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Cerulean Mastercard Alternative
REVIEW

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The Cerulean Mastercard is one of a few credit cards by Continental Finance and is issued by Bank of Missouri. It's key features are:
 

  • It is by mail invitation only and you cannot apply online without an invite code
  • Terms and conditions may vary for different individuals
  • This can actually be a good card depending on what terms you get.


Introduction

The Cerulean Mastercard is one of a few credit cards by Continental Finance (the others being Verve Mastercard®, Surge Mastercard®, Reflex Mastercard® and Fit Mastercard®.). At this moment, they are only marketing this card through mail offers and you cannot apply for this card online.
 

Card Details

I am actually not going to list any details like annual fees or APR because they tend to change once in a while. And we also have folks tell us that what is on their website did not reflect what was in the mail offer.

When you are checking your mail offer, just make sure to check what the annual fee is, if they charge a one-time processing fee and if they charge any monthly fee.

Having said all of these, there are a couple of features that are common in most Continental Finance credit cards that you might find useful.

The first is that you will receive for FREE a Vantage 3.0 credit score from TransUnion if you enroll in e-statements. Most credit cards targeting those of you with low credit scores do not offer this feature at all.

Secondly, Continental Finance also has a mobile app. While apps are common for prime issuers, they are still pretty rare for subprime issuers. So this is one of the good features of this card.
 

Competition

As we mentioned earlier, Continental Finance has a few credit cards and they all have different fees and rates. As far as this card goes, it appears (from their website - so take this with a pinch of salt since this card is only offered through snail mail) that they only charge an annual fee (which is a good thing since other cards tend to also charge a monthly fee and/or a one-time processing fee on top of an annual fee). So if what you are offered in the mail is like what is on their website, then this card is actually quite decent compared to it's peers.

What you should be looking for is a card that just charges an annual fee and at this moment, it appears that at this moment Cerulean fits the bill.
 

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • No monthly Fee or One-Time Processing Fee - It appears (from their website) that this card does not have any monthly fee or one-time processing fee. It has just an annual fee. This is in contrast with many other subprime credit cards and even some of Continental Finance other credit cards.

  • Free Vantage 3.0 TransUnion Score with e-statement - Not many sub-prime cards offer this feature so this is great for you to monitoring your process as you rebuild your credit.

  • Has Mobile App - Most of us manage our accounts through a mobile app these days and it is great that Cerulean comes with it.

  • Reports to All THREE Credit Bureaus - The Cerulean Mastercard reports to all three major credit bureaus and if you use your card responsibly, you can rebuild your credit with this card.

  • Review for Credit Line Increase After One Year - Your account will be reviewed for credit line increases after one year.

 

Our Take

The Cerulean Mastercard is one of a few credit cards from Continental Finance. But you cannot apply this card online. Instead, you need to get a mail offer and invitation. This is the reason we are hesitant to list their key features and terms is because what is listed on their website may not be the offer that you get in the mail.

There are a couple of nice features that Continental Finance has with all their cards that should appeal to you. They have a mobile app and provide you with a free Vantage 3.0 TransUnion score when you sign up for e-statement. You also get a review for a potential credit line increase after a year.

At present, the terms and conditions posted on the website says this card only charges an annual fee and does not charge any monthly fee or one-time processing fee. If this is what is in the mail offer, then it is actually a pretty good card for rebuilders. But once again, please read the offer in the mail before pulling the trigger.