First Premier Bank Taking Advantage of People Trying to Rebuild Their Credit Sioux Falls South Dakota

When I went onto the website and clicked on apply for credit, there was a banner on the left. One stated, "Fees, rates, costs, limitations, available credit, and other terms." It stated the following fees that charged to your account the minute you get the card: $29 set up fee, $95 program fee, $48 annual fee, montly fee $7 (actually at the rate of $84, to be paid monthly).

That means before you even use the card, you have to pay them $179 in fees. If your credit limit is $250, then you can only use $71 right away.

Some people feel it's better not to have a card at all than to pay $179 for $250. Others feel it's worth it to rebuild credit.

The point is, you have to read the terms. You need to see what you are getting into before doing it. No one is going to give a credit card to a credit challenged person without getting lots in return.

Back when I was extremely credit challenged, I got one of these types of credit cards. I did read the terms and conditions and at the time, felt it was worth the $179 to rebuild my credit. In my case, it worked out fine, but I made sure I found out what the catch was when someone was offering me credit.

One other thing. Pay it down right now. Pay it under the limit immediately (add for an overlimit fee), even if you don't make it by the 17th (you said you made a payment anyway, which probably covered minimum payment so you won't have a late fee too). Credit card companies usually do not report to the credit bureaus until the statement drops (the date the next statement is printed). If your payment for November is due on the 17th, the next statement will probably not drop until the 21st or later. If you are not over limit, or 30 days late by the time they report to the credit bureau, you should not have a blemish. The credit bureau reporting is what your account status is at the time they report it, not what it may have been at another time in the month.

While there fees are high, they aren't that bad a deal for people trying to rebuild their credit. Let's face it, people with sub-prime credit aren't going to get great credit card deals.

They minimize their risk by charging fees up front and letting you pay them down. A new card typically comes with about $70 of available credit.

What other fees did they charge you? The over limit fees are consumer generated.

First Premier does inform customers of their fees before the customer accepts them, so I wouldn't quite classify this a s aripoff.