a card to validate as a WEMC (especially with some Citi cards) and I'm hopeful that since this specific issue is mentioned they are empowered to remedy it.
Edited to add: Since I don't have a need for LoungeKey I won't be calling myself; I'll leave that experiment to someone else. 
@UncleB wrote:This is good info... thanks for sharing!
Side note: For 'giggles' I tried to register using my Venture WEMC and it gave an error. In the past I've been able to use this card to 'validate' WEMC bennies so I'm not sure where the issue is; thankfully LoungeKey does provide a toll-free number for help.
I know that it's not uncommon for people to sometimes have issues getting a card to validate as a WEMC (especially with some Citi cards) and I'm hopeful that since this specific issue is mentioned they are empowered to remedy it.
Edited to add: Since I don't have a need for LoungeKey I won't be calling myself; I'll leave that experiment to someone else.
One of the common problems with validating World and World Elite MasterCards is the fact if they were standard/classic cards to start with, the systems require special actions in the back room to see that the credit card number is entered into the system that validates the higher tier cards. Often that process does not always get completed so the card errors out as a standard/classic tier card (example Citi Double Cash Cards that get approved as standard/classic cards and then are upgraded to the World Elite as the system looks for the first six numbers of the credit card number and Citi Double Cash starts 5424-18(or 11 or ??)xx-xxxx-xxxx which is recognized as a standard/classic card to the system normally. Now, if you take the old Citi Dividend World Elite Master Cards which started out as standard/classic cards when the upgrade took place, the account number was changed to 5466-16xx-xxxx-xxxx and they were recognized as a higher tier card due to the first six digits (a higher tier card) and note when people had their old Citi Dividend MC Cards updated the account numbers were changed (old school) to the higher tier. Now the modern world generally does not change credit card numbers so the cards need to have their numbers entered into the system for higher tier cards recognition. First National Bank of Omaha issued FNBO Bucks Back Visas years back and then upgraded them to Vision Visa Signature Cards and the system still recognized the account numbers as a regular/classic Visa Card and it took special handling (speak with experience) to get the account numbers entered into the higher tier recognition system. In today's environment I doubt it happens often but, if someone has a higher tier card that is not recognized as such, the problem is likely it did not have the account number properly processed into the higher tier recognition system. Note, I mentioned a few cards here and Citi had many more cards that are or were affected this way along with other issuers. Also, the process includes Visa Signatures and so on like the old Citi Forward Cards that saw upgrades in tier for 2012, 2013 and 2014. This process used to potentially affect the flexible spending, no-preset options, revolving credit lines for lenders and as we know today those options are up to the lenders on a per card line basis.
@Anonymous wrote:
@UncleB wrote:This is good info... thanks for sharing!
Side note: For 'giggles' I tried to register using my Venture WEMC and it gave an error. In the past I've been able to use this card to 'validate' WEMC bennies so I'm not sure where the issue is; thankfully LoungeKey does provide a toll-free number for help.
I know that it's not uncommon for people to sometimes have issues getting a card to validate as a WEMC (especially with some Citi cards) and I'm hopeful that since this specific issue is mentioned they are empowered to remedy it.
Edited to add: Since I don't have a need for LoungeKey I won't be calling myself; I'll leave that experiment to someone else.
One of the common problems with validating World and World Elite MasterCards is the fact if they were standard/classic cards to start with, the systems require special actions in the back room to see that the credit card number is entered into the system that validates the higher tier cards. Often that process does not always get completed so the card errors out as a higher tier card (example Citi Double Cash Cards that get approved and then upgraded to World Elite as the system looks for the first six numbers of the credit card number and Citi Double Cash starts 5424-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx which is recognized as a standard/classic card to the system normally - now if you take the old Citi Dividend World Elite Master Card which started with 5466-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx they were recognized as a higher tier card due to the first digits and note when people had their old Citi Dividend MC Cards updated the account numbers were changed (old school) to the higher tier. Now the modern world generally does not change credit card numbers so the cards need to have their numbers entered into the system for higher tier cards. First National Bank of Omaha has issued FNBO Bucks Back Visa years back and then upgraded them to Vision Visa Signature Cards and the system recognized the account numbera as a regular/classic and it took special handling (speak with experience) to get the account numbers entered into the higher tier recognition system. In todays environment I doubt it happens often but if someone has a higher tier card that is not recognized as such, the problem is likely it did not have the account number properly processed into the higher tier recognition system.
Yep, "back in the day" when my Citibank "Classic" Visa was upgraded to a Citibank "Preferred" Visa (Gold) I was issued a new card with a different BIN.
In a way it was simpler back then; the problem some have now wasn't an issue. To quote Montgomery Scott, "The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain."
@Anonymous wrote:
@UncleB wrote:This is good info... thanks for sharing!
Side note: For 'giggles' I tried to register using my Venture WEMC and it gave an error. In the past I've been able to use this card to 'validate' WEMC bennies so I'm not sure where the issue is; thankfully LoungeKey does provide a toll-free number for help.
I know that it's not uncommon for people to sometimes have issues getting a card to validate as a WEMC (especially with some Citi cards) and I'm hopeful that since this specific issue is mentioned they are empowered to remedy it.
Edited to add: Since I don't have a need for LoungeKey I won't be calling myself; I'll leave that experiment to someone else.
One of the common problems with validating World and World Elite MasterCards is the fact if they were standard/classic cards to start with, the systems require special actions in the back room to see that the credit card number is entered into the system that validates the higher tier cards. Often that process does not always get completed so the card errors out as a standard/classic tier card (example Citi Double Cash Cards that get approved as standard/classic cards and then are upgraded to the World Elite as the system looks for the first six numbers of the credit card number and Citi Double Cash starts 5424-18(or 11 or ??)xx-xxxx-xxxx which is recognized as a standard/classic card to the system normally. Now, if you take the old Citi Dividend World Elite Master Cards which started out as standard/classic cards when the upgrade took place, the account number was changed to 5466-16xx-xxxx-xxxx and they were recognized as a higher tier card due to the first six digits (a higher tier card) and note when people had their old Citi Dividend MC Cards updated the account numbers were changed (old school) to the higher tier. Now the modern world generally does not change credit card numbers so the cards need to have their numbers entered into the system for higher tier cards recognition. First National Bank of Omaha issued FNBO Bucks Back Visas years back and then upgraded them to Vision Visa Signature Cards and the system still recognized the account numbers as a regular/classic Visa Card and it took special handling (speak with experience) to get the account numbers entered into the higher tier recognition system. In today's environment I doubt it happens often but, if someone has a higher tier card that is not recognized as such, the problem is likely it did not have the account number properly processed into the higher tier recognition system. Note, I mentioned a few cards here and Citi had many more cards that are or were affected this way along with other issuers. Also, the process includes Visa Signatures and so on like the old Citi Forward Cards that saw upgrades in tier for 2012, 2013 1nd 2014. This process used to potentially affect the flexible spending, no-preset options, revolving credit lines for lenders and as we know today those options are up to the lenders on a per card line basis.
I have 3 WEMCs and 1 WMC that were all set up as such, not upgraded. In this exercise, each card failed to be validated, which is slightly frustrating. None of my cards are with HSBC. My cards are with various lenders. Based off the OP's post, the validation would be confirmed by HSBC, the card issuer first identified, and that all other banks will eventually be granted access.