Compare Continental Finance Credit Cards

Two Slightly Different Cards

Continental Finance has a few credit cards. Some are only available via mail offers. They include the Verve Platinum Mastercard, the Revel Platinum Mastercard and the Cerulean Platinum Mastercard. The ones that are available to be applied online by anyone include the Reflex Platinum Mastercard, the Surge Mastercard and the Fit Mastercard.

Reflex and Surge - 4 Different Versions - Pre-approval Process

The Reflex and Surge Mastercard are essentially identical credit cards. They are both also similar to the Verve and Revel Mastercard which are only marketed through direct mail. Both cards allow you to go through a pre-approval process with no impact on your credit score. If you are pre-approved, you may be offered one of the following version based on credit limits: $300, $500, $750 and $1,000 starting credit limits. All versions have slightly different fees. One of the unique features of Continental Finance credit cards is that if you pay your bills on time for the first 6 months, your initial credit limit will double. That means in the case of Reflex and Surge, your initial limit will double to $600, $1,000, $1,500 and $2,000 respectively.

Fit - Just One Version

The Fit Mastercard, unlike the Reflex and Surge has only one version. The starting credit limit is $400, which doubles to $800 after 6 months of timely payments. There is no pre-approval process and so you just apply straight away if you like the terms of this card.

All Continental Finance credit cards share other similar features.

Doubles Your Initial Credit Limit After 6 Months

One of the unique features of Continental Finance Credit Cards is that if you pay your first 6 bills on-time, Continental Finance will actually double your credit limit. They are one of the extremely rare subprime credit cards that will double your initial credit based on timely payments. The highest starting credit limit of their cards (some of them) is $1,000 so you can increase your credit limit to $2,000 after 6 months. This is an extremely generous credit line for people with bad credit.

In the case of the Reflex and Surge Mastercard, $300, 4500, $750 and $1,000 starting limits become $600, $1,000, $1,500 and $2,000 respectively after 6 months.

Has Maximum Credit Limit of $4,000

This is not a well-known fact but in all their terms and conditions, it says that the maximum credit limit you can get on the card is $4,000. As we just mentioned, Continental Finance will double your initial credit limit after the first 6 months if you pay on time. But they also have a track record of increasing your credit limit after the initial increase. You can also request a credit limit via their website www.yourcreditlimitincrease.com after having the card for 13 months. You will have to fill in your last 4 digits of your credit card and SSN, zip code and current monthly income. If you are approved, you will be charge a credit limit increase fee of 15% of the increase.

True Second Chance Credit Cards

Continental Finance is an issuer that offers you a true second chance because they will approve you even if you have previously burnt them in a bankruptcy. In fact, many have been approved just a few months after their bankruptcy dischage even though they have included a Continental Finance credit card in their BK.

Can Have More Than One CF Card

Another not so well known fact is that you can have more than one Continental Finance card. There is only one little snag. And that is you would need different logins and password for the mobile app. This can be quite irritating because you need different logins to manage different cards. This is a flaw in the app design and it is still an ongoing issue.

Payment Hold During First 6 Months of Card Membership

During the first 6 months of having the card, Continental Finance may withhold your payment from your credit limit for up to 6 days. After 6 months, it gets reduced to the usual 2 days. I am not sure why they do this but perhaps they want to see a track record of timely payments and payments that actually clears and has no issues with your bank.

Can Pay with Debit Card

Continental Finance is one of the few credit card issuers that allow you to pay your credit card bill with a debit card. However, to do so, you would need to pay over the phone (which has a $10 charge). Nevertheless, many of you want to be able to use your debit card to pay all your bills and this card offers that ability.