The First PREMIER credit card is an expensive unsecured card for people with poor credit who need to borrow a small amount of money for emergency expenses and have few alternatives. If you are not in this situation, you should avoid the First PREMIER Mastercard because of its very high fees, which include a processing fee, annual fees of
$50 - $125 1st yr, $45 - $49 after and monthly fees of up to $10.40, among others.
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 the processing fee could be anywhere from $55 to $95. The annual fee ranges from $50 to $125 the first year and $45 to $49 each year thereafter. And 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 $190 in fees before the second anniversary of account opening. Worst case, you’ll have to shell out $269. In contrast, the average credit card would cost you about $34.7 over the first two years of use. And the best credit cards for people with the 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 remember, you won’t have all of that at your disposal to start with. Given the First PREMIER Credit Card’s high fees, you may actually wind 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 high annual rate. It’s by far the highest APR on the market, according to WalletHub’s database of 1,000+ credit card offers, and nearly double the
22.86% average among
secured cards. 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
Regardless of your exact need, you can do better than the First PREMIER Bank Credit Card. If you want a credit card to rebuild your credit, rather than emergency borrowing, there are better options, like no annual fee
secured cards.