Vive Mastercard Review

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New Kid on the Subprime Rebuilding Block

The Vive Mastercard is the new kid on the block in the world of unsecured credit cards for rebuilders and people with bad credit. Unlike many of it's peers, teh Vive Mastercard has a reasonble annual fee of $79 and does not charge any monthly fees or one-time program fees that are so common among it's peers. The reasonable fees make them a consideration for rebuilders who are looking for an unsecured credit card without exorbidant fees.

In this review, I will go through the details of this card, compare with it's peers and give our final verdict and recommendation.

Pros	Cons
Reasonable Annual Fee	No Cash Advance
No Monthly Fee	Cannot be used abroad
No One-Time Program Fees
Up to $5,000 credit limit
Reports to 3 Major Credit Bureaus

Card Details Evaluation

Annual Fee	$79
APR	35.99%
Late Fee	Up to $41

The Vive Mastercard is a very simple card and a few limitations as well.

Only charge an annual fee

The Vive Mastercard charges an annual fee of $79. They do not charge any monthly fee or one-time program fee that is quite common in fee-laden subprime credit cards.

Very High APR

The APR at 35.99% is very high and is at the higher end of the APR spectrum for credit cards. Having said that, we at AskMrCreditCard.com always recommend that you pay in full (PIF), especially if you are rebuilding your credit, and not be bothered by high APR.

No Cash Advance

Vive Mastercard does not provide cash advance. I do not view this as a real negative though some of you might. That is because with a cash advance, you are charged interest the from the first day and cash advance APR tends to mirror the regular APR (which, in the the case of Vive Mastercard, is high).

Cannot use the card abroad

The Vive Mastercard cannot be used aborad also. I suspect that this should not be an issue for most of you.

Credit Limits

The starting credit limit for the Vive Mastercard is $500. There is potential for credit limit increases up to $5,000.

Analysis: Total Fee to Credit Limit Ratio

The Total Fee to Credit Limit Ratio (TFCL) is a measure we use to evaluate unsecured subrpime credit cards from a fee and credit limit perspective. This ratio tells us what pecentage of credit limits we are paying in fees. As a rule of thumb, a ratio of 15% or below is a relatively good ratio as it implies you are paying 15% or less in fees as a percentage of your credit limit. Below is a table showing the TFCL ratio of the Vive Mastercard at various credit limits.

Card Annual Fee Credit Limit TFCL Ratio Vive $500 $79 $500 $79/$500 = 15.8% Vive $1,000 $79 $1,000 $79/$1,000 = 7.9% Vive $2,000 $79 $2,000 $79/$2,000 = 3.95% Vive $3,000 $79 $3,000 $79/$3,000 = 2.6% Vive $4,000 $79 $4,000 $79/$4,000 = 1.975% Vive $5,000 $79 $5,000 $79/$5,000 = 1.58%

Competition

In general, the Vive Mastercard competes with unsecured credit cards that target people with bad credit. Most such cards charge a lot of fees. They include an annual fee, monthly fees from the second year onwards on top of an annual fee and sometimes a one-time program fee before you can activate your card. These cards also tend to come with low credit limits and thus have very high Total Fee to Credit Limit (TFCL) ratios. But there are some unsecured bad credit cards that only charge an annual fee (much like Vive Mastercard) and these cards are Vive Mastercard's real competition. But first, let me just highlight how much better Vive is compared to high fee subprime credit cards. Just take a look at the table and see their TFCL ratios.

Versus other high fee credit cards

Card	Annual Fee	Monthly Fee	Credit Limit	Fees/Credit Limit Ratio
Reflex $500	$125	$12.50/month	$5,00 $1000 after paying on-time for 6 months	Y1 = $125/$500 = 25% Y2 = ($125 + $150 = $275)/$1000 = 27.5%
Total Visa	Y1 = $75, then $48	Y1=$0, then $8.25/month	$300	Y1 = $75/$300 = 25% Y2 = ($48 + $99[$8.25 X 12])/$300 = 49%
First Access Visa	Y1 = $75, then $48	Y1=$0, then $8.25/month	$300	Y1 = $75/$300 = 25% Y2 = ($48 + $99[$8.25 X 12])/$300 = 49%
First Digital	Y1 = $75, then $48	Y1=$0, then $8.25/month	$300	Y1 = $75/$300 = 25% Y2 = ($48 + $99[$8.25 X 12])/$300 = 49%
Fit Mastercard	Year 1 = $99, then $125	Y1=$0, then $12.50/month	$400 $800 after paying on-time for 6 month	Y1 = $99/$400 = 24.75% Y2 = ($125 + $150[$12.50 X 12])/$800 = 34.4%
Upgrade Select Card	$39	$0	$500 - $2,000	$39/$500 = 7.8%
Arro Mastercard	$36	$0	$50 - $2,500	$36/$300 = 12%

While Vive Mastercard has very low TFCL ratios, the cards above that compete with Vive and charge way more fees that ridiculously high TFCL ratios. Let's use the First Digital Mastercard as an example. During the first year, the TFCL ratio is close to 55% and from the second year onwards, it is 49%. That means that you are paying about half of your credit limit in fees for this card. During the first year, the total fee you pay for the First Digital is $175 and it inceases to $199 from the second year onwards. In contrast, the annual fee for Vive Mastercard is $79.

Versus credit cards that only charge an annual fee

Card	Annual Fee	Monthly Fee	Credit Limit	Fees/Credit Limit Ratio
Reflex $750	$125	$0	$750 $1,500 after paying on-time for 6 months	Y1 = $125/$750 = 16.67% Y2 = $125/$1,500 = 8.33%
Reflex $1,000	$125	$0	$1,000 $2,000 after paying on-time for 6 months	Y1 = $125/$1,000 = 12.5% Y2 = $125/$2,000 = 6.25%
Upgrade Select Card	$39	$0	$500 - $2,000	$39/$500 = 7.8%
Arro Mastercard	$0	$3/month	$50 - $2,500	$36/$1,000 = 3.6%

Vive Mastercards' real competition comes from subrpime credit cards that only charge an annual fee (and not monthly fees or one-time program fees). It is easy to compare these competitors. You simply look at the absolute level of annual fees. In this aspect, the Vive Mastercard is in the middle of the road. For example, both Reflex Mastercard and Surge Mastercard have cards with $750 and $1,000 limits. Both of them come with a $125 annual fee (which is higher than Vive Mastercard).

Ohter the other hand, there are other unsecured credit cards like the Upgrade Select Visa and Arro Mastercard have lower fees. Upgrade Select has a $39 annual fee, which is $40 lower than Vive Mastercard. Arro Mastercard charges a $3/month monthly fee which works out to $36. This is $43 lower than the $79 annual fee of Vive. Furthermore, Arro does not rely on your FICO score for approval (ie no hard inquiries). Instead, they require you to have a minimum monthly income of $1,800.

Pros: Benefits we like

Only charge an annual fee - One of the reasons we really like the Vive Mastercard for rebuilders is because they only charge an annual fee. They do not charge any monthly fee or one-time program fee that is so common among it's peers.

Potential for high credit limit - The maximum credit limit of $5,000 is high for a credit card that targets people for bad credit. You obviously have to be on the "higher end" of the bad credit spectrum to get this credit limit.

Some fineprints to be aware of

No Cash Advance - The Vive Mastercard does not allow you to take cash advances from ATM. This, in my opinion, is actually a good thing as interest accrues immediately when you use a credit card for cash advance.

Cannot use the card abroad - This may be a disadvantage for some of you but I suspect that most consumers will not be bothered about this.

Our Take: Decent Unsecured Rebuilder Card with Modest Fee

There are many unsecured credit cards for rebuilders available. However, the vast majority of them come with very high fees. It is not uncommon for cards to charge an annual fee together with a monthly fee. Many also require you to pay an "activation" or "program fee" before they even send the card to you . Furthermore, most will only give you a credit limit of $300.

Compared to many of these cards, the Vive Mastercard appears more reasonable. They only charge a $79 annual fee and do not charge any monthly fee on top of it. It reports to the three major credit bureaus and also have a mobile app where you can manage your account. If you have bad credit scores and are looking for an unsecured credit card, then the Vive Mastercard is a card to consider.

Perhaps the biggest drawback for the Vive Mastercard is that Vive Financial is not very well-known in the rebuilder world. But despite that, it's relatively low annual fee for a subprime credit card should make it a consideration for rebuilders looking for an unsecured credit card.

To sum up, based on our review and evaluation of the Vive Mastercard, we give it a 3.9 star out of 5 for it's reasonable annual fee (and no other fee), high maximum credit limit, availability of mobile app. The lack of ability to use the card abroad and not being able to use debit card or third party digital payment systems to pay your bills prevents us from giving it a higher rating.

Alternatives

I have listed a couple of alternatives to the Vive Mastercard below. They have lower annual fees but lower maximum credit limits as well.

Upgrade Select Visa - The Upgrade Select Card has a lower annual fee than Vive Mastercard ($39 vs $79). However, their maximum credit limit is lower. You can get a credit limit between $500 and $2,000 versus $500 and $5,000 for the Vive Mastercard. You would need a FICO score of at least 580 to get approved by Upgrade.

Arro Mastercard - The Arro Mastercard does not charge an annual fee but instead has a monthly fee of $3 a month. This works out to $36 annually. During the first year, the monthly fee is only $1/month. The APR is also incredibly low at 16%. Unlike Vive Mastercard, Arro does not perform any hard inquiry on your credit report because they do not rely on FICO scores for approval. Instead, you need to have a minimum monthly income of $1,800 to get approved. The initial credit limit ranges from $50 - $200 but rises rapidly. You can get a credit limit of up to $2,500.

Contact Information

Customer Service Phone: 877-486-3442, Mon-Fri 8:30am to 8:00pm EST
Payment Address: P.O. Box 268808, Oklahoma City, OK 73126-8808
Credit Dept Phone: 800-548-5545
Correspondence: P.O. Box 708670, Sandy, UT 84070-8670