No annual fee and no income requirement Hong Kong bank-issued credit cards

The key word here is bank-issued. While there are other credit cards in Hong Kong with no annual fee or income requirements, there are non-bank issued credit cards which I will not list here.

Narrowing down the credit card candidates

If you use some website that makes money off credit card referrals, you will find around 10 cards that meet both the no annual fee and no income requirement.

While there are other cards out there that may appear to offer better sign-up bonuses or rewards, they may not be from a bank. Non-bank lenders - the ones offering you credit - are companies providing loans without a banking license, operating outside traditional banking regulations.

Rule out non-banks

Non-banks target borrowers with high-risk for default, so they may charge higher interest rates and fees to offset this risk. An alternative model non-banks can use is to offer a (slightly) higher interest rate as banks, offer higher rewards, but have more severe penalties when a payment is late or not paid in full, or shorter repayment time than a bank. Annual fees could also be a way for non-banks to recover losses from borrowers with high-risk for default.

Non-bank credit cards are less transparent with fees

These non-banks are also less transparent in their fees. This is one why you only see a Credit Cards Key Facts Statement link clearly shown on many bank's credit card page, but not so on a non-bank credit card's page.

If you're willing to do your research, you could consider a non-bank, but most people do not read pages of fine print and also keep up with the changes in the fine print which can happen every quarter.

Are you a university student?

If you are a university student that is 18 and over looking for a credit card with no minimum income requirement and no annual fee, one of the bank-issued ones in the table below may suit you instead of a non-bank credit card (of which none in the table are). Unlike credit cards with higher income requirements, these typically require you to have also have a bank account with the bank before they give you a credit card.

If you are not a university student, you should consider Mox Bank and their credit card for their user-friendly solution, great rates, payment flexibility and excellent card rewards.

List of bank-issued credit cards

Having narrowed down from ~10 cards down to the 5 below, don't stop reading this post. Read on to learn which cards are really no annual fee. The table below only includes bank-issued cards in Hong Kong that do not state "perpetual waiver" of the annual fee.

No annual fee explained

While many cards offer "no annual fee", some have a lot of fine print that says no annual fee the 1st year, or some other condition, etc. In reality, most of the cards in the table have the annual fee waived as long as you are a full-time student.

It is marketing to throw in the word "perpetual" and make it sound good.

"Perpetual waiver" is not perpetual in the sense of as long as you live. Depending on your university's policy and degree, that could mean for the (3) years it will take you to graduate as a full-time student.

The cards above also have no spending requirement in order to receive the annual fee waiver, nor a requirement to call the bank in order to receive a waiver.

Which card is best?

Let's go through the table below.

Hang Seng's enJoy card - has a $150K annual income requirement unless you are a full time university student. While I certainly hope your annual income meets that requirement after graduation, if you do not like the idea of losing a credit card based on the income requirement, you may not want to choose this card which will have an income requirement. It is also unclear what will happen to Hang Seng and this card once it merges back with HSBC.

HSBC Visa Gold for Students - Even without reading the terms and conditions, the name implies the credit card and its benefits applies while you are a student. Once you are no longer a student, you presumably transition to the Visa Gold card if you do nothing, which means a $600 annual fee. If you do not want to figure out how to handle the transition of pay annual fee, this card may not be for you.

BEA Goal for Students - Similar to HSBC, once you are not a student, you will get hit you with a $600 annual fee when you transition to the non-student version listed in the key facts statement.

¹The student version has an annual fee waiver only while you are still a student.

BOC Chill Mastercard - Buried in the details is the requirement of having a i-Free banking account. The account itself is not a bad deal, it's just hard to discover that university students can qualify for this card and what the conditions - including Total Relationship Balance - are. I think this is the second-best card.

² The perpetual waiver is for 3 more years after graduation.

Mox Bank - As I have not mentioned the best card yet, you are right in thinking that I think this is the best card. There is no annual fee, no income requirement, and the benefits of the card itself are quite good. One example is the ability to switch on demand between earning miles or cash rebates. Most of the other cards in the market force you to choose either only.

The card's benefits also do not change once you graduate, which addresses a key pain point the other cards introduced when they tried to create a student version of the card.

As you meet the income requirements of other credit cards, you may apply for another card or switch to another card, but that is a discussion for another post. Hopefully this card got you through the decision of your first card as a university student.

Conclusion

The Mox card is a great card for university students because of no income requirements nor annual fee. Upon graduation the Mox card benefits and cost remain the same, resulting in less uncertainty on whether you will incur charges or perhaps fail to qualify and keep the same credit card. Mox is close to stress free!

Read the credit card application carefully before applying as terms and conditions may change. What's perpetual now may not be perpetual when you apply!

To borrow or not to borrow? Borrow only if you can repay!