KeyChain Pay vs RentSmart vs Rently: fees, miles, and net yield

Hong Kong rent-to-miles platforms sit between you and your landlord. You pay the platform by card or by bank transfer. The landlord is paid by bank or FPS. You may earn Asia Miles or HeyMax Max Miles, and you pay a service fee for the rail you use.

This page is for renters deciding which platform to sign up for before the first payment. It compares four paths: KeyChain Pay, RentSmart, Rently Card, and Rently FPS. It is written for Hong Kong renters, including people who already hold an HSBC miles card or a Standard Chartered Cathay Mastercard.

Estimates only — not financial advice. Confirm the live fee in each app before you pay. Rates on renttomiles were verified Oct 2026 and can change. This guide does not name an overall winner.

Cards you already hold. An HSBC miles card points toward KeyChain Pay. A Standard Chartered Cathay Mastercard points toward RentSmart or Rently Card. If you will not put rent on a miles card, Rently FPS still earns Max Miles on base rent. Cashback cards are outside this miles page.

Fee versus miles. Fee cost per mile is a year of platform fees divided by estimated miles. Lower is better. Estimated net yield values those miles at HK$0.10 each — a comparison assumption for saver-ticket value, not cash paid to you and not a bank rate — then subtracts a year of fees. A high fee and a weak earn rate can go negative. At the homepage default, the Rently Card column can do that. Formulas are on the comparison methodology. The fee cost per mile and estimated net yield guide walks through both columns with a worked rent.

Settlement timing. Do not start so close to the rent due date that the platform’s stated window misses it. KeyChain’s site describes payment on or before the lease-effective day, with extra lead time on a first contract. RentSmart and Rently publish their own timing. Read the page for the platform you choose.

Miles currency. Asia Miles in this model come from the card: HSBC on KeyChain Pay, Standard Chartered Cathay on RentSmart and Rently Card. Max Miles come from HeyMax on Rently Card (base rent) and on Rently FPS (base rent). HeyMax’s help centre describes transfers from Max Miles to Cathay Asia Miles. Transfer partners and windows can change. Do not assume today’s transfer list stays open.

Property and payment type. Platforms differ on property types and on which card networks earn. Use each platform’s own FAQ for coverage. This page does not keep a second list.

Promos expire. RentSmart signup coupons and fee waivers, the Rently first-288 launch cohort, and HSBC Red Hot Reward+ seasons are time-boxed. The homepage Insights section notes current signup steps. Treat any end date there as something to verify, not as a promise that the offer is still open.

The column models a 1.8% fee on the HSBC residential Visa/Mastercard route. Miles are counted on the gross charge (rent plus that fee). HSBC Visa Signature (Reward+ Home, shown on the calculator as HK$2.78 = 1 mile under the cap) runs until the HK$100,000 annual spend cap, then HSBC EveryMile (HK$5 = 1 mile). Est. miles for the year follow that 12-month route. They are not 12 times the first month.

At HK$10,000, the model reaches the cap in month 10. That month is split between Visa Signature and EveryMile. The year is 40,428 estimated miles if you use both cards. Visa Signature only, using the calculator’s “Only have HSBC Visa Signature?” note, is 36,890 miles. That lower figure is not the one used for badges.

HSBC Red Hot Reward+ seasons are separate. Visa Signature rent via KeyChain usually counts; EveryMile usually does not. Windows are often January–February and July–August. Check Reward+ for your own tiers. A longer HSBC route note can live on its own page later; the seasonal timing insight is the summary on the homepage.

The column models the Standard Chartered Cathay Mastercard only, at HK$6 = 1 Asia Mile, counted on base rent (not on rent plus fee). The modeled Mastercard service fee is 1.6%. At HK$10,000 that is HK$160 a month and 20,000 estimated miles a year. Fee cost per mile is HK$0.096. Estimated net yield is HK$80.

The card’s category rates for dining, hotels, and overseas spend are a different schedule from this rent rail. The first-time SC Cathay RentSmart fee waiver (up to HK$2,400) runs through 31 December 2026. Other welcome offers are time-boxed. Read the current terms on Standard Chartered’s Cathay Mastercard page and on RentSmart before you apply. Homepage Insights may mention a signup code; that code does not change the miles or fees in the table.

Rently Card is a dual stack. The model adds Standard Chartered Cathay Asia Miles on the gross charge (HK$6 = 1) to HeyMax Max Miles on base rent. With the launch promo off, HeyMax is HK$12 = 1 Max Mile. The service fee is 2.8%. At HK$10,000 the fee is HK$280 a month, estimated miles are 30,560, fee cost per mile is HK$0.110, and estimated net yield is −HK$304.

On those base rates the year of fees is larger than the HK$0.10 mile value, so estimated net yield is negative. More miles than another column does not mean a better result after fees.

The calculator’s launch-promo toggle is off unless you turn it on. It applies launch earn rates for the first 288 signups cohort, for up to 12 months of the tenancy, and only if you are in that cohort. With the toggle on at HK$10,000, the same Card column shows 40,560 estimated miles, fee cost per mile HK$0.083, and estimated net yield HK$696. Leave the toggle off if you are not in the cohort.

Rently FPS pays from your bank. There is no miles-card earn in this column. HeyMax Max Miles are counted on base rent. Basic, Standard, and Premium are the three fee tiers. The calculator opens on Premium. At HK$10,000, base rates (promo off):

Premium is the default comparison column (30,000 miles, HK$240 estimated net yield). Standard’s base-rate net yield at this rent is HK$440, higher than Premium, on fewer miles (20,000). Basic is the cheapest fee and the fewest miles (6,000).

FPS is the path that still earns Max Miles if you will not put rent on a Standard Chartered Cathay card. Against Rently Card at this rent with promo off, Premium FPS estimated net yield is HK$240 and Card is −HK$304. Card’s mile total (30,560) is close to Premium FPS (30,000), and the card fee is what pulls Card’s net yield down. If you are in the launch cohort and turn the promo on, Premium FPS shows 48,000 miles and HK$2,040 estimated net yield. Compare that only if the cohort applies to you.

Rently Card vs Rently FPS walks through Basic, Standard, and Premium, and when to leave the launch promo off.