First Progress Platinum Elite MasterCard® Secured Credit Card

10-second breakdown:

Made for consumers who have hit rock bottom and feel like they can’t even get a credit card to start improving their score, First Progress’ Platinum Elite MasterCard Secured can be just the lifeline you need to start rising back to the top.

Key benefits:

• There is no minimum credit score an no credit history required with this card.
• Three different choices of APR rates and annual fees to give you flexibility.
• Reports your payments to the 3 major credit bureaus to improve your credit over time.

Who it’s for:

Maybe it was a misspent youth, or a number of missed payments right in a row. It can be hard to escape the ghosts of credit past, and if you have had a particularly wild ride the past few years you could be in for a nasty surprise. Even if you apply for a credit-rebuilding secured credit card, your application can still be rejected. Even if you have the money to put up for the security deposits, if your score is low enough banks won’t even bat an eyelash as they stamp your application ‘denied.’

This card is for individuals with bad credit (below 599).

The details:

What do you do then? Is your situation beyond hope, or maybe you have to beg a family member to cosign with you? While having an extremely low credit score can be frightful in a lot of ways, there are still options available. This is where First Progress comes into the picture. For consumers who are scared to even apply for a secured credit card for fear of what it might do to their credit score, First Progress can throw them a life preserver to keep them from drowning.

First Progress’ Platinum Elite Secured MasterCard is just what you need to pull yourself back up out of the mud and clean your credit score off. The Platinum Elite Secured MasterCard has an extremely low credit score requirement, and the APR is a fair 19.99%. It’s not going to turn any heads but the rate is surprisingly competitive with other cards that have stricter credit requirements.

The Platinum Elite Secured MasterCard has a surprisingly low annual fee to boot of $29. As anyone that’s stuck in the position of rebuilding credit knows, every dollar makes a difference. If a low annual fee is important to you, that combined with the decent APR offers a very persuasive argument.

While the point of a secured card is to make your payments on time and build your score, mistakes happen. First Progress charges a $25 late payment fee which rises up to $35 if you had another late payment in the past 6 months.

If you intend to stick with First Progress’ Platinum Elite Secured card for a while, they offer one of the highest secured credit limits in the industry. With good behavior, you can work your way up to a limit of $5,000. Most competitors will cap it at $3,000. While this might not make much of a difference day to day, the extra spending power can really come in handy if you’re making a big push to improve your credit score.

Similar to other secured credit cards, First Progress doesn’t allow you to transfer any existing balances over to your Platinum Elite Secured card. This is a blessing and a curse, while having the option is always nice, at 20% APR it’s likely that keeping the balance wherever it started is probably cheaper.

Also keeping in line with other secured credit cards, you won’t find any rewards or introductory offers here. These cards are meant as a stepping stone to help you get to better cards, not ones that you’ll be holding onto for years and years to come. On that note, First Progress does report to each of the three big credit bureaus. With a few small bank competitors, they may only report to one or two – if any at all. The credit bureaus need to know you’re keeping up with your payments and managing your credit well, otherwise you’re score will never improve and all of this will have just been a waste of time.

If you’re really in a bind, the Platinum Elite Secured MasterCard does allow you to get a cash advance unlike a lot of the competition. Just be aware that you will literally pay for it, the APR for the cash advance is 24.99% and interest starts accusing the moment you withdraw the cash – it really is a last resort.

One big downside is the security deposit. For a lot of secure credit cards, the issuing companies are pretty flexible with your initial deposit. Only need a $50 limit to start? No problem, send $50 their way and you can get started. With First Progress, since the card is targeted at consumers with a rough credit history, the very minimum deposit is $200. If that’s out of your reach, unfortunately there’s nothing else that can be done – once you’re able to save up the money you can get the ball rolling with First Progress and start repairing your credit.

Even if you’re credit is flat out horrible, there’s no need to despair. First Progress’ Platinum Elite MasterCard is built for consumers that can’t even get a credit line devised to help them improve their score. If you have very bad credit, this card can help you take the first steps on the journey of redemption.

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