Pros
- Qualify with bad credit
- Does not require security deposit
Cons
- High membership fees
- High regular APR
- Foreign fee
First PREMIER® Bank Mastercard Credit Card
Additional Info
- Based on your creditworthiness, this card requires a one-time up front Processing Fee of $55 - $95, to be paid in full before the Credit Account is opened. If the Processing Fee is not paid in full within 85 days, the application will be withdrawn.
- Fees reduce your available credit. For example, if your initial credit limit is $300, your initial available credit will be only about $225, given the $75 Annual Fee that is charged on the card.
- Based on your creditworthiness and credit limit assigned, this card’s annual fee could be $50 - $125 in the first year, $45 – $49 after.
- Based on your creditworthiness and credit limit assigned, this card’s monthly fee could be $0 - $8 in the first year, $6.25 - $10.40 after.
- Your account history reports to the major Consumer Reporting Agencies
- Use your card everywhere Mastercard® cards are accepted.
- Each time your Credit Account is eligible for and approved for an unsecured credit limit increase, a Credit Limit Increase Fee in the amount of 25% of the amount of the credit limit increase will be assessed to your Credit Account.
- *We are not affiliated with or authorized by First PREMIER Bank. The information herein has not been reviewed or approved by First PREMIER Bank.
- More Details & Reviews About First PREMIER® Bank Mastercard Credit Card
Note: Our editorial staff maintains strict independence and integrity, so it is important to note that WalletHub’s legal history with First Premier had absolutely no bearing on our review.
First Premier Bank Credit Card Review Summary
The First PREMIER® Bank Mastercard Credit Card is a bad deal, even for people with “bad” credit. You’ll have to pay First Premier $25-$95 for “processing” right off the bat, and you then immediately face a first-year fee of $75 to $125, depending on your starting credit limit which reduces your initial spending power.
The low credit limit and high fees you’re likely to confront with this card, won’t do you much good when it comes to affording emergency expenses. Neither will the card’s 36% regular APR — one of the highest interest rate on the market, according to our latest Credit Card Landscape Report. What’s more, if you keep your account open for longer than a year, you will have to pay $120 to $174 in fees each year, thanks to the combination of an annual fee and a monthly “maintenance” charge.
In other words, you can basically think of First Premier as your wallet’s worst fear.
First Premier Bank Credit Card Highlights
As Much As $896 In Starting Spending Power
People with bad credit resort to unsecured cards in order to pay for something they can’t afford in cash. And that is where the First PREMIER® Bank Mastercard Credit Card provides a modicum of assistance. You just have to fit a very specific profile.More specifically, you must:
- Have $25 - $95 in cash
- Be willing to wait for a new credit card to arrive
- Need an emergency loan of $896 or less
- Be unable to obtain the funds at a lower cost
This assumes you will have to pay a $25 processing fee and a $79 first-year fee in return for a $1,000 credit line, which would give you a total of $896 in spending power that you do not currently have ($896=$1,000-$25-$79). If you obtain a $1,000 credit limit, the monthly fee is also not waived, as with the $300, $400, or $500 credit limits, and you would have to pay during the first year an $8 monthly fee, which will rise to $10.4 in the second year. The same monthly fees are applied if you get a $700 credit limit, and a $5.85 fee per month in the first year, with $8.25 in subsequent years, if you get a $600 limit. Such an amount will ultimately prove insufficient for many people. But others could also say that it’s better than nothing.
First Premier Bank Credit Card Lowlights
$25-$95 Processing Fee
If you’re approved for the First PREMIER® Bank Mastercard Credit Card, one thing will stand between you and account opening: a processing fee between $25 and $95. This can have a significant impact on your initial spending limit, and, if you don’t pay this fee within 85 days of being notified of approval, your account will be terminated.
$50 - $125 First-Year Annual Fee
Upon opening your account, you will be greeted by another treat: a first-year annual fee as high as $125, which alone would accrue about $26 in interest over a year’s time. More specifically, you’ll have to pay $125 the first year if you’re approved for a $500 credit line, $100 for $400, $79 for $600, $700, and $1,000, and $75 for $300.
Up To $173.80 In Membership Fees Starting Year Two
The card’s annual fee will drop to $45 in the second year if you have a credit line of $300 or $400 and to $49 if your limit is $500, $600, $700, or $1,000. But this is deceiving. If you get a $300, $400, or $500 credit limit, monthly fees also come into play, with the lower-credit-limit groups having to shell out $6.25 and the high-end crowd on the hook for $10.40. As a result, cumulative membership fees after the first year can total $120 or $173.80. And, if you get the larger credit limits, you would have to take into consideration that the monthly fees are not waived in the first year.
36% Regular APR
The whole point of an unsecured credit card for bad credit is to finance emergency expenses. In other words, you’re probably going to carry a balance from month to month. Unfortunately, doing so will be awfully expensive with the First PREMIER® Bank Mastercard Credit Card, thanks to a 36% APR that is considerably higher than the average rate for secured credit cards (19.74%) and cards for people with fair credit (23.87%), according to WalletHub’s latest Credit Card Landscape Report.
25% Credit-Limit Increase Fee
If you ever ask for and receive a credit-limit increase after at least 13 months of having an active account, you will be charged a fee equal to 25% of the difference between your old and new limits. For example, if you get approved for an additional $200, you will be charged a fee of $50.
Other Things To Consider About the First Premier Bank Credit Card
5% Cash Advance Fee
If your emergency expense can only be paid in cash, you will have to pay a fee equal to 5% of the amount withdrawn (minimum of $6) to tap into your card’s credit line at an ATM. Interest will immediately begin accruing at a market-worst 36% rate as well.
3% Foreign Transaction Fee
If your financial emergency for some reason involves international travel or spending, it’s important for you to note this card’s 3% fee for transactions processed outside the U.S. Such a charge bucks the market-wide trend away from geographic nickel-and-diming, as the average foreign transaction fee has fallen by 38% since 2014, according to WalletHub data.
Premier Credit Protection
You can pay $0.89 per $100 in end-of-month balances for a service that First Premier calls “Premier Credit Protection,” which promises to make payments for you in the event of certain covered events, such as disability, unemployment and unpaid family leave. However, such deals typically aren’t worthwhile given the myriad exclusions that apply. But you can peruse the contract to make up your own mind.
Watch Out For Aliases
First Premier typically offers a single credit card. However, it regularly changes the name of this card – sometimes, but not always, in accordance with tweaks to its terms. The same basic offer has been called the Possibilities Card, the Forward Card, the Gold Card, the Classic Card, the Platinum Card and the Centennial Card. So make sure to be on the lookout for this marketing gimmick, and always analyze a card’s terms to see if it’s really a wolf in sheep’s clothing
First Premier Bank Credit Card vs. The Competition
| Info | First PREMIER® Bank Mastercard Credit Card | Credit One Bank® Platinum Visa® for Rebuilding Credit | Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card | Milestone® Mastercard® - Less Than Perfect Credit Considered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Fee | $50 - $125 1st yr, $45 - $49 after | $75 intro 1st yr, $99 after | $0 | $35 - $99* |
| Bonus Offer | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Rewards Rate | N/A | 0 - 1% Cash Back | N/A | N/A |
| Purchase Intro APR | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Transfer Intro APR | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Regular APR | 36% | 28.24% (V) | 29.74% (V) | 24.9% |
| Editors' Rating | 1 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
| Details, Rates & Fees | Learn More | Learn More | Learn More | Learn More |
