[INTERVIEW] HSBC Canada Rewards Program

Today, we are fortunate enough to have Senior Vice President, Barry Gollom, at HSBC Bank Canada who will share more in-depth insights on its rewards program. Thank you Barry for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer our questions, we really appreciate it! 

1) Please tell us about yourself and your role with HSBC Bank Canada.

I’m Senior Vice President, Head of Retail Products and Marketing, Wealth and Personal Banking at HSBC. I’ve been with HSBC in Canada for about six years. Previously, I was at CIBC.

2) HSBC Bank Canada may not be one of the 6 major banks in Canada, but I still think it has a major impact on the market, what are your thoughts on that?

Our approach is to be a modern, contemporary and an inclusive bank where customers can leverage HSBC’s global presence, capability, and connectivity in support of their international and domestic needs. What sets us apart from the competitive mass affluent landscape is:

• Our global presence and access to investment expertise in local global markets, support customers in both personal and financial goals
• Our elevated service and exclusive privileges for both banking and non-banking customer interests
• Our Full-Service Offer provides comprehensive guidance across banking, wealth, credit, and treasury needs.

3) I find one of the competitive advantages that you have is the HSBC Rewards program. Can you share with us some of the biggest highlights that make it so attractive?The HSBC Rewards Program provides valuable redemption options to suit a variety of card holder needs.

We understand that people love to use their points for travel – so we make it flexible and easy. Travel your way by booking your trip through an agent, online or direct with the hotels or airlines. Whichever way suits you, you can then get a credit for the purchase back on to your HSBC credit card. And if you don’t know already, you are not tied to a specific date or have any blackouts. If you prefer, you can also redeem points to book travel directly on the HSBC Rewards website for any hotels, flights or car rentals.

Of course, you can also redeem your points for a cash credit towards your HSBC credit card balance, your mortgage balance or by adding to your savings account. You can even redeem for a donation to your charity of choice and receive a tax receipt.

For select cards you can also exchange points for frequent flyer miles with participating airlines with our Miles Swap program, such as; British Airways, Singapore Airlines or Cathay Pacific or a credit back for seat upgrades, baggage claims and lounge visit fee with our Travel Enhancement Credit.

4) Are there any plans to expand the HSBC Rewards program? Such as adding more airline frequent flyer transfer partners?

Yes, there are always plans to keep on expanding the HSBC Rewards Program. We recently added new redemption offerings, such as; using points to book travel for hotels, flights and car rentals, adding electronic gift cards and if customer do not have enough points for merchandise or booking travel, they can now pay the difference by charging it to their HSBC Credit Card. We are constantly reviewing and making changes to our rewards program to fit client needs and expectations and we hope to expand this program in the future.

5) What else can we look forward to with HSBC Canada?

From a credit card perspective, we are always looking for ways to bring more value to our cardholders. HSBC Bank Canada’s goal is to open up a world of opportunity for our customers and achieving net zero in our operations and supply chain by 2030 or sooner. We are actively transitioning to recycled plastics as part of our sustainability goal. All cards that we issue – including HSBC debit, credit and commercial cards – will now be made from 85% recycled plastic. As a next step, we’re planning to move to cards made from 100% recycled plastic. This is a move that is happening globally with HSBC. As a result, the move to recycled plastic will reduce CO2 emissions by 161 tonnes a year and reduce plastic waste by 73 tonnes per year (source: IDEMIA).

This is the CO2 equivalent of 36 flights between the UK and Hong Kong and the weight of over 40 cars in plastic waste (source: The Measure Of Things).