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Merrick Bank is it worth it?

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Legions36
Frequent Contributor

Merrick Bank is it worth it?

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.

EQ-784 TU-777 EXP-772 12/11/15

NFCU(11.5k), USAA(6k), DCU(10k), Sapphire(5k), Duck(5k), Freedom(1k), Quicksilver(3k), DiscoverIT(2k), AmexBCE($800),
New cards 12/12-NFCU-MC(18.5k), Simplicity(9.2k),Slate(7.5k),Amex(3.8k)
Message 1 of 20
19 REPLIES 19
sccredit
Valued Contributor

Re: Merrick Bank is it worth it?

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.

Message 2 of 20
09Lexie
Moderator Emerita

Re: Merrick Bank is it worth it?

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
Message 3 of 20
Legions36
Frequent Contributor

Re: Merrick Bank is it worth it?


@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.

EQ-784 TU-777 EXP-772 12/11/15

NFCU(11.5k), USAA(6k), DCU(10k), Sapphire(5k), Duck(5k), Freedom(1k), Quicksilver(3k), DiscoverIT(2k), AmexBCE($800),
New cards 12/12-NFCU-MC(18.5k), Simplicity(9.2k),Slate(7.5k),Amex(3.8k)
Message 4 of 20
Legions36
Frequent Contributor

Re: Merrick Bank is it worth it?


@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.

EQ-784 TU-777 EXP-772 12/11/15

NFCU(11.5k), USAA(6k), DCU(10k), Sapphire(5k), Duck(5k), Freedom(1k), Quicksilver(3k), DiscoverIT(2k), AmexBCE($800),
New cards 12/12-NFCU-MC(18.5k), Simplicity(9.2k),Slate(7.5k),Amex(3.8k)
Message 5 of 20
SunriseEarth
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Merrick Bank is it worth it?


@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.



Start: 619 (TU08, 9/2013) | Current: 809 (TU08, 3/05/24)
BofA CCR WMC $75000 | AMEX Cash Magnet $64000 | Discover IT $46000 | Disney Premier VS $43600 | Venmo VS $30000 | NFCU More Rewards AMEX $25000 | Macy's AMEX $25000 Store $25000 | Cash+ VS $25000 | Altitude Go VS $25000 | Synchrony Premier $24,200 | Sony Card VS $23750 | GS Apple Card WEMC $22000 | WF Active Cash VS $18,000 | Jared Gold Card $16000 | FNBO Evergreen VS $15000 | Citi Custom Cash MC $14600 | Target MC $14500 | BMO Harris Cash Back MC $14000 | Amazon VS $12000 | Freedom Flex WEMC $10000 | Belk MC $10000 | Wayfair MC $4500 ~~
Message 6 of 20
Legions36
Frequent Contributor

Re: Merrick Bank is it worth it?


@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. 

EQ-784 TU-777 EXP-772 12/11/15

NFCU(11.5k), USAA(6k), DCU(10k), Sapphire(5k), Duck(5k), Freedom(1k), Quicksilver(3k), DiscoverIT(2k), AmexBCE($800),
New cards 12/12-NFCU-MC(18.5k), Simplicity(9.2k),Slate(7.5k),Amex(3.8k)
Message 7 of 20
juggalo9er
Valued Contributor

Re: Merrick Bank is it worth it?

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.

Message 8 of 20
unusuallyconfused
Regular Contributor

Re: Merrick Bank is it worth it?

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.

USAA Rewards VISA (7,500 - 03/2013) / DiscoverIT (6500 - 03/2013) / Cap One Platinum MC (2750 - 03/2013) / Credit One Platinum VISA (750 - 03/2013) / First Premier Bank MC (300 - 02/2013) / FingerHut/WEBBANK (5200.00 - 02/2013) / Victoria's Secret/Comenity (1500 - 03/2013) / PayPal Smart Connect/GECRB (2900 - 03/2013) / Lowe's/GECRB (2800 - 03/2013) / Amazon.com/GECRB (4500 - 03/2013) / Chevron Texaco/GECRB (1950 - 03/2013) / J.C. Penney/GECRB (2150 - 02/2013) / Target (750 - 07/2013) / Abercrombie & Fitch/Comenity (1850 - 07/2013) / CareCredit/GECRB (4500 - 08/2013) / DCU Visa (2000 - 11/2013) / NFCU Sig cashRewards Visa (7000 - 11/2013) - MilitaryStar/Chase (4700 /12/2013)

Message 9 of 20
Mrm-na
New Contributor

Re: Merrick Bank is it worth it?

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.

 


@unusuallyconfused 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.

Message 10 of 20
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