The Merrick Bank Secured Card is a pretty good credit card for people with bad credit who don’t mind paying a small annual fee in order to begin rebuilding their credit. This Merrick Bank credit card has a
$36 annual fee the first year (
$0 after) as well as a $3 monthly fee that kicks in the second year. Account activity is reported to the three major credit bureaus, so on-time payments will help improve your credit score
Merrick Bank Secured Card Review Highlights
Fees aren’t terrible (or great)
The
Merrick Bank Secured Card has a
$36 annual fee the first year, which gets replaced by a $3 monthly fee on your first account anniversary. So it’s not the most expensive option you’ll come across, but it’s not the cheapest, either.
Reasonable, flexible security deposit
A lot of secured credit cards require a higher minimum deposit than the
Merrick Bank Secured Card’s
$200. So you won’t have to temporarily sacrifice too much cash. You can also add to your deposit whenever you want, up to a total of $3,000. A higher limit helps make everyday spending more manageable and fuels credit score growth. If you’d like to monitor your progress, WalletHub’s
free daily credit score updates can help.
Low regular APR, but that doesn’t mean much
The
Merrick Bank Secured Card charges interest at an annual rate, which is more befitting good credit than bad. For context, the average good-credit credit card has an
24.12% APR, according to WalletHub’s latest
Credit Card Landscape Report. With that being said, it’s generally not a good idea to carry a balance from month to month with a secured card. Since you self-funded your credit line, you’d be getting charged interest for spending your own money.
Far better secured cards are available
Before applying for the
Merrick Bank Secured Card, make sure to check out WalletHub’s picks for
2024’s best secured credit cards. In particular, the
Capital One Platinum Secured, the Harley-Davidson Secured Visa and the
Discover it Secured Credit Card are great options. Reading some Merrick Bank Credit Card reviews should be helpful, too, giving you a sense of what actual cardholders think of the offer and perhaps alerting you about pitfalls to avoid.