Oakstone Platinum Secured Mastercard Review: 9.99% APR, No Credit Checks

By : Mr Credit Card

Annual Fee = $49
Regular APR = 9.99%
Credit Limit = $200 - $2,000 secured by security deposit
No Credit Checks
Mobile App for Android Users
Free Vantage Score from Experian
Not available to residents of NY, IA, AR, or WI

The Oakstone Platinum Secured Mastercard is from First Progress and issued by Synovous Bank. It has an incredibly low APR at 9.99% and it does not perform any credit checks when you apply. Hence, it is ideal for those of you who have been denied other rebuilder cards and cannot afford another hard inquiry on your credit report. It is also ideal for those of you who have just been discharged from bankruptcy.

Requirements

Even though Oakstone Platinum does not perform any credit checks, you still need to meet the following (non-credit related) criteria.

You must fund your security deposit (Oakstone does give you the option to receive your card first before you fund it for a fee)
Your security deposit must be less than the difference between your monthly income and expenses (which you have to provide in your application)
You must have a checking account

Card Details

Annual Fee	$49
Regular APR	9.99%
Foreign Transaction Fee	3%
Security Deposit and Credit Limits	$200-$5,000

Other key features of the Oakstone Gold include

Free Vantage Score from Experian - all cardholders get a free monthly Vantage score and credit monitoring service from Experian.

Reports to all three credit bureaus - Oakstone Platinum reports to all three major national credit bureaus: Namely Experian, TransUnion and Equifax

Android App Available - Oakstone has an app for Android devices. Apple IOS app is still in the works.

Compared to Other No Credit Check Secured Cards

Card	Annual Fee	Regular APR	Min Deposit
Oakstone Platinum	$49	9.99%	$200 - $5,000
Oakstone Gold	$39	13.99%	$200 - $5,000
First Progress Select	$39	13.99%	$200 - $2,000
First Progress Prestige	$49	9.99%	$200 - $2,000
First Progress Elite	$29	19.99%	$200 - $2,000
Opensky	$35	17.39%	$200 - $3,000
Go2Bank	$0	See Website	$100
Chime	$0	N.A. - Pay in full	No min or max
Self	$25	23.24%	$100

Oakstone Platinum Compared To Other No Credit Check Cards

The Oakstone Platinum Mastercard has two standout features. Firstly, they do not check your credit when you apply. Secondly, the regular purchase APR is very low at 9.99%. So we will compare Oakstone to other cards that do not check your credit.

Compared to Traditional No Credit Check Secured Credit Cards

There are a few traditional secured credit cards that do not perform any hard inquiries when you apply. One of the most well known rebuilder cards is the Opensky Secured Visa. Compared to the Oakstone Platinum Mastercard, the Opensky has a low annual fee (at $35 vs $49), but a higher regular APR. Choosing one over the other is a trade off between annual fee and APR.

Another card that does not does perform any credit checks and has a low rate as well is the Applied Bank Secured Credit Card. They both have low APR at 9.99% and their annual fee is also very similar ($48 for Applied Bank vs $49 for Oakstone Platinum). The bog difference is that Oakstone has a standard 25 day grace period whereas Applied Bank has no grace period. So interest accrues immediately when you make a purchase on the card.

Oakstone has another card called the Oakstone Gold Secured Mastercard. It also has to be noted that Oakstone is marketed by First Progress, which also has a few cards under the "First Progress" brand. The Oakstone Platinum Mastercard is identical to the First Progress Platinum Prestige Mastercard. They both have the same annual fee, APR and all other features.

Oakstone also has another Gold version with a $39 annual fee and a 12.99% APR. Incidentally, there is also a First Progress Platinum Select Mastercard which is identical to the Oakstone Gold Mastercard. They have slightly lower annual fee but higher APR.

Oakstone Compared to New Fintech Secured Cards

Recently, Fintech startups have launched a few secured credit cards that have no credit checks and also no annual fees. However, you are required to either open a mobile banking account and set up direct deposit with them or open a credit builder account.

For example, the Self Secured Visa has no credit checks and no annual fee. But you can only get it once you have "saved" enough money in your credit builder account.

Then there are secured credit cards like Chime Secured Visa, GO2bank Secured and Sable One Secured Credit Card that require you to set up a mobile banking account with them. Chime and GO2bank also require that you set up a recurring direct deposit with them. But once you have met this hurdle, there is no credit check when you decide to get their secured credit cards.

Pros: What We Like

Low APR - The purchase APR of 9.99% is very low is will appeal to those of you who carry a balance occasionally.

No Credit Checks - Oakstone does not perform any hard inquiry and you will be approved.

Free Vantage Score from Experian - You will get a free Vantage score from Experian which is updated monthly.

Mobile App - Oakstone has a mobile app available for Android devices.

Cons: What Do Do Not Like

Charges Annual Fee - The $49 annual fee is slightly on the high side for secured credit cards. Furthermore, the are more secured credit cards that have no annual fee.

Mobile App only available on Android - Oakstone's mobile app is only available on Android devices and not on Apple IOS devices.

Oakstone Platinum Mastercard has a very low APR

The Oakstone Platinum Mastercard is one of the rare secured credit card with a very low APR (at 9.99%). Furthermore, they <a href="//www.askmrcreditcarddo not perform any credit checks so you will definitely be approved.

This card is ideal for rebuilders who have been consistently denied other credit cards and want to avoid another hard pull or inquiry. Those of you who have just emerged from bankruptcy should also consider applying for this card since there is no credit checks.

If you have really bad credit (even with credit scores in the 400 range), and you carry a balance occasionally (though we at askmrcreditcard.com recommend you always pay in full every month), then the Oakstone Platinum Secured Mastercard would be a great card to get because there are no credit checks and you will definitely be approved.

Based on our evaluations, we give this card a 4/5 star rating for it's low APR and absence of credit checks. This is a secured credit card any rebuilder should consider.

How to Apply?

The application process of the Oakstone Platinum Secured Mastercard is pretty simple. On the first page, you fill in your name, home address and email address and your primary phone number. On the second page, you will fill in financial information like your estimates income and expenses, the amount of security deposit you want to put up, your social security number, date of birth and a password for your First Progress account. You can use Federal or state benefits, unemployment benefits and social security benefits as income. Then you simply have to tick off all of the check boxes and agree to the terms and conditions.

There are 3 ways to fund the Oakstone Platinum secured credit card. You can fund it with a bank debit card or prepaid credit card or with a ACH transfer from your checking account. If you apply from your mobile phone (as you are doing now), funding your account via checking account is not available.

If you decide to fund with your debit or prepaid credit card, then all you need is to provide your debit card number and three digit security code.

Oakstone Platinum also offers you the option to get your card in the mail first and then fund later. If you choose this option, you are given up to 90 days to fund your account. But you have to pay a $29.95 fee. If you are really paranoid about wanting to have the card in your hand before you part with your security deposit, then choose this option.