The First PREMIER credit card is an expensive unsecured card for people with poor credit. You should avoid the First PREMIER Mastercard if you don't have bad credit and you don't need to borrow a small amount of money for emergency expenses.

Below, you can find all the details you’ll need to make an informed decision about whether a First PREMIER credit card is right for your needs.

First PREMIER Credit Card Review Highlights

Very expensive

The First PREMIER Bank Mastercard Credit Card charges an application-processing fee, an annual fee and a monthly fee. The exact amounts depend on the credit limit you’re assigned, but they won’t be pretty in any case. 
 

• The processing fee could be anywhere from $55 - $95. 
• The annual fee ranges from $50 - $125 the first year and $45 - $49 each year thereafter. 
• The monthly fee ranges from $0 - $8 the first year and could be as “low” as $6.25 or as high as $10.40 each year thereafter.

Best case, you’ll have to pay roughly $225 in fees before the second anniversary of account opening. Worst case, you’ll have to shell out $489. In contrast, the average credit card would cost you about $50.44 over the first two years of use. And the best credit cards for people with bad credit can be free to use.
 

Very little payoff

Your credit limit could be anywhere from $200 to $700, depending on what First PREMIER thinks of your overall creditworthiness. But keep in mind that you won't always have this full amount at your disposal. Given the First PREMIER Credit Card's high fees, you may actually wind up with very little extra spending power, relative to what you can afford in cash.

For example, if you’re assigned a $300 credit limit, you will have to pay a $95 processing fee before opening your account and then a $75 annual fee once you do, giving you just $130 in borrowing power to work with. Such a paltry amount won’t go very far when you’re faced with emergency expenses. And emergency borrowing is the only reason for someone with bad credit to use an unsecured card instead of a secured card.
 

Market’s highest APR

The costs just keep on coming when you use the First PREMIER Bank Card. Balances carried from month to month will accrue interest at a whopping 36% annual rate. That’s tied for one of the highest APR on the market, according to WalletHub’s database of 1,500+ credit card offers, and it exceeds the 21.78% average among secured cards by a wide margin.

Furthermore, as finance charges are added to your minimum monthly payment, you’ll have less and less borrowing power to work with the longer you carry a balance.
 

Far better alternatives

No matter what your needs are, you can always find better options than the First PREMIER Bank credit card. That's especially true if you want a credit card mainly to rebuild your credit, rather than for emergency borrowing. You could get a no annual fee secured card, for example.