The first impression that most people have of the premier credit card is that it’s no good. Because it’s an unsecured credit card. And for some people, it mightn’t be what they are looking for, but for people with bad or damaged credit it can fit the bill perfectly.
Why do I say this? Because virtually anyone can apply for and receive this card. Seriously.
First Premier Bank Credit Card
And why is this? you ask.
Simple. Because they charge higher fees and they charge them upfront before you can use the card.
Now, I know that doesn’t sound too attractive, but if your credit is messed up and you need to establish a good credit history with lots of payments made on time, this may be your only option to start repairing your credit.
Of course, showing regular consistent payments on your credit card is a great thing, but you will still need to dig deeper into your credit score to unearth why it is so bad – and then take the necessary action to correct it. Then you can apply for cheaper cards like the Wal-Mart card.
You first step needs to be to find out why your credit is bad and then remove the bad marks on your credit history by contacting the credit bureaus directly to clean up your credit. Once fixed, you may qualify for a card with lower or no upfront fees.
When you first get your premier credit card, you get a two hundred and fifty dollar credit limit. But the credit card fees are automatically deducted from your available credit balance. The fee is made up of a forty-eight dollar annual fee, a twenty-nine dollar account setup fee and a ninety-five dollar as program application fee.
I know the fees make this card sound pretty unattractive, but if you can’t qualify for anything else, then you need to start somewhere and begin rebuilding your credit. You aren’t alone in having bad credit, but you need to take action to address this issue so that you can start to qualify for other cards with few or no fees and lower interest rates.
The premier credit card can help you begin your journey of rebuilding your credit, and as such can be a very valuable resource.
As a result of signing up, you will also gain access to their credit manager to help monitor your credit report and provide online access to your credit score. So now you will be able to monitor and work on fixing your credit score as well, while you are rebuilding your credit with the premier credit card.
It’s really easy to apply for a premier credit card. In fact, you can do it online by filling out a form and you can sometimes get approved within sixty seconds! I don’t think there is another card around that can boast about a turn around time like that one!
Once you are approved, you will need to fund your account with an initial security deposit of ninety five dollars, and then you will receive your card with a $300 credit limit.
This security deposit is actually refundable too if you end up closing your account for any sort of reason. (Of course, they will subtract any outstanding debts from this security deposit before reimbursing you the ninety five dollar security deposit.)
From there on, you will have a three hundred dollar credit limit with a seventy five dollar annual fee (so you will have about two hundred and twenty five dollars of available credit). So it isn’t a lot of credit. You won’t be able to go on vacation to Bora Bora and sip drinks on the beach for a month or anything like that, but you will b e able to slowly rebuild your credit with this card.
The fees can really range in price for this card. The annual fee is fairly standard, but the late payment fee ranges in price from between twenty nine dollars to about thirty five dollars, with a returned payment fee of about twenty nine dollars. For the credit limit increase fee, it is usually set at about fifty percent of the credit line increase. So, if you want to increase your credit limit by one hundred dollars, you will probably have to send them fifty dollars. But you have to have used the card for at least one year before they will consider giving you an increase in their credit limit. You kind of have to prove to them that you are a credit-worthy person, and establish a bit of a track record with them in regards to payment, as chances are your credit was not so great to begin with.
You are also limited to a value of ten percent of your collateral during the first ninety days of having opened your account for any cash advances that you may want to get. After the first ninety days, the cash advance limit can be raised to fifty percent of your deposited amount.
The apr rate is nineteen point nine percent on purchases and cash advances, which is fairly typical among credit cards, but is still a pretty high interest charge when you think about it, so be diligent in paying off your debts and the things you charge on the card.
In terms of fraud prevention, this card comes with a standard $50 maximum liability charge for unauthorized use due to loss, theft and so on. This is pretty standard across the board for these kind of cards.
For customer service, the main way of getting help is via their online website for managing your account, and the other ways of reaching their customer service agents is via email or their toll free phone number.
So, all in all, this is a great option for people who have badly damaged or poor credit and who need help in starting to rebuild their credit rating from scratch. The card can be restrictive, but with proper use, you will be able to have and use a credit card again as you slowly rebuild your credit rating (which is made easier with the premier credit card.
