What is considered a prime credit card?

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

I have been working on my credit for the past two years(after many years of bad credit) and all i have are a few credit cards under $1000 limit. the closest one is the walmart store card at $900. what is consider prime credit?

Thanks myfico friends!

[haulingthescoreup]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi all,

I have been working on my credit for the past two years(after many years of bad credit) and all i have are a few credit cards under $1000 limit. the closest one is the walmart store card at $900. what is consider prime credit?

Thanks myfico friends!

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Prime credit is in the eye of the beholder. The perceived status of the lender or the card doesn't affect your FICO scores. Other lenders do seem to be reluctant to be the first to give a good CL if all you have are tiny CL cards now.

I'd check out local credit unions, as opposed to the big credit unions discussed here. They're great for getting you over that hump.

You'll be getting a flood of additional suggestions in a few minutes. Good luck!

[Coldness]

^ I have to agree, "Prime" is a matter of opinion. Just as an example, some people bash on Captiol One and scorn every card they offer, but honestly, straight 1.5% cash back from their cash card is hard to beat. 

That being said, from what I've noticed most people consider the top cards from major banks, IE Chase, American Express, and (to a lesser extent) Discover and Citi as "Prime". 

Grab a card that you love with great terms and that fits your spending perfectly and don't allow anyone to tell you otherwise  

[Anonymous]

thanks for the expert advise! love this site!

[corymcd88]

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@Coldness wrote:

^ I have to agree, "Prime" is a matter of opinion. Just as an example, some people bash on Captiol One and scorn every card they offer, but honestly, straight 1.5% cash back from their cash card is hard to beat. 

That being said, from what I've noticed most people consider the top cards from major banks, IE Chase, American Express, and (to a lesser extent) Discover and Citi as "Prime". 

Grab a card that you love with great terms and that fits your spending perfectly and don't allow anyone to tell you otherwise  

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I wall agree that Capital One is good to be, it is very small CL but it is a free card no AF and 2% back is very good. People need to stop bashing all cards. Like I hate Chase, but a lot of people love them, I had ID theft and they don't want to do anything about it. As i was geting all of that ID theft tacking care of I was very happy with Fingerhut and Credit One and now i don't use them anymore. What every you are happy with that is what counts!!!!

[crunching_numbers]

I think it is easier to get a consensus on what is "not" prime instead of what is prime.

A card that has a high AF with no rewards is not prime.

A card that charges you to make a payment is not prime.

A card that has an APR over 30% is not prime.

A card that starts you with a $200 CL, and after 5 years of PIF every month STILL will not increase it is not prime.

A card that charges you CLI fees or an application fee is not prime.

What we tend to do is read the word prime from the wrong perspective. It is not about the lenders being "prime" or "not prime", but rather the clientele that they service.  Higher risk people are "not prime" to lenders. They offer "sub prime" terms to people because they are a greater risk.

Certain lenders tend to have built their business around rebuilder cards and "not prime"/high risk clients. Some examples of those CC companies are First Premier, Merrick, and Capital One (although Cap1 markets to the prime market as well).

[xboxrunner]

Well as interest rates go here are the current averages. I imagine you have a good card if you beat the average as far as interest is concerned. Other factors are at play such as: annual fee, all other fees, customer service, and other services the buisness offers.

Low Interest Cards	10.40%		10.40%
Balance Transfer Cards	12.43%		12.43%
Business Cards	12.67%		12.67%
Student Cards	13.77%		13.77%
Cash Back Cards	14.24%		14.24%
Airline Cards	14.63%		14.63%

[wmarat]

My criteria for prime card are:

1. No AF or reasonable AF with generous reward program (Amex Blue - $75 AF, but 6% back for groceries make it worth.)

2. APR less than 10%

3. Reward program which offers more than 1% cash back and does not revolve rewards.

4. BT $0 fee, 0% APR for at least 12 months.

5 Willingnes to grant CLI.

6. Good CS.

7. Convinietnt payment possibilities (preferebly on-line)

1. My only AF card is Amex Blue, rest are no AF.

2. 13 out 21 cards I have have APR 10% or less. 3 cards with APR higher than 10% are store cards.

3. Penfed Visa (5% back on gas), Fort Knox (5% back on gas), Amex Blue (6% back on groceries)

4. Navy FCU Visa.

5. Navy, Amex, BOA, PenFed, Citi. Defently not Chase, Barclay or HSBC

6. Navy, PenFed, Amex, Discover, USAA. Defenetly not Chase, Barclay, Nationwide, Macys, Alliant, USBank OR HSBC.

7.Most cards with an exeption of Nationwide, WFFNB or Fort Knox.

[OnTheRebound]

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@xboxrunner wrote:

Well as interest rates go here are the current averages. I imagine you have a good card if you beat the average as far as interest is concerned. Other factors are at play such as: annual fee, all other fees, customer service, and other services the buisness offers.

Low Interest Cards	10.40%		10.40%
Balance Transfer Cards	12.43%		12.43%
Business Cards	12.67%		12.67%
Student Cards	13.77%		13.77%
Cash Back Cards	14.24%		14.24%
Airline Cards	14.63%		14.63%

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Not always true. My wife has a former Providian/WAMU and now Freedom with a $11K CL and 29.24% rate that I consider a excellent card along with Amex BCP  $6KCL(17.24%) and PenFed Platinum Rewards $6K CL (9.9%). These three cards work very well for us.

I also have the CITI Plat Select MC $12K CL (13.99%) that I consider "Prime". Great for 0% major purchases.

[Anonymous]

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@Coldness wrote:

^ I have to agree, "Prime" is a matter of opinion. Just as an example, some people bash on Captiol One and scorn every card they offer, but honestly, straight 1.5% cash back from their cash card is hard to beat. 

That being said, from what I've noticed most people consider the top cards from major banks, IE Chase, American Express, and (to a lesser extent) Discover and Citi as "Prime". 

Grab a card that you love with great terms and that fits your spending perfectly and don't allow anyone to tell you otherwise  

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This made me lol.

Discover is the first cash back card and started a lot of other great programs that made other cards step up to compete with them. Their shop Discover is second to none. I personally consider Discover a Super Prime setting the bar, but that is just my opinion. YMMV

TBC