topic Re: Merrick Bank is it worth it? in Credit Cards

Merrick Bank is it worth it?

Legions36 — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 21:50:05 GMT

They sent me a prescreen offer $700 line and double to $1400 after 7 months, APR of 25.45 market rate. Is it even worth the hard pull or should i just save my hp's for better card like USAA, chase, etc? The good thing is i know im approved and they have a free fico score but i have scorewatch so im not sure.

Re: Merrick Bank is it worth it?

sccredit — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 22:20:50 GMT

I would not if I were you. However, it may make more financial sense the the Credit One card you have listed in your sig.

ETA: I had Merrick when working my way from 477 to 730, it was useful to me. You, on the other hand, have NFCU.

Re: Merrick Bank is it worth it?

09Lexie — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 22:42:47 GMT

It makes no sense ESP with the cc's in your siggy. Orch Bank is now Cap 1, have you tried to get a CLI? Credit 1, are they charging you monthly fees

Re: Merrick Bank is it worth it?

Legions36 — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 22:46:12 GMT

@sccredit wrote:
I would not if I were you. However, it may make more financial sense the the Credit One card you have listed in your sig.

ETA: I had Merrick when working my way from 477 to 730, it was useful to me. You, on the other hand, have NFCU.

Got it thanks. I will pass.

Re: Merrick Bank is it worth it?

Legions36 — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 22:47:16 GMT

@09Lexie wrote:
It makes no sense ESP with the cc's in your siggy. Orch Bank is now Cap 1, have you tried to get a CLI? Credit 1, are they charging you monthly fees

I will eventually close the cred1, i think they only charge anual fees.

Re: Merrick Bank is it worth it?

SunriseEarth — Sat, 09 Nov 2013 00:03:02 GMT

@Legions36 wrote:
They sent me a prescreen offer $700 line and double to $1400 after 7 months, APR of 25.45 market rate. Is it even worth the hard pull or should i just save my hp's for better card like USAA, chase, etc? The good thing is i know im approved and they have a free fico score but i have scorewatch so im not sure.

Merrick is a great rebuilder. However, if you have a 10K CL with NFCU, you've definitely outgrown them.

The secured cards and the high fee Credit One also don't make much sense to me. You should consider closing them. Maybe you should run your info through some of the pre-qualifiers at Chase or Citi or BofA and see if they bite.

Re: Merrick Bank is it worth it?

Legions36 — Sat, 09 Nov 2013 01:59:58 GMT

@SunriseEarth wrote:
@Legions36 wrote:
They sent me a prescreen offer $700 line and double to $1400 after 7 months, APR of 25.45 market rate. Is it even worth the hard pull or should i just save my hp's for better card like USAA, chase, etc? The good thing is i know im approved and they have a free fico score but i have scorewatch so im not sure.
Merrick is a great rebuilder. However, if you have a 10K CL with NFCU, you've definitely outgrown them.
The secured cards and the high fee Credit One also don't make much sense to me. You should consider closing them. Maybe you should run your info through some of the pre-qualifiers at Chase or Citi or BofA and see if they bite.

Yeah I checked Chase and they say im prequalified for slate and freedom. Citi doesn't have a special card but offers me other cards i might like.

Re: Merrick Bank is it worth it?

juggalo9er — Sat, 09 Nov 2013 02:17:41 GMT

sorry to ask this but was just reading through and i saw you mention bank of americas credit card finder. i am curiuos as to the accuracy of this due to the fact that i am 2 years out of chapter 7 with 3 cards all in good staning and it came up with an offer of 10-21% interest no af 3% bt card.

Re: Merrick Bank is it worth it?

Anonymous — Sat, 09 Nov 2013 03:16:34 GMT

Here's the one reason to NOT accept:

Look at their Terms of Service agreement: you can't have more than 2 credit accounts (including theirs) and they won't "let you" open more credit lines without them shutting down the credit they gave you.

Research that, it's true.

For that reason, I'd stay far away from that. Somebody here mentioned Credit One - I'd go for them. I have had them since March of this year I believe and have had zero problems using the card or paying on the card - plus they gave me a CLI which costs me nothing.

Re: Merrick Bank is it worth it?

Mrm-na — Sat, 09 Nov 2013 04:07:19 GMT

Merrick was my 2nd credit card. I'm coming up on my 1 year anniversary with them now. I originally signed up with that same "double your line" offer. I was using the credit heavily at one point and due to their obligation, they ended up doubling when my utilization was fairly high. That doubling event boosted my score, and I first noticed better card offers coming in the mail. That's when I finally did some research to learn how credit scoring actually works. Up until then I had been ignorant.

After paying them off, and with the higher credit limit available, my credit started looking a lot better than it ever did with just my $500 Capital One card. That put me in position to finally get the cards I really wanted. Their free FICO score also helped in that venture.

My Merrick account definitely helped to catapult me in the credit world, so I have nothing against them.

Their web site is simple, but I like it that way. I hate the "modern" school of web site design - Merrick's site just works.

The APR is high, and they're pretty much known for that, I don't think anybody gets a decent APR from Merrick. But they give higher credit limits for someone with mediocre credit, which can help for scoring. One other peculiarity I noticed - they're the only card I have which lets you use the entire limit for cash advances. Of course you'd be insane to do that unless you're really desperate. But I guess it's another feature that makes it suitable as an emergency card. And if they close your account for doing a cash advance - hey, it was only Merrick.

You probably don't need them. I was going to keep mine open since there's no annual fee, and they've been nothing but good for me so far. The free monthly score, which is TransUnion FICO 08 Bankcard, made it worth keeping - but now I see all the other card companies are starting to give free scores, so that appeal is diminishing.

@Anonymous wrote:
Here's the one reason to NOT accept:

Look at their Terms of Service agreement: you can't have more than 2 credit accounts (including theirs) and they won't "let you" open more credit lines without them shutting down the credit they gave you.

Wow - I do need to research that. I wasn't aware. I'm about to have a 3rd and 4th card show up on my reports, so I guess Merrick might can me soon. Oh well, it's not like they're in anybody's top 2 favorites so whatever, their loss. But it's good to anticipate this so I can plan how my cards will be used.

Re: Merrick Bank is it worth it?

masscredit — Sat, 09 Nov 2013 05:04:18 GMT

I received my Merrick last August. Started at $1k, auto increase to $1200. this past July then another auto increase to $1600. last month. Have 7 cards now. Had 3 including this when I received it. Actually, it was kind of in with an app spree last year.

Re: Merrick Bank is it worth it?

SunriseEarth — Sat, 09 Nov 2013 19:50:36 GMT

@Legions36 wrote:
@SunriseEarth wrote:
@Legions36 wrote:
They sent me a prescreen offer $700 line and double to $1400 after 7 months, APR of 25.45 market rate. Is it even worth the hard pull or should i just save my hp's for better card like USAA, chase, etc? The good thing is i know im approved and they have a free fico score but i have scorewatch so im not sure.
Merrick is a great rebuilder. However, if you have a 10K CL with NFCU, you've definitely outgrown them.
The secured cards and the high fee Credit One also don't make much sense to me. You should consider closing them. Maybe you should run your info through some of the pre-qualifiers at Chase or Citi or BofA and see if they bite.
Yeah I checked Chase and they say im prequalified for slate and freedom. Citi doesn't have a special card but offers me other cards i might like.

If you need a new TL, I'd say go for the Freedom.

Re: Merrick Bank is it worth it?

SunriseEarth — Sat, 09 Nov 2013 19:54:29 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Here's the one reason to NOT accept:

Look at their Terms of Service agreement: you can't have more than 2 credit accounts (including theirs) and they won't "let you" open more credit lines without them shutting down the credit they gave you.

Research that, it's true.

I wonder how often they enforce that term? I guess that would give them a good "out" if the ever wanted to take AA on someone.

Anyway, I'm not terribly worried about it. If that happens, I'll just have to obtain a new TL.

Re: Merrick Bank is it worth it?

BackInTheSaddleAgain — Sun, 10 Nov 2013 00:56:20 GMT

I have a Merrick card that's jjust a little over a year old and never had any of these issues. I have 5 credit credit cards, 3 of which were obtained AFTER the Merrick card. I've also used the full cash advance option a couple of times and never had any issues with it either. For the most part, however, I pay in full each month.

Re: Merrick Bank is it worth it?

dollar_bill — Sun, 10 Nov 2013 04:08:36 GMT

Merrick is familar to most people who had the Hooters MC. Same website, same everything except no more Hooters

I closed my account with a 5k CL which was at 5k from Hooters. Merrick literally has very little to offer unless you are rebuilding. I had no issues while the card was open, but then again I never used it.

Re: Merrick Bank is it worth it?

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Nov 2013 15:24:05 GMT

unusuallyconfused wrote: Look at their Terms of Service agreement: you can't have more than 2 credit accounts (including theirs) and they won't "let you" open more credit lines without them shutting down the credit they gave you

I just received a PRE-SELECTED "double your line" from $1250 to $2500 after 7th Statement.(acceptance certificate expiring December 2013) by Merrick Bank.

I already have more than 2 credit cards and they know it from SP/CR. How are they even considering me for credit if they only allow 2 TL's? I am confused. I have been researching this Merrick Bank and do read baddies but mostly modest and good on this forum-site, so I assume, it is all about responsibility and you're all set like any other prime cards, so as it is the credit game..(whiners out there are ''late payments'' and ''derogs people'')

Question: Do they Hard Pull again after your go to their website and ACCEPT the offer? or is it just SP or nothing, with YOU'RE APPROVED since they already have the Acceptance Certificate??? I am confused. I have until the 4th week of December 2013 to accept their offer. So any advice would be appreciated.-!!!!! God bless-!!!!!!!

Re: Merrick Bank is it worth it?

Mrm-na — Sat, 30 Nov 2013 07:41:34 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote: Look at their Terms of Service agreement: you can't have more than 2 credit accounts (including theirs) and they won't "let you" open more credit lines without them shutting down the credit they gave you

I just received a PRE-SELECTED "double your line" from $1250 to $2500 after 7th Statement.(acceptance certificate expiring December 2013) by Merrick Bank.
I already have more than 2 credit cards and they know it from SP/CR. How are they even considering me for credit if they only allow 2 TL's? I am confused. I have been researching this Merrick Bank and do read baddies but mostly modest and good on this forum-site, so I assume, it is all about responsibility and you're all set like any other prime cards, so as it is the credit game..(whiners out there are ''late payments'' and ''derogs people'')

Question: Do they Hard Pull again after your go to their website and ACCEPT the offer? or is it just SP or nothing, with YOU'RE APPROVED since they already have the Acceptance Certificate??? I am confused. I have until the 4th week of December 2013 to accept their offer. So any advice would be appreciated.-!!!!! God bless-!!!!!!!

I have a hard pull on TU from the time when I responded to a similar offer. I haven't actually seen it spelled out that it's from Merrick, but I think it must be.

I'm not sure of the technical definition of "preselected", but I'm 90% sure that Merrick's invitation still requires a hard pull if you apply, and isn't a guaranteed approval.

From what I've read, credit card mail offers are typically the result of buying a list of people who meet general criteria. eg everyone with a score between 600-700 who lives in this ZIP code, and has utilization between 15 and 30%.. or whatever. They buy a list and send out the offers, but they might not ever see your individual credit report unless you apply. Maybe they do a soft pull before mailing, but I'm not sure that's the case. Even if they did, it would still make sense for them to do a hard pull at the time of application.

It sounds like you don't need to worry much about the 2 card limit. It seems to just be an excuse if they want to close an account, but as long as they like you, they won't.

Re: Merrick Bank is it worth it?

09Lexie — Sat, 30 Nov 2013 08:26:51 GMT

@Mrm-na

Offers of pre selected cc's will result in a hp if you decide to apply. The warning is usually stated that the offer is based on credit worthiness or credit approval required.

Re: Merrick Bank is it worth it?

Anonymous — Sat, 30 Nov 2013 17:33:26 GMT

You have a great prime selection of credit cards. Save your hard inquiries for prime cards.

Re: Merrick Bank is it worth it?

chymara — Sat, 30 Nov 2013 23:36:34 GMT

I have had Merrick bank for years. It has been a great credit rebuilder. I have obtained a lot of CCs including several Web Bank accounts since getting my Merrick Card and they have never cancelled my card. I have outgrown Merrick by leaps and bounds, but I keep them out of loyalty and to keep my AAoA up.