Interest Rates & Features:  

The interest rates charge for cash advances and purchases using the First Option Visa or MasterCard is a pretty hefty 19.5% APR. That’s a little higher than that charged for most credit cards for bad credit that we’ve reviewed. Taking into consideration that the cards also offer no purchase grace period, frequent use of these cards could be pretty expensive. In the event that more advantageous features of First Option cards should make them your choice, we’d recommend planning to pay any balance off online as quickly as possible rather than waiting for the monthly statement. That way you’d get the benefit of positive credit management activity being reported to the credit reporting agencies while minimizing interest costs.

Other Fees:  

Several of the other fees typically associated with credit cards for bad credit are lower with First Option than with most competitors starting with the annual fee which is a moderate $59.00. The transaction fee for taking a cash advance is also less than most at just 2% of the advance sum. The minimum and maximum charges range from $1-$20. Sounding a sour note is the $99.95 account set up fee which would be charged directly to your checking account upon card approval. It’s pretty tough to justify this fee when the New Millennium Bank’s fee for essentially the same thing is $35.00.

Credit Limits:  

Typical of other secured credit cards, the credit limit corresponds to the security deposit that is made. The minimum and maximum limits are $300 and $5,000, respectively. Increases can be made at any time in $100 increments up to the $5,000 maximum. No more than 50% of the total credit limit is available to be taken in the form of cash advances.

Features:  

First Option MasterCards and Visas allow you to make purchases, take cash advances and to pay it all back in a timely manner which they, in turn, report to the major credit reporting agencies showing responsible credit management. That’s the goal of a credit card for bad credit and that’s about all that should be expected of these cards.

A fairly unusual additional benefit is that interest is paid to the customer on funds that are held in the collateral account. At present the rate is 6% APY (Annual Percentage Yield) for the first three months the account is open and 2% thereafter. The rates are subject to change based on market conditions.

Help & Support:  

The primary source for customer support of First Option cards is online account access. Customer support representatives can be contacted by phone during business hours or by email. Automated telephone access provides access to account information and allows for the reporting of lost or stolen cards.

If the First Option cards seem to meet your specific needs, we suggest taking a look at our review of the secured cards from New Millennium Bank for the same benefits with lower start up costs. To see how First Option cards stack up against the top rated cards in our survey, check out the objective reviews of cards from Applied Bank, UltraVX Visa and First PREMIER Bank.