Merrick bank

[Anonymous]

Ballbounces is 1000x correct! Take that advice! I have all those cards and credit one and verve are horrid!!! Esp credit one. They do hp to do an auto increase that costs you 20 dollars per 100!!! Awful!

[Anonymous]

I too just got a Merrick preapproval (1750 to 2500 after 7 on-time payments). I am doing great with my rebuilding but would like a fourth revolver to replace my Credit One (yes, they are terrible, and no I haven't taken their CLI "offers," just biding time until I can get a good replacement revolver then I will TRASH THEM!)

Just to confirm, anyone know if they will HP or SP if I accept the preapproval? I don't think the INQ will hurt me that much (I only have 2 or 3) but I like to know what I'm getting into. An HP for a PREapproval seems ridiculous, but I know it happens.

Anyone have (recent) experience?

[Anonymous]

Thx Ballbounces and Kaylava. I actually recieved the Verve about a month and a half ago. And OMG, I took it straight to the trash. Why would they even offer some BS like thet. Geshhhhh!.

[Anonymous]

Wish I were as smart. That was one dumb decision! Lol

[schsa210]

I too got the Merrick offer, $700 to $1400.  So far no problems with them.  Hoping they do auto cli's every few months or that I soon can see a luv button for increase requests.

[TiggerDat]

I never got an offer from them.  I did however about 8 years ago get their secure card, which you don't need an invitation for, or at least then didn't.  I was very happy with them and would give them 4.5 stars out of 5.  Whenever I had a balance they would increase my credit limit every 3-4 months.  When I didn't have a balance they wouldn't.  The interest rate was 17.45%, which wasn't bad for a secured card.  I did tend to pay the balance off each month, which they didn't seem to care about in regards to limit increases.  The only reason I ever really closed the card was the AF.  I grew tired of paying a fee after a few years of having cards without fees!  They don't alter accounts terms or conditions in any way.  I even gave them advance notice that I would close the account if they didn't remove the fee.  I think calling them every few months for about a year and a half was good enough advance notice.  They stuck by their fee policy and I closed the account, it was my oldest open account at the time.  So I was sad in that regards.  But, I still was not willing to pay the fee. 

They really were great to deal with.  My sister had one of their cards and seemed to have issues with it.  Knowing my sister, it was probably just her issue!  I think she had a dispute about something she bought and they wanted to get her to send a document or something and she probably didn't and just simply kept calling thinking that she would speak with someone about it and get a different answer.  I never got the full story from her, but I know her pretty well in regards to these things.  I would have simply filled out the form or whatever and faxed it to them. 

To me they were great.  Others do seem to have a problem with them, but I view that in the same way as I view my sisters problem with them.

[Erusidhion]

    No matter how predatory some of these sub subprime unsecured credit cards may be; they do serve a very specific purpose and unfortunately you'll have to pay fees for it but if you do it right, you'll have an excellent credit history/score. I own all the sub prime cards now. Verve, First Premier, Merrick, 1 of 4 First National branded (think you can only have one of theirs at a time), Credit One and Milestone. It's a small two year experiment since I have nothing else to do and the fees are worth the strong credit profile when I started from nothing and am now at 1.5 years history.

    These cards are great for those right out of bankruptcy, foreclosure, repossessions, bad lates, charge offes; etc, you name it. And they all have a high chance of approval if not guaranteed. If you pay a small fee these cards can rebuild your credit over time while you're dealing with all your bad stuff on your credit report. Or if you're just starting out in credit and you have a great income; paying these small fees is pennies compared to building a strong, thick credit file over time. After 7-7.5 years; depending on the derogatory, once that falls off and you've had these cards the whole time plus others... you're going to have one hell of a score.

    It really depends on what you want to do. But I always warn everyone to ALWAYS read the terms and agreements before you accept any offer. If you don't understand something then do a quick google search. Research every credit card you apply for. Reviews on these cards are great but they're mostly by people who don't understand how credit cards work and they never read their terms. So they were paying interest when they didn't have to etc.

    In the end it's your decision whether one of these cards is worth the fees for the benefits they could provide if you are a responsible borrower. And yes, you could go the secured credit card route or get unsecured prime cards that cater to those with no credit history. Everyone knows that so we won't beat the dead horse here.

   Words to live by, "Use your credit cards, don't let them use you."

[Anonymous]

Anyone know if you pay Merrick, mileston,verve, or credit one down to zero, if you still have monthly fees?

[Erusidhion]

    Yes. It's a monthly maintenance fee no matter what. Also there are some with annual fees that are charged monthly that will have to be paid. Just keep an eye on your accounts with monthly maintenance/annual fees after the statement date to make sure you can pay them ASAP.

[Anonymous]

Do you happen to know how much the fees are?