Centennial® Secured Mastercard®

• Reports Monthly to 4 Major Credit Bureaus
• 24 Hour Account Access by Phone

Issuer:  First Premier Bank

APR: 19.99% applied to purchases and balance transfers

Introductory Period: N/A

APR After Introductory Period:  N/A

Annual Fee: $69

Credit Line Possible: There is a minimum credit line of $200 that is secured by a $200 initial deposit.

Insurance included:  No insurance is included with the Centennial® Secured MasterCard®.

 Financing Configuration - This is determined by multiplying the "Average Daily Balance" for purchases and for cash advances outstanding during the monthly billing cycle by the monthly "Periodic Rate." The monthly rate for purchases is 0.825%, which comes to be a yearly rate of 9.9%, which is 19.99%.

Grace Period - If you pay your previous balance in full on or before the due date shown on your previous statement you will have a grace period on purchases of 25 days (from the statement closing date to the payment due date.)

The Best Thing About It - You can improve your credit because it reports monthly to the credit bureaus and if you handle your account properly you can have a $5,000 credit limit in six months.

The Worst Thing About It -There are numerous hidden fees including account set up fees, and account program fees.

Credit Rating Needed For Acceptance - Poor to Fair.

Who Is It For?

The Centennial® Secured MasterCard® is suitable for people with less than perfect credit who want to improve their credit rating by having a credit card company regularly report their good behavior credit bureaus. You will be eligible a credit after 6 months but you have to pay a fee.

The Benefits

You can improve your credit rating:  Sometimes these types of credit cards don't bother to report your good behavior to the credit bureaus but this particular card does on a monthly basis, which can really help boost your credit rating.

You could have quite a high credit limit quickly: You will be eligible for consideration of a credit limit increase after 6 months.  Initially, you will be issued a MasterCard/VISA with a credit limit equal to your Security Deposit Account of at least $200.00 up to a maximum of $5,000.00.  This program is designed to allow individuals to increase their credit limit based on their credit performance.

The Drawbacks

You do not have access to your cash. Once your account is open and active for a minimum of 90 days and the credit card company decides that your account is not delinquent your cash advance availability may be increased to 50% of the assigned credit line.

Missing a payment is expensive: If your Account goes past the due date two times in any six-month period or goes past the due date for two consecutive billing cycles the APR for purchases will increase to 19.9%.

You need to be careful about following the rules: If you are late the credit card company can close your account and keep your $200 security deposit.

There are way too many hidden fees and charges. There are all kinds of sneaky charges like the Monthly Account Maintenance Fee, the Program Fee and the Participation Fee which are not fees usually found on credit cards.

Fees To Watch Out For

Program Fee:  $95

Complete Terms & Details

Minimum Finance Charge:  You must be charged at least fifty cents per transaction.

Late payment fee:  $25

Over The Limit fee: $25

Cash advance Fee: Greater of $5.00 or 3% of the amount of the cash advance.

Monthly Participation Fee:  6.00 per month

Monthly Account Maintenance Fee: $3 per month on closed accounts with an outstanding balance of $20 or more.

Fees for Transactions in Foreign Currencies:  1% of the transaction amount.

Credit Limit Increase Fee:  You are charged $25 each time your account is eligible and approved for an increase in limit.

Internet Access Fee:  $3.95

Copying fee: $3.00 per item if sent by email.

Return Item Fee Charge: $25.00

Card Replacement Fee:  $25.00 

Account Set Up Fee: $29.00

Additional Card Fee:  $20.00 per card

To Summarize -

The Centennial® Secured MasterCard® has very high set up and maintenance fees. and you are only allowed to take out 10% of your initial deposit as a cash advance.  There is no travel insurance and access to cash advances is expensive and limited. However people with poor credit do qualify for it and it may be a good way to improve your credit rating as long as you pay your outstanding balance in full and on time.