This card no longer exists. You can view the best secured cards by clicking here.
Contents
Card Stats:
Minimum Security Deposit: $300
Maximum Security Deposit: $5,000
Interest Rate: 22.99%
Introductory Interest Rate: None
Grace Period: 24 days
Foreign Transaction Fees: 2% in US dollars or 3% in foreign currency
Annual Fees: $25 per year, waived first year
Application Fees: None
Rewards Program: Yes, 1 LifeMile per $1 spent. 15% discount on excess baggage.
Signing Promotion: 5,000 bonus miles
Interest Earned on Security Deposit: Yes, money is put into FDIC-insured interest earnings account. Click here to view rates. 0.05% at time of publishing
Other Features:
- Zero Fraud Liability
- Fraud Protection
- Travel & Emergency Assistance
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver
- Travel Accident Insurance
- Free Internet Banking
- Automatic Bill Pay
Editor’s Review
This review was provided by William Charles, editor of Doctor of Credit.
This card is backed by US bank & processed by Visa. Unfortunately it’s high APR, annual fee after the first year and the fact it doesn’t automatically graduate to an unsecured card makes it an unattractive card for those with bad credit history.
Annual Fees
This card has it’s annual fee of $25 waived for the first year. Cardholders calling up to have their second annual fee waived have had mixed results with most people reporting that they were unable to have it waived.
Unfortunately the card that U.S bank graduates customers to (when they want to unsecure the card) has an annual fee of $45 per year.
[Read: Secured Credit Cards With No Annual Fee]
APRs
This card has the third highest APR (22.99%) out of the secured credit cards currently on the market. There are a number of cards that have less than 10% such as Navy Federal nRewards Secured Card or USAA secured credit card.
Consumers opting for a secured card usually have a history of bad credit and shouldn’t be making purchases unless they have the funds to immediately pay for that purchase. This should make APRs on secured cards fairly irrelevant, but if you plan to carry a balance here is a list of secured cards sorted by APR.
Rewards Program
This is one of the few secured cards on the market that allows consumers to earn rewards. One LifeMile is earned per $1 spent, there is also a bonus 5,000 miles after the first purchase has been made.
These miles can be used with a number of different participating partners. Unfortunately these miles cannot be redeemed for smaller items such as gift cards and most secured card holders will struggle to get enough miles to afford a flight.
[Read: Secured Cards With Rewards Programs]
Credit Reporting
This card reports to all three credit bureaus (TransUnion, Equifax & Experian) and is reported as a secured credit card to these bureaus.
Adding Funds
Funds can be added to the LifeMiles card, which will increase the credit limit of the card. The minimum amount that can be added is $100. Some cardholders report they could add funds as soon as their card arrived, whilst others complained that they were only able to do so after a six month waiting period.
UPGRADING TO AN UNSECURED CARD
This card can be upgraded to it’s unsecured version (LifeMiles Visa® Card), unlike other cards this doesn’t happen automatically and card holders must call U.S bank to request the card be unsecured and the deposit returned.
U.S bank requires a FICO score of 680+ along with a history of on time payments on the secured card before the upgrade will be performed. It’s not possible to request graduation until the card has been held for a minimum of one year.
Approval
This is a secured card and as such, almost everybody will be approved for it. U.S bank will not approve those with bankruptcies on their credit report and also won’t approve consumers with a lot of recent charge offs.
Final Verdict
There is no reason to apply for this card. There are much better secured credit cards on the market. This card doesn’t excel in any area, the only advantage is that it has a rewards program and no annual fee for the first year. Unfortunately cardholders aren’t able to capitalize on this as there is an annual fee for year two (and when you upgrade the card it jumps to $45 per year) and the rewards program requires a lot of miles before they can be redeemed.
Still want to apply? Use the link found below.
Apply for LifeMiles Visa® Secured Card