Best Hang Seng Bank (Hong Kong) travel cards

Hang Seng Bank in Hong Kong offers three main travel (overseas spend) cards. I'm summarizing the differences to help inform you, so you don't have to click through a million pages. I make no money from credit card signups.

Summary

If you want a card that offers the highest cash savings when you spend overseas, Hang Seng cards are the ones you want if you reside in Hong Kong. These are not the cards if you want miles.

Travel with one (or both) Hang Seng credit cards and the multi-currency debit card from Hang Seng to maximize savings.

Cards compared

Hang Seng Bank offers many cards, but these 3 are more travel (overseas spend) oriented. The bank's T&C's constantly change, so do your research before applying. Borrow only what you can repay!

¹ Fee and Charges for Hang Seng Multi-Currency Debit Mastercard

Visa or Mastercard

Normally I would say go with Mastercard because Mastercard generally has better exchange rates than Visa, but Hang Seng has a compelling reason for you to choose Visa also.

AliPayHK users should also note that Mastercard offers better rates exchange rates than AliPay.

Credit or Debit

Choosing only debit card based on zero foreign currency transaction fees is not the answer. Apply for at least one credit card and also get the debit card.

You need a credit card for overseas hotel deposits

Many hotels still only accept credit cards for the deposit for various reasons. The debit card is a backup card when traveling overseas. Backup does not mean use the card when you lose your credit card. I will explain more later in this post.

Credit cards

If you're new to credit cards and are in the process of applying for your first card, learn that it is a 2-way street. Sometimes you pick the card and sometimes the bank picks you. Your choice of card depends first on whether you meet the bank's requirements for issuing the card.

¹ The $3K/month spend requirement is waived for full-time university/tertiary students

If you do not meet the $150K/year requirement, you may consider Standard Chartered or Mox which have lower requirements at $96K or no published requirement respectively.

If you do qualify for either of these cards, congratulations! Either of these are great because:

Neither card has an annual fee

While the Foreign Transaction Fees between Visa and Mastercard are the same, you may want to choose the card based on where you spend the money. The Travel+ card offers better overseas spending, which should make it your #1 choice of overseas spending card.

5.05% cashback overseas is what you can earn with the Travel+ card

5.05% is 7% rebate - 1.95% foreign transaction fee. Note there is a $6K/month minimum spend to earn that rebate, but that should not be too hard if you book your flight(s) and spend 2-3 days overseas.

Remember to register for the rebate for both the Travel+ and MMPOWER before spending. The registration is required.

MMPOWER - Designated merchants include: Amazon, GU, lululemon, Taobao, and Uniqlo in HK.
MMPOWER - Designated Online Entertainment

• Streaming Platforms: Apple TV/Music, Disney+, HBO Max, HMVOD, JOOX, KKBOX, MOOV, Netflix, Spotify, Viu and YouTube
• Local Cinemas: Broadway Circuit, CineArt Cinema, Cinema City, Emperor Cinemas, Bestarfilm Cinemas (formerly Golden Harvest
  Cinemas) and MCL Cinema (only ticket purchases are eligible, food and beverage purchases are excluded from this category)
• Ticketing Platforms: Cityline, HotdogTIX, KKTIX, POPTICKET, Ticketflap and URBTIX
• Local Theme Parks: Hong Kong Disneyland and Ocean Park Hong Kong

Overseas Spend calculation

While the Travel+ rebate is marketed as a 7% in select countries/regions, in reality it is 0.4% base rebate + 6.6% bonus rebate. The 0.4% base rebate is unlimited. When the bonus rebate cap is $500/month, the calculation is

$500/6.6% or $500/0.066 = $7576/month

If you expect to spend more overseas, you may want to use the MMPOWER card as your second card. The MMPOWER 4% rebate is 0.4% base rebate + 3.6% bonus rebate, also capped at $500/month. $500/0.036 = $13889/month as the maximum amount of overseas spend to reach the cap.

Sidenote: what changed

Before April 2026, the MMPOWER card used to offer 6% overseas spend rebate for all countries/regions, which made it hard for people to decide between that card and Travel+ (7% or 5%). While it reduces the ease of hitting the maximum cap for those that have both credit cards, the new rebate rates make it easier for some people to understand which card to spend on what categories. In other words, the difference in foreign spend was probably small, but it caused decision paralysis on which card to apply for or use for many customers.

Debit card

Hang Seng actually offers 2 versions of the multi-currency debit Mastercard. The version you get depends on whether you have the Total Relationship Balance ("TRB") for Hang Seng Preferred or Prestige status.

What is truly unique about the Hang Seng version of this card is the option of supplementary cards for family and friends. That's right, friends. Other banks offer supplementary cards for family only. This is quite useful for those of us that travel with friends and want to split the bill and get the best cash rebates back.

Credit or Debit card?

Borrow if you can repay!

If you qualify for the credit card, then the overseas spend rebate is clearly greater than the debit card. Decide if the credit cards are for you before applying.

Unfortunately, it may be hard to travel solely on the debit card as many hotels still require credit cards for the deposit. Even if you pre-paid for a hotel, the hotel may still request a deposit. While some hotels may accept the debit card for deposit, many do not. It may also take longer to get the refund on your debit card back, so credit cards are preferred.

Switch from your credit card to your debit card when you hit the credit card's rebate cap. If you continue to spend after the rebate cap, you are paying 1.95% foreign transaction fee for all spend after that. Would you rather pay 1.95% or get 0.4% or 0.5% back?

If you find it hard to keep track of exactly how much you spent and whether you're below the monthly credit card rebate cap or not, use round numbers, e.g. to the closest $1000, or use the debit card when in doubt.

An easy strategy is to put big hotel expenses on the credit card and not try to reach the monthly cap. e.g. put $5000 hotel spend overseas on the Travel+ card and stay below the $7123 spend that would reach the cap. Do not try to ask the hotel to charge exactly $7123 out of a $10K bill on the card for example. While you can split the balance between multiple credit cards, it depends on whether the hotel supports it and also whether the staff are familiar enough with how to do so. If the hotel and/or staff fails, then you end up paying the 1.95% foreign transaction fee instead of getting a net cash rebate back.

Credit Card Welcome Offers

While the one-off Welcome Offers for each card may play a factor in your decision making, I encourage you to consider the longer term impact, regardless of whether you spend money or not. Most Welcome Offers do have a spend requirement, so unless you were planning on spending, it may not be the best financial advice to spend just to get the Welcome Offer.

Conclusion

Spend what you can repay! Choose the card(s) based on how much you expect to spend. This is what I would recommend using round numbers.

If you look at the spending categories and rewards, I think having both the Travel+ and MMPOWER card covers all the categories many of us care about: Travel, Local Dining, and Online (incl. Designated Merchants). The only major category missing is supermarkets.