topic Re: Upgrade Card Scam in Credit Cards

Upgrade Card Scam

Cory88 — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 15:30:46 GMT

I went to upgrade.com and tried to apply and was told too much debit so was on credit karma and they had an offer for a upgrade card went to take the offer and was approved. Upgrade makes you open a saving account with a credit union and I must open a cheque account with upgrade too. Come to find out the credit line is only good for 12m in my case then a 24m loan on the rest of the account balance. They did three credit check on EX and TU. My card is Life Rewards. Make sure you stay away from this company scam and they make it look like you are getting a credit card but you are not. You have to make payments every day if you buy anything to keep from charged interest from the day you buy anything.

Re: Upgrade Card Scam

SouthJamaica — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 15:33:32 GMT

@Cory88 wrote:
I went to upgrade.com and tried to apply and was told too much debit so was on credit karma and they had an offer for a upgrade card went to take the offer and was approved. Upgrade makes you open a saving account with a credit union and I must open a cheque account with upgrade too. Come to find out the credit line is only good for 12m in my case then a 24m loan on the rest of the account balance. They did three credit check on EX and TU. My card is Life Rewards. Make sure you stay away from this company scam and they make it look like you are getting a credit card but you are not. You have to make payments every day if you buy anything to keep from charged interest from the day you buy anything.

Thanks for the heads up. I hope you're closing your account with them.

Re: Upgrade Card Scam

ptatohed — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 15:48:37 GMT

@Cory88 wrote:
I went to upgrade.com and tried to apply and was told too much debit so was on credit karma and they had an offer for a upgrade card went to take the offer and was approved. Upgrade makes you open a saving account with a credit union and I must open a cheque account with upgrade too. Come to find out the credit line is only good for 12m in my case then a 24m loan on the rest of the account balance. They did three credit check on EX and TU. My card is Life Rewards. Make sure you stay away from this company scam and they make it look like you are getting a credit card but you are not. You have to make payments every day if you buy anything to keep from charged interest from the day you buy anything.

I have no issues with my Upgrade Cash Rewards Elite Visa. Functions just like a credit card as far as I am concerned. I use EarlyPay and have never paid a drop of interest. 2.2% uncapped cash back everything - one of the best returns out there for non-cat spending. It gave me a whopping $400 intro bonus that was super easy to meet. I think it's $200 now. I believe only TU was pulled. Not sure what you mean by they make you open a credit union savings account. ?? You don't 'need' to open an Upgrade checking account unless you want the intro bonus which is a super easy 3 purchases using your debit card. The debit card is 1% CB if I am not mistaken, with up to 2% in certain cats. They offer a very competitive high yield savings account (5.07% IIRC) with $1,000 minimum. No fees. They provide you your credit score. They have some partner merchants that can earn you additional cash back. I have no complaints. Well, ok, one - they don't allow AUs which is a bummer for me.

Re: Upgrade Card Scam

youngandcreditwrthy — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 15:55:25 GMT

I keep reading these type of reviews on the credit cards(or rather NOT credit cards ) from upgrade, but I opened the 5.07% savings and the 2% cashback on gas/food (not fast usually) and I love it.

Yup I really LOVE the interest Im getting on some of my savings and how that debit card acts like a credit card. super easy. 2% back on phone bill, prescriptions and sometimes food.

It seems like they are tricking some people though with how their loans and credit lines work. I will say when I've looked at tehir pre qualification, it is confusing.. sometimes it looks like a credit card app and other times it looks like a personal loan app.

I dunno but be careful I guess?

good luck

Re: Upgrade Card Scam

MileHigh96 — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 17:26:03 GMT

I have two Upgrade cards AND a personal loan with them and have nothing but positive things to say about them. You need to read the application(s) and understand what you are applying for. Yes, when you get a card or a loan through them, they open a savings account with one of their partner CU's, but there is nothing saying you need to use it. I don't use any of them. And as was already mentioned, you aren't forced to open a checking account with them unless you want the bonus stuff.

I've used both cards many times and they work exactly as a credit card. What's different is, that anything you charge over a 30 day period, unless you pay it off, coverts to a 36 month "loan" with fixed interest and the same monthly payment. You are more than welcome to pay off the balance at any time, or you can ride it out and pay it off in installments. Plus, what I love about the Upgrade cards is, because technically they are lines of credit and not revolving accounts, when you use them and carry a balance, they don't affect your revolving credit usage. This worked great when I had my house painted last year and put that $5000 on an Upgrade card instead of one of my regular cards and it didn't spike my credit usage when it came to my revolving accounts, which is currently at 2%. Plus I love knowing that I have the lines of credit in case of something unforeseen coming up where I need to get it covered in a hurry.

I find absolutely nothing misleading or any "scams" with Upgrade, it's people not reading and understanding what they are applying for.

Re: Upgrade Card Scam

7774x — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 23:27:41 GMT

@Cory88 wrote:
I went to upgrade.com and tried to apply and was told too much debit so was on credit karma and they had an offer for a upgrade card went to take the offer and was approved. Upgrade makes you open a saving account with a credit union and I must open a cheque account with upgrade too. Come to find out the credit line is only good for 12m in my case then a 24m loan on the rest of the account balance. They did three credit check on EX and TU. My card is Life Rewards. Make sure you stay away from this company scam and they make it look like you are getting a credit card but you are not. You have to make payments every day if you buy anything to keep from charged interest from the day you buy anything.

Thanks ..good to know ,,,they sent letter saying approved for 8,000 .. but asked to take photo of my arm holding my drivers license .. That's when I said forget them

Re: Upgrade Card Scam

CorpCrMgr1 — Thu, 01 Feb 2024 01:03:21 GMT

Thank you for your info. Always be careful.

Re: Upgrade Card Scam

mec684 — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 05:01:46 GMT

I wouldn't call it a scam. I love my Upgrade Elite Visa Signature. Was approved for 20k with 16% percent interest rate and 2.2% cash back rewards on everyday purchases. Also, it reports to credit as a line of credit NOT a credit card so your utilization is not affected if you need to charge a massive amount that would otherwise trigger your credit with each bureau as a result of increased utilization. You have to understand stand that the card is essentially a hybrid card a mix between credit card and a line of credit. Upgrade is a great company.

Re: Upgrade Card Scam

pip3man — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 10:51:23 GMT

@Cory88 I completely disagree with you on this post. It sounds like you didn't quite understand what you were applying for. I've been an Upgrade customer for 3yrs now. Have a checking, savings, personal loan, and two credit cards - Triple Cash Rewards & Cash Rewards Elite. I got a $400 welcome bonus simply by making 3 debit card purchases on the checking account back when it was still a thing. The savings interest rate is probably one of the highest out there if not the highest. Customer service is great and appears to be US based which I value a lot. Their early payroll ACH release is a nice touch. The debit card offers 2% cash back on almost everyday purchases. At the time I applied, they only did a soft pull on Transunion and I froze my file before accepting the offer so I was able to get both cards without a HP. The card DOES NOT report to your credit if you don't activate or use it so something to keep in mind. However, the moment it's used it'll get reported. I've NEVER had to pay a penny in interest on my card purchases and I use the Early Pay feature so I'm not sure how your experience is vastly different. You also say your credit line is good for only 12 months, where did u get that from? I've had my accounts going on 3yrs now yet they still open and active. My only complaint with them is that they're conservative and will balance chase at the slightest change to ur credit. My first card had an $11.5k SL, in 2023 the limit was slashed 3 times in a row to where it still sits today at $4.5k. AFAIK, they do not offer customer initiated credit increase request or automatic increases. But yeah in my opinion, Upgrade is an awesome company.

Re: Upgrade Card Scam

Varsity_Lu — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 11:43:20 GMT

@mec684 wrote:
I wouldn't call it a scam. I love my Upgrade Elite Visa Signature. Was approved for 20k with 16% percent interest rate and 2.2% cash back rewards on everyday purchases. Also, it reports to credit as a line of credit NOT a credit card so your utilization is not affected if you need to charge a massive amount that would otherwise trigger your credit with each bureau as a result of increased utilization. You have to understand stand that the card is essentially a hybrid card a mix between credit card and a line of credit. Upgrade is a great company.

Ok, so now I'm curious. Since I have no loans and only credit cards, would a card from Upgrade help my credit mix similar to an SSL? I don't pay interest, so I am wondering how I might use it to boost my score without having to carry a balance and pay interest. Is this possible? @ptatohed @MileHigh96 @pip3man

Re: Upgrade Card Scam

pip3man — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 12:38:08 GMT

@Varsity_Lu it all depends. I've attached a screenshot of how the Upgrade card currently reports on EX. With that being said, I'm not sure if scoring models rewards and differentiates between a revolving credit card and line of credit. What I do know for sure is, the card's balance isn't factored into your overall utilization which is very useful if u have to carry a high balance but don't wanna take the credit hit.

Re: Upgrade Card Scam

ptatohed — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 16:25:48 GMT

@Varsity_Lu wrote:
@mec684 wrote:
I wouldn't call it a scam. I love my Upgrade Elite Visa Signature. Was approved for 20k with 16% percent interest rate and 2.2% cash back rewards on everyday purchases. Also, it reports to credit as a line of credit NOT a credit card so your utilization is not affected if you need to charge a massive amount that would otherwise trigger your credit with each bureau as a result of increased utilization. You have to understand stand that the card is essentially a hybrid card a mix between credit card and a line of credit. Upgrade is a great company.
Ok, so now I'm curious. Since I have no loans and only credit cards, would a card from Upgrade help my credit mix similar to an SSL? I don't pay interest, so I am wondering how I might use it to boost my score without having to carry a balance and pay interest. Is this possible? @ptatohed @MileHigh96 @pip3man

I don't know for sure Lu. Here is one article covering your question. Experian. Not sure if that helps. But I don't know that I would get an upgrade card only for a possible score boost. Make sure you want one anyway. The 2.2% Elite is a good card if you don't have anything higher than 2.2%, and the MyFive is an especially intriguing card that is on my radar. Keep in mind that, every so often, Credit Karma will double the regular Intro Bonus from $200 to $400.

Re: Upgrade Card Scam

TrapLine — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 21:45:29 GMT

@pip3man

On my Experian Credit Bureau Report I have checking ready reserves and lines of credit all reporting right along with the other credit cards.

Installment Loans and Real Estate each report in their own categories. Now one of my checking ready reserve lines reports all by itself but factors into the total credit and the calculations for a score on Fico 08. Now on the Vantage 4 the categories seem the same and the scoring is following along the same way but, I have a higher score?! Will not try to explain that ...?

Re: Upgrade Card Scam

mec684 — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 22:56:51 GMT

agreed! that was the easiest $400 I ever made! i love my upgrade tripple cash rewards with a much lower rate than regular credit cards. great to have for emergencies as it essentially reports to your credit as a unspecified line of credit. I normally use my amex charge accounts for massive charges in order to avoid triggering the utilization hit during monthly reporting but with upgrade you can max it out in the event of an emergency, sign up for reasonabke payments at a locked interest rate and have no affect to your utilization. He clearly doesn't understand the card. If you are a strategic person having this in your arsenal is great.

Re: Upgrade Card Scam

redpat — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 12:07:20 GMT

@mec684 wrote:
agreed! that was the easiest $400 I ever made! i love my upgrade tripple cash rewards with a much lower rate than regular credit cards. great to have for emergencies as it essentially reports to your credit as a unspecified line of credit. I normally use my amex charge accounts for massive charges in order to avoid triggering the utilization hit during monthly reporting but with upgrade you can max it out in the event of an emergency, sign up for reasonabke payments at a locked interest rate and have no affect to your utilization. He clearly doesn't understand the card. If you are a strategic person having this in your arsenal is great.

@mec684

Who gives a crap about a monthly utilization for a 45 day float for a regular credit card. If you have a good credit profile most don't care to report utilization for a month because utilization has no memory. So you are telling us you rather pay interest to avoid utilization?

I get all my $400 plus banking bonuses without having to get a hard pull for a crap card that gives you a 1 day float.

The hoops you CB folk jump through for that .002 "have to remember to early pay on day 2 after every charge"

OP is right and if I read their bonus correctly you now have to open a checking account for the bonus, according to Nerdwallet.

Re: Upgrade Card Scam

mec684 — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 11:32:22 GMT

I personally like the company. I have close to 40k in available credit with them through multiple visa sig accounts with a 14% APR w/ auto pay. It reports as a line of credit and not a typical credit card, but it acts as a credit card and you are able to accrue 2% cash back on all purchases. imo It is a great addition to my credit mix, and I have an 800+ credit score across each bureau but to eaches own.