For people who want a simple, no-fuss credit card, the Mercury Mastercard is a good choice with no annual fee and a convenient mobile app. It’s a relative newcomer to the credit card scene, released in 2018.
The Mercury Mastercard is a good middle-of-the-road alternative for building credit, mainly marketed to individuals with credit scores ranging between 575 and 675.
Mercury Mastercard Stats
A variety of perks are provided by the Mercury Mastercard. Before you submit, here’s what you need to know.
- Annual Percent Rate (APR) – Ranges from 25.90 to 27.90 percent and may fluctuate on the basis of the Prime Rate.
- Cash Advances APR – ranges from 27.90 percent to 29.90 percent and can fluctuate depending on the Prime Rate.
- Yearly fee – zero.
- Late Fees – Up to 38 dollars.
- Balance Transfer Fee – Either $5 or 4% of the balance transfer number, whichever is more.
- Cash Advance Fee – Either $10 or 5%, whichever is greater, of the amount of the cash advance.
- Foreign Transaction Charge – You will pay 3 percent of each payment if you use your card overseas.
- Credit Limit – Most users report a credit limit of $1,500, but some reviewers claim they have earned a credit limit of up to $5,000. Some users also mention getting an automatic increase in the credit cap.
The full terms and conditions for the Mercury Mastercard can be found in the Card Member
Agreement.
Did Barclays Buyout Mercury?
In technical words, no. In 2017, British bank Barclays sold to an agency called Credit Shop around $1.6 billion of its so-called “risky” credit card balances, which restructured these balances as Mercury Mastercard accounts.
This meant that a huge chunk of Barclaycard cardholders received a note that the Mercury Mastercard was being transferred to their card. In no way is the Mercury Mastercard associated with Barclays.
The Pros and Cons of Mercury Mastercard
There are some benefits provided by the Mercury Mastercard, but it also has its disadvantages. Here’s what it takes you to remember.
Pros of the Mercury Mastercard
Here are five good items that make people with better credit scores a good choice for the Mercury Mastercard.
Convenient Mobile App
The Mercury Mastercard smartphone app, which is available for both Apple and Android devices, seems to be loved by reviewers.
With the app, cardholders can do a lot. You can check your balance with a smartphone, pay your bill, stay up to date on your FICO® score, and see your transactions as you make purchases.
Free Access to Your FICO® Score
You can check your FICO® score whenever you wish with the Mercury mobile app. Since the FICO scoring model is used by about 90% of lenders, if you are looking to fix your credit score, this is a great tool.
No Annual Fee
There’s no annual charge on the Mercury Mastercard. This is a beneficial benefit for individuals who want to open the card to increase their use of credit, but do not actually intend to use the card a lot.
Free Fraud Protection
Free fraud liability insurance is provided to Mercury Mastercard cardholders. This ensures that if your card is misplaced or stolen and used to make unauthorised transactions, you pay nothing.
Most Merchants Accept Mastercard
Like Visa, a number of retailers nationally and across the globe accept Mastercard. Cardholders will occasionally experience a case with the Mercury card in which they can’t use their card.
Cons of the Mercury Mastercard
The Mercury Mastercard does have a few downsides, considering its benefits. Here are four to take into account.
High Interest Rate
The Mercury card has a comparatively high rate of interest compared to certain other credit cards. The average APR for credit cards in 2020 ranges between 16.53 percent and 23.68 percent, according to US News .
By comparison, the APR ranges between 25.90 percent and 27.90 percent for the Mercury card and can fluctuate with the Prime Rate.
High Foreign Transaction Fee
If you fly a lot abroad, the Mercury Mastercard can be a bad option. This is because cardholders pay the purchase price on each overseas purchase paid to the card with a 3 percent international transaction fee.
High Balance Transfer Fee
For the express purpose of moving a balance from another card, the Mercury Mastercard is probably not the best choice if you are looking for a card.
The Mercury card does not offer incentives such as 0 percent APR and year-long interest-free grace periods, unlike cards sold as balance transfer cards.
Instead, a charge of $5 or 4 percent of the amount transferred comes with all balance transfers. Worse, the rate of interest kicks in immediately.
Difficult to Find Information About Terms and Conditions
Although Mercury is making its card member agreement accessible online, some essential pieces of information are not available.
It is difficult, for instance, to obtain details on eligibility requirements or what variables Mercury uses to classify the individuals it pre-screens for deals.
Concrete information on Mercury’s credit limits or rewards scheme are often very difficult to obtain. Some debate on these points is provided by user feedback from across the internet, but Mercury itself does not make them publicly accessible.
For individuals who are trying to search around for the best credit card rate, this can be frustrating.
Every application for a credit card counts on your credit report as a hard inquiry, so you want to make sure that the Mercury card is a good choice for you before you apply. When you can’t get a full understanding of the terms and conditions, this can be difficult to do.
Eligibility Criteria
His “invitation only” application process is one of the key aspects that separates the Mercury Mastercard from other credit cards.
You must first obtain a pre-approval letter from Mercury in order to be eligible to apply. There is a reservation code in the letter that helps you to go on with the application.
Mercury does not publish correct requirements for eligibility. However, the card is targeted to individuals with credit scores ranging from 575 to 675, so if your score is below this range, you are unlikely to obtain a pre-screened bid.
Steps to Apply for a Mercury Mastercard
It’s a simple procedure to apply for the Mercury Mastercard, but you’ll need an invitation to get started (which Mercury calls a ‘reservation code’). You can apply in four stages, provided you have one.
Have Your Reservation Code Handy
Without a reservation code, you cannot start the Mercury card application, which you will receive in the mail as a pre-screened bid. Visit mercurycards.com and pick ‘React to mail bid’ when you have this code.
Enter Your Reservation Code
First, a screen that congratulates you on being pre-approved will carry you to the screen. Your reservation code and the last four digits of your social security number will need to be entered.
Fill Out the Application
You can step on to the credit card application once the device has checked your reservation code. Along with some financial information, such as your salary, you’ll need to have basic identifying information.
Online, you apply your requests. Notice that some financial documents, such as proof of income or a copy of your most recent pay stub, might be needed by Mercury.
You will normally do this by reviewing your records and submitting them to the lender’s system if you need to request extra paperwork. You would need to make copies, however, and mail them in.
Wait for a Decision
Cardholders claim that hearing back from Mercury usually takes between four and five days. You should get your card in the mail shortly after you get notification that your application has been accepted, if you are approved.
How Much Will You Earn in Rewards and Cash Back?
Because Mercury Mastercard does not have data on rewards and online cash back deals, applicants are stuck relying on cardholder feedback to get an idea of what kind of rewards they should expect.
On the myFICO forums, one reviewer noted that Mercury sent them a prescribed approval promising transactions with an unconditional 2 percent cash back.
Another reviewer from myFICO reported earning 1% cash back on purchases and $10 for every 1,000 points received.
As with credit caps, cash back incentives and other bonuses appear to be personalized to the individual cardholder.
Can You Receive a Credit Limit Increase with the Mercury Mastercard?
Mercury cardholders say on the Mercury card you can get credit limit increases, and some users mention automatic credit increases being issued.
It is uncertain, however, whether Mercury has a particular mechanism or set of conditions for providing automatic credit limit increases to cardholders.
In addition, the amount of the increases tends to vary widely, with a small $150 bump being earned by some users and others going from a $3000 limit all the way up to $5,000.
Does Mercury Have a Mobile App?
For both Apple and Android users, the Mercury card has a highly rated mobile app.
The following can be achieved by cardholders using the app:
- Account Check
- Get Data on Account
- Check details of transactions
- View the score for FICO®
- Paying the Bill
- Get paperless declarations
Mercury Mastercard Reviews from Around the Web
Overall, with the Mercury Mastercard, reviewers across the web appear pleased. The card is a hassle-free way of building credit, good reviews claim.
One user at Credit Karma, for instance, said they got a $2,000 credit limit without a problem.
Another reviewer received a $1,800 to $4,500 automatic credit limit boost.
They increased their credit score by 130 points in a little over a year using the Mercury card, one five-star reviewer noted.
However, with the Mercury Mastercard, not all cardholders are happy. The good news is that in the move from Barclays to Mercury, many of the negative reviews contain poor client encounters.
In the transition from Barclays to Mercury, for instance, one reviewer on the myFICO forums was surprised to see their credit limit drop from a little over $4,000 to $3,000.
In the move from Barclays to Mercury, on the other hand, another myFICO forum reviewer said their credit limit automatically increased from $1,500 to $3,750.
Is the Mercury Mastercard Right for You?
The Mercury Mastercard tends to be a decent choice if you need a second or third credit card to raise your credit cap, according to feedback from different credit forums.
However, the Mercury card is probably better suited for building credit and enhancing your credit usage rather than daily use, with its higher than average interest rate.
The Mercury card may be worth checking out if you receive a pre-approval invitation.
Mercury Mastercard Alternatives
Understandably, the higher APR of the Mercury Mastercard could deter some individuals from signing up.
Here are three alternatives to consider if your credit score is in the mid-500s or higher and you would like to increase it.
Capital One Platinum Credit Card
The Capital One Platinum Credit Card is offered to individuals with mid-range credit ratings. No annual fee and a credit balance raise are also provided by the credit-builder card after you make five payments on time.
Merrick Bank Double Your Line™ Visa
Looking to double the credit you have available? It could be a good match to have the appropriately called Merrick Bank Double Your LineTM Visa credit card.
Following seven months of on-time payments, the Double The LineTM Visa includes automatic credit cap increases.
Capital One Quicksilver One Cash Rewards Credit Card
The Capital One Quicksilver One card gets good feedback with an unrestricted 1.5 percent cash back on transactions. There’s a $39 annual charge, but after five months of on-time payments, cardholders are entitled to earn credit limit increases.
Contact Information: How to Reach Mercury by Phone and Mail
Cardholders can get in touch with customer support 24 hours a day, seven days a week, according to the contact details page on the Mercury Mastercard website.
Telephone, email, and regular mail provide contact options.
Conclusion
The Mercury Mastercard usually receives favorable reviews from cardholders, but most consumers note that this card is suitable for maximizing credit utilization rather than daily transactions due to the higher interest rate.
If you receive a letter of pre-approval, it’s probably worth looking into as a way to improve your credit score.