Preapproved First Premier Offer - How do they get people to do this?

[chasmith]

So I "opted in" a couple of months ago for credit offers, and one shows up!  An envelope from South Dakota with colorful balloons and a note "You are pre-approved because of better credit" (can a marketer say my credit is "better" to the world on the outside of an envelope?).

The offer is a Mastercard with a $700 credit line from First Premier.  The terms are astounding (in a bad way).  First year annual fee $175.00.  Subsequent years annual fee is reduced to $174.00 billed at $14.50 a month.  Interest rate is 23.9% for both purchases and cash.  These are spelled out in the disclosure box.  What aren't --- and this isn't a complete list -- Additional Card Fee $29.00.  Autodraft Fee $11.00 (this is for pay online).  Internet Access Fee $3.95 if you want online access to your account.

And now the best, saved for last - Credit Limit Increase Fee - 50% of any increase.

I say, if you can't afford a $700.00 savings deposit for a $700 secured card, run don't walk to a Credit Union, put $200.00 in a savings account (these pirates' annual fee plus $25) and get a $200.00 secured card.  Toss offers like this in the trash - no don't because they included an actual card ready for activation!

[Anonymous]

<sigh>

"Astounding" is an understatement. FP goes well beyond "risk based" lending in their outrageousness, and even manages to give "predatory lending" a worse name than it already has.

[Pushto700]

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@chasmith wrote:

So I "opted in" a couple of months ago for credit offers, and one shows up!  An envelope from South Dakota with colorful balloons and a note "You are pre-approved because of better credit" (can a marketer say my credit is "better" to the world on the outside of an envelope?).

The offer is a Mastercard with a $700 credit line from First Premier.  The terms are astounding (in a bad way).  First year annual fee $175.00.  Subsequent years annual fee is reduced to $174.00 billed at $14.50 a month.  Interest rate is 23.9% for both purchases and cash.  These are spelled out in the disclosure box.  What aren't --- and this isn't a complete list -- Additional Card Fee $29.00.  Autodraft Fee $11.00 (this is for pay online).  Internet Access Fee $3.95 if you want online access to your account.

And now the best, saved for last - Credit Limit Increase Fee - 50% of any increase.

I say, if you can't afford a $700.00 savings deposit for a $700 secured card, run don't walk to a Credit Union, put $200.00 in a savings account (these pirates' annual fee plus $25) and get a $200.00 secured card.  Toss offers like this in the trash - no don't because they included an actual card ready for activation!

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+1, the wife recieved one of these two weeks ago in the mail. I was shocked. Safe to say it was in the trash before it made it inside the house.

[FicoScore626]

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@Pushto700 wrote:

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@chasmith wrote:

So I "opted in" a couple of months ago for credit offers, and one shows up!  An envelope from South Dakota with colorful balloons and a note "You are pre-approved because of better credit" (can a marketer say my credit is "better" to the world on the outside of an envelope?).

The offer is a Mastercard with a $700 credit line from First Premier.  The terms are astounding (in a bad way).  First year annual fee $175.00.  Subsequent years annual fee is reduced to $174.00 billed at $14.50 a month.  Interest rate is 23.9% for both purchases and cash.  These are spelled out in the disclosure box.  What aren't --- and this isn't a complete list -- Additional Card Fee $29.00.  Autodraft Fee $11.00 (this is for pay online).  Internet Access Fee $3.95 if you want online access to your account.

And now the best, saved for last - Credit Limit Increase Fee - 50% of any increase.

I say, if you can't afford a $700.00 savings deposit for a $700 secured card, run don't walk to a Credit Union, put $200.00 in a savings account (these pirates' annual fee plus $25) and get a $200.00 secured card.  Toss offers like this in the trash - no don't because they included an actual card ready for activation!

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+1, the wife recieved one of these two weeks ago in the mail. I was shocked. Safe to say it was in the trash before it made it inside the house.

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Good deal! I hear those things carry the plague with them. Do not allow them in the house and anywhere near the children. High schools should have classes that teach their students about credit and at least half of a chapter should be devoted to First Premier bank.