Interest Rates & Features:  

When shopping for any kind of credit card, the interest rate charged is always a major consideration. Centennial secured MasterCards and Visa charge a rather steep 19.9% APR (Annual Percentage Rate) for both purchases and cash advance transactions.

The good news is that the cards also offer a 25 day grace period which can have the effect of eliminating the interest charge for purchases if used diligently. That means always paying the entire balance due each month. But that’s a great practice anyway, especially considering that the principal reason for obtaining this sort of credit card is to build an excellent credit history.

Cash advances, regrettably, don’t have the benefit of the grace period and incur interest charges from the outset. The best financial management practice is to avoid cash advances from this or any other credit card if feasible.

Other Fees:  

As with all other credit cards for bad credit, the Centennial secured cards have a list of fees to which users may be subjected. The unavoidable one is the $69.00 annual fee. Others can be avoided, or at least minimized, with very judicious use of the cards.

Two fees that should never come into play are the over limit fee and the late payment fee. They’re each $29.00 per occurrence. Failing to make payments on time or exceeding the credit limit is diametrically opposed to the purpose for getting the card in the first place.

In addition to the interest charged on cash advances, described above, there’s a 3% fee for taking such advances. The charge has minimum and maximum limits of $5 and $10, respectively. There’s also a $3.95, onetime fee, for establishing online account access. This charge is characteristic of cards issued by First PREMIER Bank but we find it difficult to justify.

Credit Limits:  

Because this is a secured card, the customer essentially sets the credit limit by the amount of the collateral deposit that is made. The minimum deposit, and therefore credit limit is $200 and the maximum is $5,000. The amount deposited can be increased at anytime, in increments of $100, up to the maximum value.

Cash advances are limited to 10% of the total deposit during the first 90 days of the account. After that, the advance amount can be increased to 50%.

Features:  

Centennial secured Visa and MasterCards take a straight forward approach to the purpose of credit cards for bad credit. They can be used to make purchases and cash advances and their use is reported monthly to the three major credit bureaus. Paying at least the minimum payment every month reflects positively on a credit score. That’s about all there is to say about the cards. Like other credit cards, users are protected by law from unauthorized use. In the event of a lost or stolen card or suspected fraudulent usage, the card issuer should be notified immediately.

Help & Support:  

Customer support is offered primarily via online account access and email. Customer support representatives are available by telephone during normal business hours and there is an automated telephone system that can be accessed 24 hours a day for account information or to report a lost or stolen card.

Centennial secured credit cards essentially define what credit cards for bad credit are all about. There are no frills but using the cards to best advantage can result in building or rebuilding a weak credit rating. To see how they compare to the top rated cards in our survey, check out the objective reviews of cards from Applied Bank, UltraVX Visa and First PREMIER Bank.