Fine For Me
I could not get approved for a few other cards when I came across this one. Compared to other secured cards the annual fee wasn't bad. I put $300 down and have had it over a year. I'm sorry, I don't really remember how long it took to be accepted, money taken out of account or to receive the card since it was awhile ago.
I only use the card to pay my car insurance on auto pay. So instead of paying my car insurance bill every month, I pay the credit card bill. I don't use it for any other charges so technically I'm not out any extra money each month, except the once a year annual fee.
This is the key to rebuilding your credit. Don't use it! Just put a low bill on auto pay with it and forget about it. Otherwise you will be spending money you don't currently have the cash for. Pay it off each month and don't pay any interest. You should only use 30% or less of your credit limit each month anyways to keep your debt to credit ratio low, which also helps improve your credit score. My car insurance is only $90 a month, which is 30% of $300.
In the last 14 months or so that I have had it, I have been offered and approved for 3 non-secured cards. Once again, I put a different bill on auto pay and don't use it for anything else. Keep it simple and you won't get yourself in trouble. I have improved my credit from low to mid 500's to about 690 in 14 months. Not bad if you ask me.
I do not work for this company by the way. I'm just a hard working 30 something year old girl trying to earn good credit by being as responsible as I can. I will not make the same credit mistakes I made when I was in my twenties.
Good luck! If used responsibly this could be a good card for you! :)
Don't do it!!! High interest rates and they will close your account even if you made the payment
Works For Rebuilding
My Situation
I was 20 years old and ruined my credit in merchant and consumers accounts due to opening a business, had banking accounts closed along with the credit from those banks as well. My score had dropped to about 460 in 2013. This eventually lead to having a bad credit status and being marked in ChexSystems, which prevents you from opening any sort of consumer accounts like checking accounts. After finding a job shortly after, instead of filing for bankruptcy, I decided to go ahead and repair my credit and it started with First Progress.
So this is my review 2 years and 9 months later...
Some prerequisites:
1.) You need to have bad credit, either this card is not for you. Even if you have no credit and want to build credit, this card is still not for you.
2.) An extra $200 or more (I put $300)
3.) Patience and knowing how/what to use it on. (give it 6 months at least, 12 months if you have many baddies on your account).
4.) Checking Account that allows bill pay, or another form of card that has these features (such as the Chase Liquid Card, which is what i used)
5.) The following needs to stick in your head:
a) Remember that rebuilding credit COSTS in some shape or form, either by deposits, charges and annual fees. Rebuilding is not easy, it takes a lot of patience and of course money.
b) Rebuilding is not just opening secured accounts and hoping everything will be fixed in a couple of years, you need to constantly work in fixing your negative remarks on your account, to a certain extent.
Opening Account
Opening the First Progress account was pretty easy, that is if you have a bank account to fund it with. If you do not have a bank account, I would highly recommend the Chase Liquid Card as they allow you to use their Online Bill Pay as a feature. The Chase Liquid Card is what I started out with since I was marked on ChexSystems and was unable to open any checking/savings accounts at any bank at the time (due to closed checking accounts with negative balances). The process took over a week and a half for them to receive the deposit and send out the card. Then I received it in the mail about a week later, so about 2 - 3 weeks in total for the whole process it took for me, but this can take longer for some areas.
Usage
Using the card was simple, I put $300 as the deposit and if this was your first secured card like it was for me, you would need to be responsible to keep it below the 30% utilization rate. Since I put $300 as the deposit, 30% in this case would be $90. You would need to make sure your max spending limit to have at the end of a billing cycle would be lower than $90, meaning when you recieve you billing statements, your balance owed should not be over $90, since $90 is 30% of your overall utilization rate. This is extremely important when you start applying for other cards down the road.
I would highly recommend finding some way to bill pay direcly to First Progress's account, the first bill I paid I used MoneyGram at a local CVS and this was the first and last time I would do something like this, it takes longer for First Progress to receieve the payment and could possibly make your payment late, plus the hassle of going in store, calling, connecting, providing the information, and confirming took about 40 minutes since this was my very first time doing something like this. Theres lots of debit cards that allow bill pay if you do not have a checking account or unable to get one like me at the time.
By also wary that this has an annual fee, for me it was $39 a year.
Results
My score was around 460 when I started in 2014, in about 6 months, my score jumped to 524. Not exactly an average score, however as long as progress is made, you're on the right track (and so was I). I soon applied for another secured card from Capital One a couple months after, and at the end of the 12th month, my score was around 580 from these 2 secured cards, which 580 for some credit cards applications is the bare minimum. First Progress was easy to use as it was accepted everywhere and suprisingly did not require a signature, unlike unsecured cards which do.
Eventually after a year and 2 months, I applied for my first Capital One Unsecured card (QuickSilver One) and was given a $500 limit. The secured card from Capital One also bumped up from $300 (my original security deposit) to a $600 credit line. I had First Progress to thank since it lead me up to this point in 2015.
However, don't expect an increase from First Progress as they do not hand out credit increases, whatever you deposit is what you get. I still have the same $300 limit from the time of opening the account to now.
Overall, this card was easy to use, and I had no problems with payments or First Progress using bill pay from Chase Liquid's Card. I would highly recommend this along with other secured cards for rebuilding your credit.
HORRIBIE CUSTOMER SERVICE /they lie
THEY FALSE ADVERTISE. EVERY CUSTOMER GETS THE SAME UGLY GREEN CARD. THERE ARE NO CHIPPED CARDS. You will get a hard inquiry with this, there are only 2 ways to pay and one way is Moneygram at Walmart/Cvs and will cost you $72 a year. High annual fee, sucky website and is outdated. Terrible. when you pay by check it takes two weeks for check to clear ! I have heard it takes almost 2 months to get the deposit back. So disappointed.
HORRIBIE CUSTOMER SERVICE /they lie
THEY FALSE ADVERTISE. EVERY CUSTOMER GETS THE SAME UGLY GREEN CARD. THERE ARE NO CHIPPED CARDS. You will get a hard inquiry with this, there are only 2 ways to pay and one way is Moneygram at Walmart/Cvs and will cost you $72 a year. High annual fee, sucky website and is outdated. Terrible. when you pay by check it takes two weeks for check to clear ! I have heard it takes almost 2 months to get the deposit back. So disappointed.
Don't get this card
Instead o helping you rebuild your credit this stupid card helps you go backwards . I always pay on time through my banks bill pay , the problem is first progress reports every other month to credit bureaus, so sometimes you make gain 34 points other months you may lose 30 something points , never stable , I went and got approved for discover it card so far no problems and that's the card to go with ..
Pretty good starter card
I applied with a 525 beacon and after making a few payments, my score went up enough to get another card through a different company with lower fees and rewards. Now my credit is a 606 beacon and growing every month. Annual fees are kind of high, but that's the cost you pay for having bad credit. Lol
Helps Credit
COULDNT GET A CAR ANYWHERE. THEN APPLIED FOR THIS ONE GOT APPROVED. MY SCORE WENT FROM LOW 500 TO 604 IN 18 MONTHS. THEN GOT APPROVE FOR 2 UNSECURED CARDS.
DO NOT GET!! You will regret!
THEY FALSE ADVERTISE. EVERY CUSTOMER GETS THE SAME UGLY GREEN CARD. THERE ARE NO CHIPPED CARDS. You will get a hard inquiry with this, there are only 2 ways to pay and one way is Moneygram at Walmart/Cvs and will cost you $72 a year. High annual fee, sucky website and is outdated. Terrible. I' m paying in full and closing because I have Fingerhut and a Discover Secured. I have heard it takes almost 2 months to get the deposit back. So disappointed.
It serves the purpose it's supposed to.
Make your payments on time & keep your balance under 30%.
Great for building and improving credit!
Buy some inexpensive things with the card, keep your balance low, and pay the bill on time every month. This will really help you improve your credit score quickly! It helped me get from the low 500s to 641 in just a few months. My score is still climbing higher! :-)