Review of the Orchard Bank Mastercard

The Orchard Bank Mastercard was last reviewed on 3rd November 2009

The Camtasia Studio video content presented here requires JavaScript to be enabled and the latest version of the Macromedia Flash Player. If you are you using a browser with JavaScript disabled please enable it now. Otherwise, please update your version of the free Flash Player by downloading here.

Summary - We highly recommend the Orchard Bank Classic MasterCard to those who have no credit or poor credit and for those who are recovering from bankruptcy filing. Orchard Bank is now part of HSBC Bank, one of the largest and most reputable bank. Unlike other sub-prime credit cards, Orchard Bank screens your credit, and approves you for a card that matches your credit history. Hence, if you have a better credit that orders on being considered having fair credit, you may be approved for a card with no annual fee and a 0% APR deal. If your credit is really poor, then you are likely to be approved for a secured credit card. Unlike other sub-prime credit cards, Orchard Bank has very reasonable fees unlike the obscene fees charged by other issuers.

4 Cards that you may be approved - Orchard Bank is now owned by HSBC, one of the largest and most reputable bank in the world. When you apply apply for this card, you may be approved for either one of the four cards described below.

Orchard Bank Secured Master Card - If you have no credit history, bad credit, or if you have just been discharged from bankruptcy, you will likely be approved for the Orchard Bank secured master card. It has a very reasonable annual fee of $35 (which is waived the first year) and none of the one-time application or processing fee common in other secured or sub-prime credit cards. You can deposit anywhere between $200 and $15,000 and you are given a credit limit based on 100% of your deposit. The APR is a jaw dropping low rate of 7.90%. Orchard Bank reports to the three major credit agencies as well. This is a good credit card to start off building or rebuilding your credit.

Orchard Bank Classic Master Card - One notch above the secured cad is the Classic MasterCard. With this card, the annual fee is $49 to $74 and you also have to pay a one time processing fee of anywhere from $19 to $39. The APR is very reasonable at 14.90% to 19.90%

Orchard Bank Gold Master Card - unsecured - If you qualify for an unsecured credit card, you may be approved for the gold master card. This card comes with an annual fee of between $74 to $79 and a one-time application fee of $19 to $39 (both very reasonable). The APR ranges from 14.90% to 19.90%.

Orchard Bank Platinum Master Card - You may also be approved for the Orchard Bank Platinum Master Card. The annual fee for this version will range between $39 to $74 depending on your credit profile. There is no one-time application fee. The APR ranges from 14.90% to 19.90%.

Card	Benefits	Annual Fee	APR	Account Set Up Fee
Orchard Bank Platinum Card	Platinum MasterCard Benefits Free online account management tools Your choice of payment due dates Zero Liability Fraud Protection	$39 to $74	14.90% to 19.90%	$0
Orchard Bank Gold Mastercard	Gold MasterCard Benefits Free online account management tools Your choice of payment due dates Zero Liability Fraud Protection	$74-$79	14.90% to 19.90%	$19 to $39
Orchard Bank Mastercard	On-call customer service representatives Free online account management tools Zero Liability Fraud Protection	$49-$74	14.90%-19.90%	$19-$39
Orchard Bank Secured Mastercard	Reports to 3 major credit bureaus Earns interest on your deposit Your choice of payment due dates Zero Liability Fraud Protection	$35- first year free	7.90%	$200 minimum deposit

Verdict - If you have no credit, bad credit or have just been discharged from bankruptcy, the Orchard Bank Classic MasterCard is the card that we recommend. Most credit cards targeted at those with poor credit have high fees and cost like annual fees, application and processing fees. The Orchard Bank Classic MasterCards has more reasonable fees than most other sub-prime credit cards. It is also issued by one of the largest and most reputable bank. This is very important because having credit from "mainstream banks" is very important in building or rebuilding your credit. Because HSBC will offer you any of the four cards, you are highly unlikely to be turned downed for your application. And if your credit is better than you think, you may even get a no annual fee Orchard Bank Prime Master card with a 6 month 0% balance transfer offer.

Orchard Bank's Application Page - Below are some screen shots of the application page and what you should do when you click on the Orchard Bank links on this page. The first page is shown below. You have to click the apply button to proceed. orchard bank landing page