Merrick Bank Pre-Aprroval Letter - Should I apply?

[Anonymous]

Ok, I just got a pre-approval letter from Merrick Bank for a Visa with a $550 credit limit. It's what they call a Double Your Line plan where if you make 7 on-time payments then they will double the CL to $1100.

I am not sure if I should apply because I had applied for a Barclays (really don't know why I did it) and Amazon and got turned down so my credit dropped due to the pulls. My Transunion dropped to 580 with their pulls along with Walmart reporting the wrong amount to them, which is weird. However, both my reports from the E credit reporting companies (sorry I can't think of their name at the moment) are a little over 600. My Fico is just below 600 now. I have been working on improving my credit (slowly but surely) and I have always PIF my Capital One cards and Walmart card and my car payment with Capital One is always on time.

I really would like to expand my cards to include another card as back up and increase my ulitization score, but I really don't want another hit on my credit. The pre-approval does have a fix APR so I don't know if that matters or not. What do you think?

Thanks

[Anonymous]

The Merrick pre approval letters are generally solid, and they do double the limit as promised. Does this one have an annual fee? Some do, some don't.

[Anonymous]

I believe so but I do think I'm going to pass because they say that the app can be denied and since they'll probably check Transunion i have a feeling it will be denied since that is low.

[Anonymous]

They do, indeed, pull TU.

[ddemari]

I doubt you would be denied from that mailer. But if you aren't feeling it I totally ubderstand. Not a bad card for building or rebuilding. I think my score was like under 600 in horrible shape when I got that same deal.

[crrredit]

I just got that mailer as well. I was surprised at how much they packed into that envelope. Must be a pretty high unit cost to send those out. They sent this out to me about 6 to 9 months late. This time last year I would have jumped on this offer. 

[lindsaydruart]

I have this card. To my knowledge, it's solid. I have scores in the mid 500s and got approved. My first CLI is due in March and I PIF every month. Go for it!

[Anonymous]

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@ddemari wrote:
I doubt you would be denied from that mailer. But if you aren't feeling it I totally ubderstand. Not a bad card for building or rebuilding. I think my score was like under 600 in horrible shape when I got that same deal.

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I concur.  I got this card 2 years ago, when my scores were in the low 500s.  They did indeed double after six months, and my annual fee was waived for the first year.  The APR wasn't great, but at the time I had given up on ever having a credit card and was thrilled that someone was offering me one.  

If you really need a card, I think you have a pretty good shot, even with a bad TU.  It says "pre-approved," not "selected" right?

[Anonymous]

Do yourself a huge favor and AVOID BOTH MERRICK BANK AND CREDIT ONE like the plague. You will be glad you did both terrible cards

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Do yourself a huge favor and AVOID BOTH MERRICK BANK AND CREDIT ONE like the plague. You will be glad you did both terrible cards

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Merrick bank is not in the same class as Credit One. Not even close.