Arro Mastercard Credit Card with No Hard Inquiries
REVIEW

Key Takewaay

The Arro Mastercard is an unsecured credit card that is shattering norms and causing discruption in the subprime and new credit space. It is the first Mastercard we know that is an unsecured credit card which does not rely on FICO scores and hence does not perform any hard inquiry on your credit report. Instead, they rely on your bank balance, income, cash flow and other factors which they get by getting you to link your bank account via PLAID to the Arro Finance App. Unlike most subprime credit cards that charge exhorbidant fees (annual fee, monthly fees and even one-time processing fee), Arro charges a very low monthly fee. Their interest rates is 16%, which is very low for any credit card while most credit cards for bad credit have interest rates that approach 30% or higher.

Arro has a unique feature whereby you can increase your credit limit and lower your interest rates by taking financial lessons from their app. It puts your credit limit increases totally under your control. We don't know of any other credit cards that works like that.

If you are a rebuilder with bad credit or have very little credit history and are looking for an unsecured credit card, then we highly recommend the Arro Mastercard because you will most likely be approved as long as you have a positive bank balance and your credit score will not take any hit because of a hard credit inquiry on your credit report and the fees are also very low.

In this review, we will look into this card in greater and explain how it works. By the end of the review, I believe you will be convinced to give this card a strong consideration.

Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
No Hard Inquiry Approval not based on FICO score but on bank account balance and income Credit Limit increased based on cardholder participating in financial education content on app Low Interest Rate Low Fees Interest rate can be reduced if you participate in financial education on app Reports to 3 major credit bureaus	May take 4-5 business days to process payments

Some Cardholder Reviews

Below are some cardholders reviews. Most have been positive.

It has been only a month and my credit limit has increased from $50 to $155 after completing a few challenges on the app.

This is an absolutely great app and card. I got approved for $110 credit limit and after a month of completing some lessons on the app, I am now at $240 limit.

I was declined by other credit cards but Arro approved me in a few minutes and gave me a chance to rebuild. I have already gotten credit limit increases while learning a lot about finance in general through the app. It is great because the more I learn, the higher my credit limit gets. One thing to be aware of is that payment is via ACh and it takes 405 business days to process and reflect in my credit limit.

I was approved very quickly and the process is really super simple. The app has great educational content it allows you to grow your credit limit quickly as you learn how to manage your money better. I really like how your credit limit increases after taking lessons on the app.

Card Details: How Does Arro Work?

Fees - Arro charges a very monthly fee of $1/month for the first year. From the second year onwards, the monthly increases to $3/month. That means that during the first year, you pay a total of $12 in fees. From the second year onwards, the total fee you pay a year amounts to $36.

Credit Limits - The starting credit limit will range from $50 - $200. However, your credit limit can increase up to a maximum of $2,500.

APR - The APR for the Arro Mastercard is 16%. This is actually an incredibly low rate and is lower than many prime credit cards.

No Hard Inquiry - Looks at other Factors

Arro does not perform any hard inquiries on your credit report. Instead, they use a proprietary underwriting model that relies on other factors like income and your bank balance. Arro has teamed up with Equifax so that all they do is to do a soft pull (or soft inqquiry) simply to get a baseline of your credit score and this soft pull will have no impact on your credit score.

What Arro requires from you is that you link your bank account to the Arro app. This is done via PLAID (which is the industry standard), which has over 10,000 banking partners. By linking your bank account to Arro, they will be able to look at your bank balance, cash flow and more easily approve you even if your FICO score is not the best. It is important though, for you to have a positive bank balance.

Credit Limit Increase and APR Reduction

Through a gamified experience, Arro allows you to increase your credit lines and decrease your interest rates by completing personal finance activities on topics like how to use credit responsibly, achieving savings goals etc. This is in contrast to most traditional subprime unsecured credit cards where many do not increase credit limits or do not have good track record of credit limit increases.

Arro will also lower your APR (which I think is already quite low) if you complete certain finance literacy activities. This is quite unheard of in the credit card world.

Benefits of Arro

• No Hard Inquiry - Arro does not perform any hard inquiry because they rely more on your bank account activities and income rather than your FICO scores. They do a soft inquiry mainly for identity verifcation purposes. Hence, applying for Arro will not impact your credit score at all.


• Very Low Fees - In contrast to other subprime credit cards, the fees for Arro are incredibly low. During the first year, it is only $1 a month (which is $12 a year). After the first year, the monthly fee is $3, which is only $36 a year. In contrast, many unsecured credit cards targeting bad credit folks charge both an annual fee and monthly fee that can total to over a hundred dollars a year.


• Credit Limit Increases and APR Reduction Based On Financial Literacy Education - Though Arro starts you off with a lower credit limit (between $50 and $200), you can increase your credit limit over time up to a maximum of $2,500. You can do this by simply taking their financial education "classes" or "activities" on their app. Once you complete an activity, you will see an immediate credit limit increase or APR reduction. This is almost unheard of in the credit card world (especially the subprime world) where lots of folks complain about issuers being stingy about increasing your credit limits. There is also no credit card that I am aware of that will actualy reduce your APR for any reason.

• Everything is done through your mobile app - Though Arro is working on rolling out a functional desktop app, you will need to manage the card from your phone app (for the moment). This is probably not an issue for the vast majority of you but some of you might have issues with this.


• Payment may take 4-5 business to process - You have to pay your Arro monthly credit card bill via your checking account. You can also set up autopay from the app. The payment is made via ACH and at this moment, it may take up to 4-5 business to process before it is reflected back in your credit limit.

Competition

There are extremely few unsecured credit cards that remotely resembles the Arro Rewards Credit Card. The reason is that cards like Arro are a new innovation in that they use your activity in your bank account and income to determine your approval and your starting credit limit.

Compared to Atlas Rewards Credit Card

The Atlas Mastercard Rewards Credit Card is another Fintech app that is quite similar to Arro. Like Arro, Atlas does not perform any hard inquiry but instead simply requires that you link their app to your bank account via PLAID. The membership fee is $8/month, which is higher than Arro. Atlas Rewards require you to pay in full and does not allow you to carry a revolving balance and hence, they say that their APR is 0%. Hence, Atlas is not really a real credit card but a charge card. Atlas claims to increase your credit limit over time the more you use your card. They also have a cash back program with over 50,000 merchant partners.

How is Arro Different From Traditional Unsecured Credit Cards

Arro is uniquely different to conventional unsecured credit cards targeting people with bad credit in a few ways. The first difference is that there is no hard inquiry and you approval is based on their assessment of your bank account and income. In order to do so, Arro requires that you connect your bank account through their app via PLAID. Conventional unsecured credit cards still use FICO scores as the main determinants and the income level that you fill out to decide whether or not to approve you.

The better traditional subprime credit cards have annual fees that are higher than Arro's. Many even tack on a monthly fee and a one-time processing fee as well. Fee wise, Arro has much lower fees than it's peers.

Arro also has a much lower APR than traditional subprime credit cards, whose typical APR approaches 30%. Arro will also lower your APR if you complete certain financial lessons on your app.

Another huge difference between Arro and other unsecured credit cards is that Arro will increase your credit limit based on education activities you perform on your app. Many subprime unsecured credit cards do not increase your credit limits at all or increase it infrequently leaving you with a low limit high fee card.

I would say that Arro is better the vast majority of traditional unsecured rebuilder credit cards by a long shot. Below is a table comparing Arro with a few typical unsecured credit cards.

Card	Fees	APR	Starting/Max Credit Limit	hard Inquiry
Arro	$1/month for 1st Year Then $3/month	16%	$50 - $200/$2,500	No Hard Inquiry
Total Visa	Annual Fee = $75 1sy Year, the $48 Monthly Fee (Y2) = 8.25/month Program Fee (one-time) = $95	35.99	$300/No increase for 1 year	Hard Inquiry
Milestone Mastercard	Annual Fee Y1 = $175, then $49 Monthly Fee = Y1=$0, Y2=$12.50/month	35.9%	$700/$700	Hard Inquiry
Fit Mastercard	Annual Fee = $99 Monthly Fee Y1=$0, Y2=$6.25/month Processing Fee (one-time) = $89	29.99%	$400 Increase after 6 paying on-time for 6 months	Hard Inquiry

Highly Recommended: Better than Traditional Unsecured Credit Cards

I really love the Arro Mastercard Credit Card and I think every rebuilder or even those who have very little credit history will love this card. And the reason is really simple. It is better than the vast majority of traditional rebuilder unsecured credit cards. They do not perform any hard inquiry (like traditional unsecured cards) and so there will be no impact on your FICO score when you apply. All you need to do is to link your bank account to the Arro App, have an income of at least $1,000 and you will be approved.

Though the amount that you are going to be initially approved for is small ($50 - $200), the credit limit can and will grow over time (potentially up to $2,500). And the way your credit limit grows is totally up to you in that you simply have to complete financial literacy lessons and actions on the Arro mobile app and you can see an immediate credit limit increases. Some courses you complete will result in a lowering of your APR rather than a credit limit increase. I know of no other unsecured rebuilder credit card that do things this way.

And unlike traditional starter or rebuilder credit cards that charge hefty fee, the Arro Mastercard charges a really low monthly fee ($1/month for the first year and then $3/month thereafter).

To sum up, based on our evaluation and review, I have decided to give the Arro Mastercard Credit Card a 4.5 star rating out of 5 for it's lack of hard inquiry, approval based on bank account activity and income rather than FICO score, low fees, potentially high credit limit, credit limit increases and APR reduction based on one's completing financial literacy lessons on the mobile app. I really cannot think of anything bad to say about this card and I am tempted to give this card a 5 star rating and I am sure that I will be able to find a little fault later!

If you have bad credit or have very little credit history, then I would highly recommend this card. It is easy to get approved and you will not take any hit to your credit score because of a hard inquiry. Many rebuilders want to get an unsecured credit card but are frustrated to find that many have exorbidant fees and low credit limits. And if you do not get approved, you get a hard inquiry and probably a slight drop in your FICO scores. Applying for the Arro credit card avoids these issues. As long as you have a positive bank account balance and a healthy deposit amount, you will almost certainly be approved.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How would I know if I qualified for Arro?

How would I know if I qualified for Arro?

I know Arro does not perform any hard inquiry but do you perform any soft inquiry?

I know Arro does not perform any hard inquiry but do you perform any soft inquiry?

Does Arro have a desktop app?

Does Arro have a desktop app?

Why do we have to link our bank account to Arro?

Why do we have to link our bank account to Arro?

How to Apply?

Applying for the Arro Mastercard is relatively straight forward and the whole process should take no more than 5 minutes. You need to fill out the usual information like your name, zip code, email address, ID number and to check a box as to whether you are emploed or receive benefits of more than $1,000 a month and whether you have an active checking account with a positive balance. You will then be given a QR code to download their app.



After you are approved, you can use their virtual card and your physical card will arrive in 7 business days.

Contact Information

Email: support@arrofinance.com