Quick Review
The Mercury® Mastercard® is an unsecured credit card for fair credit, but it comes with plenty of rare perks that make it stand out from the competition. You can only apply if you receive an invitation by mail, but it may be worthwhile if you can control your spending.
Below are key details you should consider:
- No upfront fees: You won’t need to pay anything upfront since the card doesn’t have a security deposit, annual fees, or account-opening fees. This is rare for a credit card geared toward consumers with troubled credit histories.
- Sky-high APR: The APR is 28.49% – 30.49% (variable), which is much higher than the norm, even for a mid-tier credit card.
- Good for credit building: The card issuer will report your Mercury® card account to all three credit bureaus, provide free access to your FICO score, and give you an initial credit limit of at least $500. These features can all help you achieve a good credit score.
- Unreliable customer service: On their online customer service contact page, Mercury® urges customers to manage their credit account on their own via their mobile app or online portal due to long hold times for incoming callers. This, alongside online reviews from frustrated consumers, indicates it may be difficult to get ahold of a customer service rep if you have issues with your card that you can’t resolve on your own.
Pros & Cons
Who Is the Mercury® Mastercard® Best For?
The Mercury® Mastercard® is one of the few unsecured credit cards for people with less-than-perfect credit that comes with no annual fee. For this reason, there’s no real downside to getting it.
The card is designed with the following groups in mind:
- Prequalified applicants: You can only apply for the Mercury® Mastercard® if you’ve already received a prequalified offer in the mail. If you haven’t, then you’ll need to look elsewhere.
- Credit rebuilders on a budget: You won’t need to pay any fees or deposits for the privilege of having the Mercury® Mastercard® in your wallet. As long as you don’t carry a balance, it’ll give you the opportunity to build credit for free.
- Fair credit holders who want an unsecured card: If your credit score isn’t quite up to the good range, then the Mercury® Mastercard® is one of the few no-fee unsecured cards you’ll be able to get.
What the Crowd Says
The Mercury® Mastercard® isn’t a very widely discussed card, likely owing to the card issuer’s secrecy about the card terms and the card’s exclusive nature as an invite-only credit card. Nevertheless, reviews generally tend to be positive. Here’s a summary of what critics and cardholders think:
| Publication | Rating |
|---|---|
| Credit Karma (user ratings) | 4.7/5 |
| WalletHub (user ratings) | 3/5 |
| Forbes Advisor | Negative |
| BestCards | 4.5/5 |
| CardRates | 4/5 |
| Just Start Investing | Positive |
| Credit Takeoff | Positive |
| Aggregate rating: 4.1 |
What Major Publications Say
Most major credit card review websites recommend getting the Mercury® Mastercard® if you’ve received an invitation to apply—however, they strongly warn against racking up too many purchases on the card due to its high APR.
Reviewers all agree that there aren’t many downsides to the Mercury® Mastercard®, as long as you can control your spending. It outshines the competition by offering subprime borrowers an unsecured credit line and credit card rewards with no annual fee.
What Cardholders Say
Current cardholders generally have positive things to say about the Mercury® Mastercard®, citing the card issuer’s generous credit limits.
Many online complaints come from people who’ve been rejected for the card, which goes to show that you won’t necessarily be approved, even if you’ve received a “pre-approved” offer letter in the mail. Complaints from people who actually have the card mainly concern issues with customer service.
Here’s a summary of what actual cardholders had to say about the Mercury® Mastercard®:
Customer Service Complaints
The main problems that cardholders have with the Mercury® Mastercard® are related to unreliable and unhelpful customer service. A concerning number of reviews claim that the card issuer doesn’t offer any help canceling unauthorized transactions or disputing fraudulent charges, which is a major red flag.
Plenty of other dissatisfied users mention that Mercury takes a while to process credit card payments, even after taking their money. A smaller subset of cardholders report the card issuer mistakenly freezing their card and preventing transactions. To fix these issues, cardholders need to reach out to customer service representatives, which is difficult to do and not always helpful.
Rates & Fees
Fees
- Annual fee: $0
- Cash advance fee: $10 or 5% (whichever is greater)
- Balance transfer fee: $5 or 4% (whichever is greater)
- Foreign transaction fees: 3%
- Late/returned payment fee: Up to $41
- Over-limit fee: N/A
Interest Rates
- Regular APR: 28.49% – 30.49% (variable)
- Cash advance APR: 28.49% – 30.49% (variable)
- Balance transfer APR: 28.49% – 30.49% (variable)
- Minimum interest charge: $0.50
If you don’t pay your Mercury® Mastercard® balance in full by your payment due date, you’ll start racking up incredibly high interest charges. For balance transfers and cash advances, your balance will begin accumulating interest on the same date you made the transaction.
At the end of the day, this card just isn’t designed for holding debt, and you should avoid carrying a balance from one month to the next if you choose to get the Mercury® card.
Rewards
The Mercury® Mastercard® comes with a basic rewards rate of 1% cash back on all purchases. This isn’t very high, but it’s a nice perk considering the lack of annual fees and security deposit.
Mercury® Financial advertises 1% cashback rewards on their credit cards, including the Mercury® Mastercard®. This is a nice perk you’ll get at no cost, but it’s not the main draw of this card, and there are other cards you can get that will give you more lucrative rewards.
For further information about rewards on the Mercury® Mastercard® and which purchases are eligible, check out the Mercury® card rewards agreement.
Rewards Redemption
You’ll have a couple of different options for how to redeem your rewards on the Mercury® Mastercard®:
- Statement credit: Once you’ve earned 1,000 points, you can redeem those points for $10 of statement credit. The credit should be applied to your account within 5–7 days.
- Amazon credit: You can convert every 100 points you’ve earned on your Mercury® card into $1.00 of Amazon credit by enrolling in the Amazon Shop with Points program.
If you want to use your rewards points to shop online at Amazon.com, be warned—cardholders have left negative reviews complaining that technical problems and customer support issues have made it impossible to sign up. For best results, try enrolling through the Amazon mobile app.
Credit Limit
The credit limit on a credit card is the maximum amount you can owe your credit card issuer at any given time. Having a high credit limit will benefit not only your finances but also your credit.
This is because the amount you’re spending on a credit card relative to your total credit line (known as your credit utilization rate) is one of the main factors influencing your credit score.
Credit Limit Increases
Although Mercury® Financial doesn’t disclose their requirements for getting a credit limit increase, a customer service representative told us that they sometimes offer credit line increases on the Mercury® card based on a review of the cardholder’s account history.
You can’t request a credit limit increase on the Mercury® Mastercard® on your own, but you may be able to get a higher credit limit eventually by demonstrating responsible account management.
Benefits
The Mercury® Mastercard® comes with a few standard benefits for cardholders.
| Benefit | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Zero fraud liability | The credit card issuer won’t hold you responsible for transactions not authorized by you. |
| Mastercard® ID theft protection | TransUnion credit report monitoring and dark web monitoring to check for misuse of your personal information (e.g., your Social Security number and your credit or debit card information). |
| 24-hour assistance if your card is lost or stolen | Access to an emergency phone number to report your card lost or stolen and request emergency card replacement as well as emergency cash advances. |
| Discounted airport concierge services | 15% off on Mastercard® airport meet-and-greet services. |
| Free FICO score | Free access to your FICO credit score. |
| Mobile app | You have the power to manage your Mercury® Mastercard® account using the Mercury® credit card app, Mercury Oculus. The app is free and available to download through Google Play and the Apple Store. |
| Digital wallet compatibility | The Mercury® Mastercard® has been compatible with digital wallets since November 2021, meaning you can make purchases both online and in store without your physical card. |
How to Get the Mercury® Mastercard®
Credit Score Required
Mercury® doesn’t disclose any specific credit score requirements for their credit cards. However, their cards are designed for people who have a troubled credit history, which suggests that you can get one of their cards with a fair credit score or lower.
How to Apply for the Mercury® Mastercard®
If you’ve received a Mercury® Mastercard® offer in the mail, you can respond online by going to the website and entering your reservation number along with the last four digits of your Social Security number.
Unfortunately, the card issuer doesn’t currently offer any option to apply for the Mercury® credit card if you haven’t received a prescreened offer letter. If you haven’t been selected, you’ll need to get a different credit card instead.
Building Credit
Credit Reporting
The Mercury® card website doesn’t provide much information about the card’s benefits and features. However, we reached out to a customer service representative at Mercury® Financial to ask about their credit reporting policy, and they confirmed that they report Mercury® credit card accounts to all three credit reporting agencies.
Free FICO Scores
As a Mercury® Mastercard® account holder, you can benefit from free access to your FICO score. This is incredibly valuable if you’re recovering from bankruptcy, delinquencies, or other derogatory marks in your credit history, as you’ll be able to track your progress as you work to raise your credit score.
Tips for Building Credit
To use the Mercury® Mastercard® to build up and improve your credit score, follow these tips:
- Don’t overspend: The high APR on the Mercury® Mastercard® makes it risky to use for purchases you can’t pay off by the end of each billing cycle. If you leave a balance on the card, your debt will begin growing quickly, which can hurt your credit by increasing your debt-to-credit ratio and putting you at greater risk of late payments.
- Never miss your payment due date: Although you might be able to get away with paying your credit card bill a few days late, delinquencies become increasingly more damaging to your credit score as you go from 30 days to 60 days to 90+ days late, and they’ll stain your credit report for up to 7 years.
- Keep your account open: Since the Mercury® card doesn’t have any annual fee, there’s no harm in keeping your account open for as long as possible. Doing so will benefit your credit score by increasing the overall length of your credit history.
FAQs
Who issues the Mercury® Mastercard®?
The Mercury® Mastercard® is issued by First Bank & Trust, which is a bank based in Brookings, South Dakota. However, credit card accounts are managed by Mercury® Financial.
What’s the grace period on the Mercury® Mastercard®?
The Mercury® credit card has a grace period of 23 days. A credit card grace period is the amount of time you have to pay off your card’s statement balance before you’ll be charged any interest.
It’s worth noting that the grace period on the Mercury® card only applies to purchases. Cash advances and balance transfers will begin accruing interest immediately.
Can you get a cash advance with the Mercury® Mastercard®?
The Mercury® Mastercard® allows credit card cash advances, meaning you can use it to withdraw money from an ATM. However, you can only withdraw up to the Mercury® Mastercard® cash advance limit, which a customer service representative informed us is currently 20% of your regular credit limit.
You’ll need to pay a cash advance transaction fee of $10 or 5% of the transaction amount, and your balance will begin accumulating interest at an APR of 28.49% – 30.49% (variable) starting from the day you make the withdrawal.
Does the Mercury® Mastercard® allow balance transfers?
The Mercury® Mastercard® credit card allows balance transfers (where you move debt from one account to another).
However, transferring debts to the Mercury® Mastercard® will cost you big time. In addition to a balance transfer fee of $5 or 4% of the total transfer amount, you’ll need to pay high interest charges at an outrageous APR of 28.49% – 30.49% (variable).
Worse yet, balance transfers won’t benefit from a grace period, so interest will begin accumulating on your account starting from the day you performed the transfer. All in all, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll actually save money or lower your risk of delinquency by using the balance transfer feature of the Mercury® Mastercard®.
How do you contact Mercury® credit card’s customer service?
If you need help with your Mercury® Mastercard® application or you want to find out more about the card, you can contact customer service by phone at (833) 766-4844.
You can also write to them at the address below:
Card Services
PO Box 84064
Columbus GA 31908
