Received offer from Merrick. Better than FP or Credit One?

[money_talks]

I received a "pre-selected" offer from Merrick.

-500 CLI and after 6 months, CL doubles to 1k

-no annual fee

-no account set-up fee

-no monthly service fee

-no penalty rates

-APR of 28.45%

-Free TU FICO score

My Wal Mart TU FICO is 615.

I have 4 CCs at the moment:

-FP CL=450, APR=39.9% (Monthly fee of 6.50, annual fee of 45)

-Credit One CL=650, APR 23.9% (Monthly fee of 8.25)

-WF Secured card CL=300

-Wal Mart Store card CL=200

If I applied and was approved, I would call FP and ask to cancel.

However, reading other threads, I have seen numerous comments that make me second guess applying.

-Person opened the account with no fees just like mine, and then later Merrick started charging an annual fee

-Person paid off entire balance and the account was closed.

-Person had new apps/inquiries and received a letter from Merrick that they threatened to close the account.

-No manual CLI

Also, I don't know if I am going to get approved. So is it worth it trading FP for Merrick?

I would love to get a BOA secured card and waiting for my scores to go higher.

Any comments/suggestions from the forum?

[brianjb]

I have nothing but great things to say about Merrick.

I got the card when I was rebuilding.  They doubled my limit after a few months (maybe 6).  The catch is don't be late or miss any payments in that initial time, and you get automatic increase.

I have used it and paid it off several times.  Currently there is probably $60 on it, and I will pay it off this month.  I have a recurring charge that goes to the card.  

I recently closed several accounts (capital one, credit one bank) and was going to close Merrick.  But then I remembered that there is no annual fee.

I have only called customer service twice, but they were great both times.

I say get the card.

[SunriseEarth]

I have a Merrick Card with a $600 CL.  It will auto CLI to $1200 after the 7th statement.  I like it far better than my Credit One, as I have no AF or the other ridiculous fees.

I've opened several new TLs since obtaining the card and no AA here. 

[SunriseEarth]

I'd vote for opening Merrick and closing FP

[Anonymous]

I agree with everyone else.  I've never had any issues with Merrick.  It was my first unsecured card that I got back in December.  They were upfront and honest about any fees they were going to charge me, and did the double your CL after my 6th statement cut, went from $500 to $1000.  Nothing fancy, but nothing crazy like FP charging money to set up online account access or charging a 25% of any CLIs.  FP is next on my chopping block as soon as I either get my UTIL down or get my Auto CLIs from Capital One's Credit Steps...

Oz

[SunriseEarth]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I agree with everyone else.  I've never had any issues with Merrick.  It was my first unsecured card that I got back in December.  They were upfront and honest about any fees they were going to charge me, and did the double your CL after my 6th statement cut, went from $500 to $1000.  Nothing fancy, but nothing crazy like FP charging money to set up online account access or charging a 25% of any CLIs.  FP is next on my chopping block as soon as I either get my UTIL down or get my Auto CLIs from Capital One's Credit Steps...

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FP sounds horrendous.  Credit One isn't quite as bad, but still bad.  APR is north of 24%, which is better than Merrick, but the monthly $8.25 fee negates that.  They also charge fees for CLIs.  Also, I just found out you can only do electronic payments 4x in a 30 day period, probably to help keep that daily balance high.   My #1 credit priority now is to pay off and close Credit One. 

[adavis425]

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@brianjb wrote:

I have nothing but great things to say about Merrick.

I got the card when I was rebuilding.  They doubled my limit after a few months (maybe 6).  The catch is don't be late or miss any payments in that initial time, and you get automatic increase.

I have used it and paid it off several times.  Currently there is probably $60 on it, and I will pay it off this month.  I have a recurring charge that goes to the card.  

I recently closed several accounts (capital one, credit one bank) and was going to close Merrick.  But then I remembered that there is no annual fee.

I have only called customer service twice, but they were great both times.

I say get the card

+1

I had Merrick until last year. CLIs every 4 fours months like clockwork. I closed it bc of the $3/month (wouldn't allow a lump payment) af. According to what I've heard and read here about the other two, Merrick is def better.

[john398]

The free monthly FICO score is nice as well

[money_talks]

Thanks for everyone's replies. Seems like nothing but good things for Merrick. I'm a little concerned about getting another sub-prime card on my CR though.

I mean, it feels like I should suck up the FP and Credit One fees for a bit and garden, garden, garden until my scores get high enough to get the BOA secured 99/500 deal and only then close the FP card.

FP partial secured..........Credit One unsecured..........WF secured......Wal Mart Store card......Merrick? Granted Merrick seems to offer better terms than FP and C1 and I would have gone with Merrick in a heartbeat rather than FP at the beginning of my rebuilding. But to be honest, it seems like a step backwards in my rebuilding profile by adding another sub-prime TL at this time. Thoughts?

Sunrise earth wrote: Also, I just found out you can only do electronic payments 4x in a 30 day period, probably to help keep that daily balance high.

Credit One does not do a good job at disclosing that upfront, I don't even think it is in the Cardholder Agreement. I found about about the payment issue as well the hard way. I tried submitting a payment and got that message! Very inconvenient.

[SunriseEarth]

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@money_talks wrote:

Thanks for everyone's replies. Seems like nothing but good things for Merrick. I'm a little concerned about getting another sub-prime card on my CR though.

I mean, it feels like I should suck up the FP and Credit One fees for a bit and garden, garden, garden until my scores get high enough to get the BOA secured 99/500 deal and only then close the FP card.

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It might be a lateral move or a small step forward, but I personally think it's a better choice.  From my understanding, the subprime cards may look worse under manual review, but the FICO score itself doesn't care.  I think Merrick would at least grow somewhat with you (although BofA would probably grow more with you, I'd agree).