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Surge® Platinum Mastercard® review: Excessive fees for a credit-building card

 /  6 min
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Snapshot

2.5

Bankrate rating
Info
Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5

Bottom line

The Surge® Platinum Mastercard® can be an effective tool for getting a decent credit limit without a security deposit and a chance at a credit limit increase in as little as six months, but the card’s high fees and APR make it a questionable choice for most credit-builders.

Image of Surge® Platinum Mastercard®
chance of approval
Info
Apply now Lock
on Celtic Bank's secure site

Rewards rate

N/A

Annual fee

Intro offer

N/A

No Credit History
Info
chance of approval
Info
Info

Surge® Platinum Mastercard® Overview

The Surge Platinum Mastercard, issued by Celtic Bank, is designed for people with a bad credit history or none at all who want to build or rebuild their credit without tying money up in a hefty security deposit.

The card has some convenient credit-building features, like payment plans, but it comes with a significant annual fee and a stack of other fees that could make it more expensive than other credit-building cards. A few unsecured credit cards feature lower fees, and several secured cards even offer rewards and other credit-building perks.

What are the pros and cons?

Pros

  • Checkmark

    Users can build credit with responsible card usage.

  • Checkmark

    Allows access to a credit limit of up to $1,000 without a security deposit.

  • Checkmark

    You may qualify for a higher credit limit after six months of responsible card usage.

Cons

  • Its high annual fee and potential monthly maintenance fees make it more costly than many other credit-building cards.

  • The variable APR is among the highest on the market — equal to many penalty APRs.

  • There are no extra features beyond the opportunity to increase your credit limit up to $2,000 (after your first six on-time monthly payments).

A deeper look into the current card offer

Quick highlights

  • Rewards rate: N/A
  • Welcome offer: N/A
  • Annual fee: $75 to $125
  • Purchase Intro APR: N/A
  • Balance Transfer Intro APR: N/A
  • Regular APR: 29.99 percent variable

Current welcome offer

There’s no sign-up bonus or welcome offer with this card. However, this isn’t a big issue since welcome offers aren’t common among credit-building cards. The main preliminary benefit is the quick prequalification offer. Once you know if you’re prequalified, the application process is swift.

Other cardholder perks

The Surge Platinum Mastercard credit card is an accessible credit card for applicants with a wide range of credit scores. It’s an option for those who have difficulty getting approved for an unsecured credit card and don’t want to give a security deposit — as secured credit cards require.

As you use the Surge Platinum credit card, the issuer will report your usage to all three major credit bureaus — TransUnion, Experian and Equifax. With on-time payments, low credit card utilization and responsible use, you can build your credit score and may eventually qualify for a better credit card.

No security deposit

You can get a credit limit between $300 and $1,000 with the Surge Platinum credit card, with no security deposit required. You’d typically have to pay at least a $200 minimum security deposit for a secured credit-building card with a credit limit that matches your deposit.

You may also be eligible for a potential credit limit increase of up to $2,000 after six months of making the required minimum monthly payments. A secured card would require a $2,000 deposit upfront for this credit limit. Although some secured cards could provide a higher maximum credit limit (typically up to $2,500, but some outliers offer up to a $5,000 limit), you would need to deposit funds equal to the credit limit you want. The Surge Mastercard’s limit increase could help keep your credit utilization low without cutting into your savings.

Rates and fees

The Surge Platinum credit card has an annual fee of $75 to $125, which could increase to at least $99 up to $125 in the second year. Even the minimum annual fee can be much higher than competing credit-building cards’ fees, and the potential monthly maintenance fee of up to $10 makes this one of the costliest cards on the market (maintenance fees are at least waived the first year). Other credit-building cards come with no monthly maintenance fees. This card’s APR is also quite high. Although high APRs are typical of credit-building cards, the Surge Platinum Mastercard poses one of the steepest APRs around — on par with the typical penalty APR for missing payments.

There are also a few optional one-time fees you may run across. These include a $30 fee for an additional card (if you ever need one for an authorized user) and a $9.95 “premium card fee,” if you want a different card design. You’ll also be subject to a 3 percent foreign transaction fee for international purchases and late and returned payment penalty fees of up to $41.

If you ever call customer service to make a payment that must be credited to your account on the same day, or if the payment needs to be processed after 5 p.m. or on a non-business day, there’s also an undisclosed “expedited service fee” that the customer service representative will inform you of.

How the Surge Platinum Mastercard compares to other credit-building cards

If you’re looking for an effective credit card to build credit, the Surge Mastercard may be worth considering if you’re trying to avoid secured cards, but the Surge card comes with costly fees. You may be better off with other options if you want to keep costs low.

Image of Surge® Platinum Mastercard®
Bankrate Score
Apply now Lock
on Celtic Bank's secure site

Annual fee

See website for Details*

Intro offer

N/A

Rewards rate

N/A

Recommended Credit Score

No Credit History
Info
Image of OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card
Bankrate Score
Apply now Lock
on Capital Bank's secure site

Annual fee

$35

Intro offer

N/A

Rewards rate

N/A

Recommended Credit Score

No Credit History
Info
Image of Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card
Bankrate Score
See Rates & Fees , Terms Apply
Apply now Lock
on Capital One's secure site

Annual fee

$0

Intro offer

N/A

Rewards rate

N/A

Recommended Credit Score

No Credit History
Info

Surge Platinum Mastercard vs. OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card

The OpenSky Secured Visa Credit Card requires a refundable security deposit of $200 to $3,000, but you can potentially have a much higher credit limit than the Surge Platinum Mastercard (since the deposit amount also becomes the credit limit). The OpenSky Secured card has a lower $35 annual fee and a more favorable variable APR of 22.64% (variable).

The OpenSky Secured card can be a better pick if you may need to carry a balance in a pinch because you’ll save a substantial amount on interest payments (although carrying a balance isn’t recommended). However, if you want to keep initial costs low, the Surge Platinum doesn’t require a security deposit. Although you’ll pay a higher annual fee to get started with and annually renew the Surge Platinum card, it might be a better fit for you if you can’t afford a large security deposit to access a high credit limit.

Surge Platinum Mastercard vs. Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card

The Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card is a secured credit card that requires a refundable deposit amount of only $49, $99 or $200, depending on credit history. Even if your security deposit is less than $200, you’ll get access to a credit limit of $200. Any deposit over $200 will give you access to a credit limit equal to your deposit amount. Plus, Capital One will also assess all cardholders for a higher credit line after just six months of on-time monthly payments.

Like the Surge Mastercard, the Platinum Secured card’s variable APR of 30.49 percent is high. However, the major benefit of this credit-building card is that there’s no annual fee, and you can start building credit with potentially lower upfront costs than if you had opted for the Surge Mastercard.

Bankrate’s Take — Is Surge Platinum Mastercard worth it?

If you need an unsecured credit card and don’t qualify for better cards, the Surge Platinum Mastercard can help you build credit with responsible usage. Although it has a high annual fee and significant maintenance fees, it can provide you with a decent credit limit that can help you keep credit utilization low.

However, if you can qualify for a card with a lower annual fee or have the funds to contribute to a refundable security deposit, you may want to consider a lower-cost secured credit card or a card with better perks.

Frequently asked questions

Written by
Ryan Noonan
Former Writer, Credit Cards

Ryan Noonan is a former writer for Bankrate and CreditCards.com and is a graduate of the School of Journalism at Ohio State University. 

Edited by Senior Editor, Credit Cards

* See the online application for details about terms and conditions for these offers. Every reasonable effort has been made to maintain accurate information. However all credit card information is presented without warranty. After you click on the offer you desire you will be directed to the credit card issuer's web site where you can review the terms and conditions for your selected offer.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, and have not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser. The information, including card rates and fees, is accurate as of the publish date. All products or services are presented without warranty. Check the bank’s website for the most current information.