primor Secured Credit Cards - 4 Versions

Introduction

When you are rebuilding your credit after it has taken a hit, secured credit cards is usually the first place you should be looking at. However, even though secured cards require that you put up a deposit and they use that deposit as a collateral to extend a credit line to you, some issuers will decline applicants who have bad scores and things like delinquencies, charge offs and collections in their credit report.

It is a catch 22 situation for many folks. In fact, many of the main stream big banks and credit unions are notorious for turning you down for less than perfect credit.

Which brings us to this card, primor. What is so unique about this secured card. Well, the most important thing about this card is that there is no credit checks and as long as your income extends your credit limit by $100, you will be approved for the card. Having said that, if your income is only $100 above what you can deposit, I suggest you build up an emergency fund first before getting any credit card.
 

Card Details^*

Well, primor has actually four cards and each comes with a slightly different annual fee and APR (though they are really similar). Two of them are Visas and two are MasterCard. They are split up into a Classic and Gold Version. Let's go through each one here (you can also look at the chart above).

Annual Fee: $39 for Classic Visa and Classic MasterCard. $49 for Gold Visa and Gold MasterCard.

APR : 13.99% for Classic Visa and Classic MasterCard. 9.99% for Gold Visa and Gold MasterCard.

Minimum and Maximum Deposit: $200 to $5,000.

Credit Bureau Reporting: All 3 major bureaus.

The Classic comes in both a Visa and MasterCard version and has a slightly lower annual fee ($39) compared to the Gold version ($49). However, the APR is slightly higher (13.99% vs 9.99%) though it is still very competitive. The one thing I like about these cards is that they give a normal 25 day grace period and they also report to all three credit bureaus.  

Peer Comparison^*

When it comes to peer comparison, I would normally put out a table of all their peers. Problem with secured cards is that there are a lot of them and all really have very identical features. Annual fees range from $0 to $50. APRs range from 9.99% to 29.99%. Some graduate to unsecured cards and some don't.

However, like we mentioned earlier, many secured card issuers reject applicants with bad credit. This card does not perform any credit checks and so their only real comparable is the OpenSky Secured Visa (which also does not perform any credit checks).

The Opensky has a $35 annual fee and APR is 17.39%. So compared to Opensky, all of primor's cards have a higher annual fee but lower APR. So they are pretty much close in terms of fees.
 

Opinion and Verdict^*

If you have bad credit, secured cards are always the most cost effective way to start your rebuilding journey. Unfortunately for many, mainstream banks like Bank of America, Wells Fargo and US Bank have been known to turn down those with really bad credit (which is really strange when you consider that you have to put up a deposit to get your account going). Credit Unions are also known to be very difficult if your credit is less than perfect. BK friendly issuers like Capital One have been known to decline applicants as well.

The effect of getting rejected for a couple of cards is hard pulls on your credit reports and perhaps a 20 point ding. When you have been rejected by other secured cards, you should consider primor because you are very likely to get approved as long as you fill in the correct information and if your income exceeds your deposit by $100. Many folks have actually gotten two cards (so that you have two trade lines reporting).

The thing I like about primor is that they pay interest on your deposit and report to all three major bureaus (which is what you need if you want to rebuild your credit). You can also choose between a Visa and MasterCard. Furthermore, you can choose whether to have the Gold version with the slightly higher annual fee but lower APR (9.99% is great) or the Classic version with the lower annual fee but slightly higher (though still great) APR. If you do not wish to carry a balance, then go for the Classic version. But if you do carry a balance, then the Gold version would be better.

^*See Terms and Conditions

Application Forms

 

Below is a screen shot of the application forms for the Visa Gold version.