Mercury 2% cash back a good choice?

[user979797]

Hello and hope everyone is having a beautiful day. I have been searching off and on for months for a 2% cash back card to replace my capital one quick silver.

I got a pre-approval today for a 2% cash back Mercury Mastercard @Anonymous.99%APR. I do not know much about First Bank and Trust and was hoping to get some insight from anyone who knows about this card.

I have tried to pre qualify for both the wells fargo active cash and the FNBO evergreen but haven't been able to pre qualify for those cards in several months. I do not want to open and maintain a checking with Penfed to get the PCR @ 2% even though I pre qualify for that card. I do not know of any other 2% cashback cards besides AODs 3% but i doubt i would qualify for that.

Any thoughts on if i should take the Mercury or perhaps just cold app for the Wells Fargo? Any other cards I am not thinking of? I do not pre qualify for citibanks 5% custom cash either. Thank you all in advance for any advice on this matter.

[coldfusion]

Mercury's target demographic is someone whose current FICO 8 scores are roughly in the 670-720 range so if your scores are in that range at least superficially you may be a good fit.   They're a smaller issuer but they are legit - in fact a couple of years ago they kind of jumpstarted themselves by acquiring a chunk of then-current BarclaycardUS cardholders and reissued them Mercury cards.   The relatively high APR is consistent with targeting applicants with near-prime scores. 

Are you planning an PIF every month?  2% cashback is nice but due to the high APR it's a losing proposition if you can't always pay off the reported balance in full every month due to interest charged vs. cashback earned. 

[dragontears]

It might help if you provide some details about your profile. Not being preapproved really doesn't say much as there are many, many reasons a preapproval might not show up. 

[Crowhelm]

Credit unions might be a good choice for you. Check around. Quite a few that offer 2% or better by now. It really depends on what you spend your money on the most. If it is groceries, gas, and Amazon the Affinity Cash rewards card is great since it has hidden bonus categories. Do a search on here because somebody talked about that at one point but I think the requirement is as low as a 650 score. They check Experian like most lenders do these days.

[SUPERSQUID]

I have had the mercury 1 pct back card since last year. it sits at zero balance because i have lower interest better options like nfcu and penfed. my only beefs with mercury are cb can only be redeemed as a statement credit and the high interest.

[user979797]

Here are some details about my profile: All of my reports show basically the same score and accounts each month and among them I have a Fico9 725. I have 3 new accounts in the last 2 years and 2 inquiries or less depending othe reprot;I have no late payments or collections and my AAOA is 4.5 years; I do however I have a discharged Chapter 7 from 5 years ago which is why I can gain approval with some and not others. My utiilization is always under 30% both with total accounts and individual balances (currently at 9% total utitilization) and I plan to use this card as a pay in full 2% or more cash back card each month.

Thanks for the advice I will continue searching.

[AverageJoesCredit]

Prequalling for a card is not necessary to be approved for most cards. If you wait to only be prequaled you might wait along time especially with a BK7 present. Their are lots of good 2% cashback cards like Citi DC and PayPal to name a few.  

[longtimelurker]

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@AverageJoesCredit wrote:

Prequalling for a card is not necessary to be approved for most cards. If you wait to only be prequaled you might wait along time especially with a BK7 present. Their are lots of good 2% cashback cards like Citi DC and PayPal to name a few.  

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Yes, lots of cards.   This thread is a little old but most of the cards still exist.

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