Surge Mastercard vs Indigo Mastercard

Quick Introduction

Both the Indigo and Surge Mastercard are both issued by Celtic Bank though they are serviced by different companies. Surge is serviced by Continental Finance whereas Indigo is serviced by Genesis Financial Services. These are two fairly popular unsecured credit cards and we are going to compare these two cards to see which is the better choice for you.

Possible Terms Compared

Both the Surge Mastercard and Indigo credit card require you to go through a pre-approval process. Depnding on one's credit profile, different people will be offered different terms. Below is a table listing all the possible terms and conditions.

Indigo Card Terms				Surge Card Terms
Annual Fee	Monthly Fee	APR	Credit Limit	Annual Fee	Monthly Fee	APR	Credit Limit
$0	N.A.	24.9%	$300	$99	N.A.	25.9%	$1,000 $2,000 after 6m
$59	N.A.	24.9%	$300	$99	N.A.	25.9%	$750 $1,500 after 6m
$75 for 1st Year Then $99	N.A.	24.9% or 29.9%	$300	$99	$10/m	29.9%	$500 $1,000 after 6m
$99	N.A.	29.9%	$400	$99	$10/m	29.9%	$300 $600 after 6 months
$125	N.A.	29.9%	$500

The table above shows you various offers that each card can offer those who get pre-approved. Your offer will depend on their assessment of your credit profile. There are a few things to take note of.

Firstly, Indigo has a no annual fee version whereas Surge does not. Furthermore, Indigo does not charge any monthly from the second year onwards whereas Surge does.

With regards to credit limits, the credit limits given by Indigo are fixed and will not increase. The Surge Mastercard however, will double your credit limit after 6 months if you pay your first 6 payments on time.

If you try to pre-qualify through the Indigo website online, you will either get the $0, $59 or $75 for first year,then $99 annual fee versions. The other two versions ($99 and $125 annual fee versions are normally reversed for mail pre-approved offers). All of these versions have lower annual fee than the Surge Mastercard (which has a $99 annual fee for all their cards). However, their credit limit is only $300 and they do not increase at all as long as you have the card.

Surge has two versions (with no monthly fee from second year onwards) that have $750 and $1,000 starting credit limits. These will double to $1,500 and $2,000 respectively if you pay the first 6 bills on time. So while Indigo many have lower fees, Surge has offers which can give you a much higher credit limit. In my opinion, the credit limits of the surge credit cards far outweigh the lower fees of the Indigo card.

Surge has two card offers with monthly fees after the second year. Though their limits are higher than Indigo ($500 and $300 respectively), the total fees you have to pay are higher than Indigo. With regards to the Surge offers with monthly fee, I think the all of Indigo credit cards are better.

Similarities

The Indigo and Surge are similar in the following ways:

• Pre-approval process - Both cards require you to go through a pre-approval process. It only results in a soft pull with no impact on your credit score. If you are pre-approved, you will be given an offer based on the assessment of your credit profile.


• Reports to all three major credit bureaus - Both cards report to Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.

Differences

• Mobile Apps - The Surge Mastercard has a mobile app (which is actually Continental Finance app) whereas the Indigo Mastercard has no mobile app. In addition to this, the Indigo desktop site where you can manage your account is not mobile friendly.


• Credit Limit Increases - Another main difference between these two cards is that while the Indigo credit card does not increase your credit limit, the Surge Mastercard will DOUBLE your limit after 6 months if you pay your first 6 payments on time. Furthermore, most of Surges' offer have higher starting credit limit and aside from the doubling of credit limit after 6 months, Surge also has a record of increasing our credit limit after the initial doubling of credit limit as well.


• Free Credit Score - Another difference between the two cards is that Surge gives their cardholders a free Vantage 3.0 scores from Experian whereas Indigo does not offer any free credit score services.

Which is better? Surge or Indigo credit card?

The Indigo credit card has a couple of advantages over the Surge credit card. Firstly, all of their offers do not charge any monthly fee from the second year onwards. The annual fees are also lower (for the most parts) than the Surge annual fee.

However, the Surge credit card is vastly superior to Indigo in terms of credit limits. Not only are their starting credit limits higher, but they will DOUBLE after 6 months (if you pay the first 6 months on time). They also have a track record of increasing their credit limit after the initial doubling of the starting credit limit.

Surge also has a mobile app (which Indigo does not) and they also offer a free credit score for their cardholders.

To sum up, based on the comparison of both the Surge and Indigo credit card, I think the winner is the Surge credit card because of it's significantly higher credit limit potential and modern features like mobile apps and free credit scores (which are shocking not available on Indigo). If you get the $0 or $59 annual fee version for Indigo, it might be ok fee wise, but you will get much higher credit limits with whatever version Surge offers you. But for the most parts, if you get the Surge versions with no monthly fee, then the Surge will definitely be the better choice.

Having said that, both cards require that you go through a pre-approval process with no impact on your credit score. I would go through the pre-approval process of both cards and see what you are offered (assuming you are pre-approved and not denied). If you have offers from both issuers, you can compare the terms and conditions and make a decision then.