What is Choice Gold Card?
- $0 Fees
- 0% APR
- Up to $1,000 credit limit
- No credit checks, employment checks or income checks
Card Details
Monthly Fee : $0
Interest Rate : 0%
Credit Limit : $500 - $1,000
Minimum Payment : $25 or 15% of balance.
Late Fee : $10
No Fees and 0% APR
The Choice Gold Card does not have any annual or monthly fees. The APR is 0% should you choose to carry a balance and finance your purchase.$500 - $1,000 Credit Limit
On their website, Choice Gold Card states that you can get a credit limit of up to $1,000. Most of you will end up getting a $500 limit instead.Easy Approval
The Choice Gold Card is extremely easy to get because they do not check you credit score or report, income or employment. You will simply be approved and you just need a debit card to pay for your purchases.Paying for your purchases
When you make your purchase, My Unique Outlet also requires you to pay 15% of the purchase price and shipping and processing fee with your debit card before you check out. These fees are not lumped with the total fee and must be paid upfront.After that, you have to pay a minimum of $25 or 15% of the balance. For example, if your balance is $50, then you have to pay $25 twice and you will end up paying down the balance in two cycles. If your balance is $200, then you will pay $30 as your minimum payment until the balance is paid off.
Optional Membership Benefits for $19.95 a month?
- Roadside Assistance - The emergency roadside assistance is provided by Signature's Nationwide Auto Club, Inc. Benefits include towing, lock-out assistance, fluid delivery, tire change, jump starts and winching.
- Legal Assistance - The benefit provides you access to Legal Club of America®, which is a nationwide discount legal referral service. They have thousands of attorneys in their network. As a plan member, you will have access to their attorneys who will provide certain free service and other legal services at a discounted member rate. (See details of plan here).
- Unique RX Discounts - This benefit allows you to save up to 54% off prescription drugs at over 62,000 paharmacies. You even earn reward points which can be redeemed for gift cards.
Competition
Card | Details |
---|---|
Choice Gold Card |
Monthly Fee=$0 APR=0% No Credit Check No Bureau Reporting Starting Limit=$1,000 |
Unique Platinum |
Monthly Fee=$0 APR=0% No Credit Check No Bureau Reporting Starting Limit=$1,000 |
Merit Platinum |
Monthly Fee=$0 APR=0% No Credit Check No Bureau Reporting Starting Limit=$750 |
Net First Platinum |
Monthly Fee=$0 APR=0% No Credit Check No Bureau Reporting Starting Limit=$750 |
Sezzle |
Monthly Fee=$0 APR=0% No Credit Check Tri-Bureau Reporting Starting Limit=up to $2,500 |
Arro Mastercard |
Monthly Fee=$3 APR=16% No Credit Check Tri-Bureau Reporting Starting Limit=up to $2,500 |
In this review, I will compare the Choice Gold Card with other cards from Unique Card Services and also their biggest competitor Horizon Card Services. I will also compare it to other Buy Now Pay Later apps as well as a no credit check unsecured credit card.
Compared to other cards from Unique Card Services
Choice Gold Card is from Unique Card Services and there are other cards by them. The example that we will use here is the Now Platinum. As you can see from the table above, they both have identical features in all aspects. Cards from Unique Card Services used to report to TransUnion but they no longer do so.Compared to cards from Horizon Card Services
Credit Cards from Horizon Card Services are very similar to Choice Gold Card. They have their own online store at www.thehorizonoutlet.com, where you can buy stuff and finance it at 0% APR. Like Choice Gold Card, cards from Horizon Card Services do not charge any fees and their credit limit is $750 (versus $500 - $1,000 for Choice Gold Card). They also do not report to any credit bureaus.Compared to other Buy Now Pay Later Apps
Choice Gold Card also faces tough competition from modern Buy Now Pay Later apps like Affirm, Afterpay and Klarna. These apps typically do not perform hard iquiries (just like Choice Gold) and they also offer 0% APR with a typical Pay-in-4 payment scheme whereby you pay a quarter of your purchase amount every 2 weeks. These Buy Now Pay Later apps usually have partnerships with thousands of retailers and you can use them either in-store or online with their partner stores. This is in contrast with Choice Gold Card where you can only use it at their online store www.myuniqueoutlet.com. Some like Sezzle also reports to all three major credit bureaus. I would suggest you consider Sezzle over Choice Gold Card.Compare with unsecured credit cards with no credit checks
The Choice Gold Card does not check your credit score when you apply and all you need is just to have a debit card to pay for your purchases. There are also other no hard inquiry unsecured credit card like Arro Mastercard, which does not rely on FICO score to approve you. But unlike Choice Gold Card, you need a monthly income of at least $1,000 and a positive bank balance of at least $50. They monthly fee is $3/month and you can get a credit limit of up to $2,500. Arro is a Mastercard and reports to all three major credit bureau. If you are considering Choice Gold Card and meet Arro's criteria, then you should choose it over Choice as it is a much better card to get.Pros and Cons
pros
- No Credit Checks - Guaranteed Approval - As long as you fill in the application forms correctly, you will be approved for this card.
- $1,000 Credit Limit - The $1,000 credit limit is quite generous for a card that does not perform any credit checks. Previously, the credit limit was $500 but now has been upped to $1,000.
- 0% APR on purchases - When you make a purchase on this card at their online store, there will be no interest charges if you do not pay in full. Instead, you will have to pay a minimum amount based on what you bought and how much it cost.
- No Monthly Fee - Choice Gold Card does not charge any monthly fee. You can opt in to subscribe to their benefit plan that includes things like Roadside Assistance and RX Spark Prescription Discounts.
- Optional Benefit Plan - Choice Gold Card offers their card holders the option to subscribe to a package of benefits that includes Roadside Assistance and RX Spark Prescription Discount Benefit may be useful to those who need prescription drugs but do not have regular health insurance.
Cons
- Does not report to credit bureaus - Choice Gold Card no longer reports to TransUnion. At this moment, they do not report to any credit bureaus at all. Hence, from a credit building perspective, this card will not help you.
- Can Only Be Used At Their Online Store - This card is not a Visa or Mastercard and can only be used at Choice Gold online store (which is www.myuniqueoutlet.com). It cannot be used at any other stores like a regular credit card.
Our Take: No Fees and 0% APR but cannot build credit
If you do end up getting the card, you have to choice of getting their benefits package for $19.95 a month. Most of you will not bother with this but if you need to get a prescription discount RX, the $19.95 monthly fee may be worth it and you should at least investigate the value of the RX plan.
You do have to be aware that Choice Gold Card does not report to any credit bureaus and you cannot build or rebuild your credit with it.
To sum up, based on our evaluation and review of the Choice Gold Card, we give it a 3 stars out of 5 rating for its absence of fees, it's decent 4500 - $1,000 credit limit, 0% APR financing and ease of approval. The limitation of only being able to shop at one particular online store, having to always pay a shipping fee and it's lack of credit bureau rating prevents us from giving it a higher rating. We suggest other Buy Now Pay Later apps or even no credit check unsecured credit cards instead (see suggestions below).
Alternative No Credit Check Credit Cards that Build Credit
Sezzle - Sezzle is a Buy Now Pay Later App that allows you to shop at thousands of online stores and bricks and mortar retailers. Sezzle offers the typical pay-in-4 payment scheme with 25% down payment and 0% interest. Sezzle charges no fee unlike Choice Gold Card, which charges a $19.95/month. Sezzle also reports to all three major credit bureaus. You can use Sezzle at over 48,000 participating merchants including Amazon, Target, Nike etc. In contrast, you can use the Choice Gold Card only at www.myuniqueout.com (and they have an extremely limit range of products). Read our review of Sezzle.
Arro Mastercard - Arro Card is an unsecured Mastercard with no hard inquiries. Your starting credit limit ranges from $50 - $200 but increases very quickly when you take online financial lessons. The maximum credit limit is $2,500 (higher than Choice Gold). The APR is only 16%. For the first year, there is a monthly fee of $1/month. From the second year onwards, it is $3/month. This is in contrast with Choice Gold Card which has a monthly fee of $19.95. Furthermore, it is a Mastercard and can used anywhere. All you need to do is to link your bank account to Arro. Approval and credit limits will be based on your cash flow in your bank account. Read our Arro Mastercard review here.
Perpay - Perpay is more similar to Choice Gold Card. The Perpay account allows you to shop at their online partners (included many branded products). Unlike Choice Gold Card, there is no annual fee or monthly fee (versus $239.40 total annual fee for Choice Gold). You can also get up to a $1,000 credit limit just like Choice Gold. Perpay is able to offer such favorable terms because they require you to pay them directly from your paycheck direct deposit. Perpay reports to all three major credit bureaus. It is best you read our review of Perpay here. It is a much better alternative to Choice Gold Card.