topic Re: First Premier- You Can Keep Your Card in Credit Cards

First Premier- You Can Keep Your Card

meka1984 — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 22:16:08 GMT

Today DH received a preapproved offer from First Premier for a $700.00 CC.

This card has an annual fee of $175, of course that was in the fine print. I could not believe my eyes. I am an advocate of rebuilding credit; however, FP is a monster for preying on people.

I have been an FP customer and I understand they many help some but they are out of control.

Re: First Premier- You Can Keep Your Card

sandsanta — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 22:23:55 GMT

That pales in comparison to 77% APR. You could get better rates on loans from Uncle Tony.

Re: First Premier- You Can Keep Your Card

LS2982 — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 22:35:03 GMT

@sandsanta wrote:
That pales in comparison to 77% APR. You could get better rates on loans from Uncle Tony.

Wow......

Insane. That's a definite PIF card. No excuses.

Re: First Premier- You Can Keep Your Card

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 22:37:21 GMT

Did it have any perks?

$175 seems pretty crazy, unless you're talking about Amex.

Re: First Premier- You Can Keep Your Card

meka1984 — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 22:43:10 GMT

No perks at all.

Re: First Premier- You Can Keep Your Card

mAndrew1980 — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 22:48:24 GMT

I received this same pre approval about a month ago. Shredded it. I don't care how desperate I am, I'll never take FP. Talk about predatory lending....

Re: First Premier- You Can Keep Your Card

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 23:07:07 GMT

You could look at the $175 fee as $14.58 per month as good history reporting

Re: First Premier- You Can Keep Your Card

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 23:09:08 GMT

no way,,, cheaper cards to get history going

Re: First Premier- You Can Keep Your Card

meka1984 — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 23:13:09 GMT

He doesn't need it. He has a Cash Rewards Visa through NFCU and 2 Cap One cards.

I just can't see wasting $15 per month, especially when he has history.

Re: First Premier- You Can Keep Your Card

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 23:19:49 GMT

amen to that

Re: First Premier- You Can Keep Your Card

trumpet-205 — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 23:47:28 GMT

If you are desperate for getting a rebuild card, this is your cost. I always recommend people to wait a year or 2 then get secured card from Cap 1 or other major banks. Avoid FP if you can.

Re: First Premier- You Can Keep Your Card

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:08:43 GMT

im pretty sure creditone has a soft hit prequal

Re: First Premier- You Can Keep Your Card

mAndrew1980 — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 02:08:31 GMT

hopefully one day I can get my First Premier Sig card. $8000.00 AF with $200CL and 66% APR.

Re: First Premier- You Can Keep Your Card

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 02:17:33 GMT

Don't get discouraged, most of us have been working on it for years,,, it takes time.. But its exciting when u reach a goal and it is rewarded, that being said u have to make sure u pay everything on time (#1), plus if u just come here as often as u can u can learn a lot,,, any comments fellow fico ppl?

Re: First Premier- You Can Keep Your Card

lithium78 — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 02:32:50 GMT

A while back, when I started my rebuilding journey, I applied for a First Premier and it was my fault for not reading the fine print. When they sent it, it had $250 in fees. I called them and told them to close the account without ever activating the card. It still shows as a positive tradeline on my CRs. I ended up going with Orchard Bank, HSBC, and Credit One rather than deal with FP's highway robbery. (Not that Credit One was that much better. $111 AF and mandatory minimum finance charges, 23.9% interest, $10 charge for pay your bill online until the recent law banned this practice, and absolutely no rewards or benefits of any kind.)

Re: First Premier- You Can Keep Your Card

LS2982 — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 02:37:23 GMT

@lithium78 wrote:
A while back, when I started my rebuilding journey, I applied for a First Premier and it was my fault for not reading the fine print. When they sent it, it had $250 in fees. I called them and told them to close the account without ever activating the card. It still shows as a positive tradeline on my CRs. I ended up going with Orchard Bank, HSBC, and Credit One rather than deal with FP's highway robbery. (Not that Credit One was that much better. $111 AF and mandatory minimum finance charges, 23.9% interest, $10 charge for pay your bill online until the recent law banned this practice, and absolutely no rewards or benefits of any kind.)

Yea I already shredded my CreditOne card looking forward to shutting it down in january.

Re: First Premier- You Can Keep Your Card

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 05:48:49 GMT

Before I was able to get in with bofa and navy federal I had to get first premier a few months ago. My APR is 19% with an AF of 50. Ill keep it for a year for history then ill focus on bofa and navy federal

Re: First Premier- You Can Keep Your Card

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 16:38:27 GMT

Much as I hate to admit it, I opened a FP card with a similar offer. It's a terrible card and they're SOOO predatory, but I opened it in June and within 3 months my scores Were high enough from the additional reporting to open a Barclays and a ZYNC. They are predatory but I didn't open the card to finance anything. The biggest perk I have seen is the CLI "fee". If you get a CLI from them, they automatically charge you 25% of the additional credit (ie, if your CL is $700 and they give you $100 CLI, they charge you a $25 statement charge)

Doesn't matter though...I'll drop them like a bad habit when it comes time for the new AF to hit

Re: First Premier- You Can Keep Your Card

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 16:38:45 GMT

First Premiere has their place in the credit world. Not everyone has the funds to lock down a secured card and in the most severe circumstances may not even get approved for some secured cards. When I had them I considered the opening fee and the monthly fee as my penalty for my earlier credit abuse. I knew from day 1 they were not going to be a company I would have a long term relationship with, but they put me back on the road to building a positive credit history.

So, if you are above them, Good for you. But if you are in the credit cellar and just need a temporary light to find the stairs to the party going on above you then they are worth considering.