Question
2 drawbacks:
$300 cashback 12 month limit
tiered program (1% on first $5k charged, 2% on next $5k, 5% after that). It is not clear if the above tiering applies to calendar year or lifetime purchases. If it is calendar year, you would get 1% of 5k = $50 + 2% of 5k = $100 + 5% of next 3k = $150 for a total of $300 (calendar year max) on $13k of spending, for a net of 2.3% cashback - pretty good for cashback. If it refers to lifetime purchases, then obviously it is even better.
website is :http://www.hsbcapply.com/chal/challenge?cmd_lpage=&code=ha&affinity=morecash
it asks for an invitation number, but nothing in the letter I got suggests that this was targeted. I do have an HSBC online savings account.
Answer
Don't forget the 0% BT and 0% BT on all purchases thru 2007... not a bad deal in the end. You could use the card, earn cash back while you are getting the interest.