Pros
- Qualify with bad credit
- Does not require security deposit
Cons
- High membership fees
- High regular APR
- Foreign fee
Milestone® Mastercard®
Additional Info
- Greater access to credit than before - $700 credit limit
- Get a Mastercard accepted online, in store and in app
- Account history is reported to the three major credit bureaus in the U.S.
- $0 liability for unauthorized use
- Access your account online or from your mobile device 24/7
- More Details & Reviews About Milestone® Mastercard®
Milestone Credit Card Review Summary
The Milestone Credit Card is a pretty good unsecured credit card for people with bad credit. The Milestone Mastercard has a $700 credit limit and does not require users to place a refundable security deposit.
This card is far from perfect, however. The spending power it provides is initially diminished to as little as $525 by a first-year annual fee of $175. The Milestone Card’s APR is quite high as well.
In other words, your decision regarding this card ultimately comes down to how badly you need to borrow $525 and how quickly you’ll be able to repay your resulting balance. You can find more information to help you decide whether or not to apply for the Milestone Credit Card below.
Milestone Credit Card Review Highlights
Available To People With Below-Average Credit
Numerous credit cards offer approval to people with bad credit, but few will do business with the worst of the bunch. Someone with a bankruptcy on his or her credit report may even have trouble getting a secured credit card. But such a blemish is fine as far as Milestone® is concerned, which is quite important when you consider that credit cards are by far the best credit-rebuilding tools available to consumers.
$525 In Initial Spending Power
The Milestone® Mastercard®’s standard starting credit line is $700. You won’t initially have access to that full amount, however, as a $175 annual fee will consume a chunk of that immediately upon opening your account. But if you need $525 for an emergency expense and can’t come up with the cash, this unsecured credit line could be quite valuable, especially if it proves to be your cheapest option.
No “Processing” Fees
Some unsecured cards for people with bad credit skirt first-year-fee regulations by charging so-called “processing” fees, payment of which is a precondition of account opening. Milestone® stoops to this practice, which should make your wallet happy.
Milestone Credit Card Review Lowlights
High Annual and Monthly Fees
The first year you have this card, you will have to pay an annual fee of $175. If this card doesn’t help your credit score improve in order to graduate to a less expensive offer after those first 12 months, the annual fee will drop to $49 but a monthly fee of $12.50 gets added to the mix.
At the end of the day, such potentially hefty costs has to be considered a negative.
Very High APR
Milestone's regular APR is by no means inexpensive. And neither the 22.15% average APR for all new credit-card offers nor the 21.88% average for secured cards, according to WalletHub’s latest Credit Card Landscape Report, provides a positive basis for comparison.
Other Things To Consider About The Milestone Credit Card
Security-Deposit Savings
You ultimately need to determine whether you really need an unsecured credit line or simply want to avoid placing a security deposit on a secured card. On the one hand, you won’t have to give up precious liquidity with an unsecured card. But on the other hand, such a card will wind up costing you much more in the long run, considering fees are not refundable like security deposits. So just make sure to weigh these pros and cons within the context of your personal situation before submitting an application.
Relatively Low Foreign-Transaction Fee
This particular aspect of the offer is likely immaterial to you, considering the modest credit limit you’ll get and the high costs associated with it. But it still bears mentioning that Milestone®’s foreign fee, a mere 1%, is not only lower than what its competitors charge (3% for the most part) but also below the market average of 1.53%.
Milestone Credit Card vs. The Competition
| Info | Milestone® Mastercard® | First PREMIER® Bank Mastercard Credit Card | Credit One Bank® Platinum Visa® for Rebuilding Credit | Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Fee | $175 1st yr; $49 after | $50 - $125 1st yr, $45 - $49 after | $75 intro 1st yr, $99 after | $0 |
| Bonus Offer | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Rewards Rate | N/A | N/A | 0 - 1% Cash Back | 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 | 35.9% | 36% | 28.74% (V) | 29.99% (V) |
| Editors' Rating | 3 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Details, Rates & Fees | Learn More | Learn More | Learn More | Learn More |
Milestone® Mastercard® Review Methodology
This Milestone® Mastercard® review is based on WalletHub’s proprietary 100-point credit card rating system. By using a consistent methodology to evaluate the Milestone® Mastercard® and all other cards, WalletHub’s credit card experts make it easy for people to compare their options and find the best credit cards for their needs.
The WalletHub rating system uses 16 key metrics grouped into seven categories: Fees, Rewards, Two-year Cost, Interest Rates, Approval Requirements, Special Features, and Reviews. Each metric has a maximum number of points allocated to it, based on the metric’s importance as determined by our editors. The points are added up to create an overall rating for the Milestone® Mastercard® out of a maximum of 100 points, which is then converted to a 5-point scale.
Ratings for each category reflect how close Milestone Credit Card is to WalletHub’s definition of a 5-star credit card, which is based on market conditions and what we believe are reasonable terms. We compare Milestone Credit Card to that standard to give a numerical approximation of how reasonable and competitive its terms are compared to other cards.
To learn more about how WalletHub rates credit card offers, check out our full credit card review methodology.
