First PREMIER® Bank Mastercard®
A $45-a-year credit-building card from First PREMIER Bank.
Rates, fees, and full terms are set by First PREMIER Bank and can change; check First PREMIER Bank’s official terms for current rates and fees before applying.
Our review
The First PREMIER Bank Mastercard is the textbook example of a fee-harvester card, and it is one of the worst mainstream cards in the country. It exists to extract fees from people with poor credit who feel they have no other option.
Look at the stack: a program fee just to open the account, an annual fee, and then a monthly servicing fee starting in year two, all on a tiny limit at around 36% APR, with no rewards. You are quite literally paying to borrow your own money.
Think twice if: you are applying because you were approved and feel out of options, because a secured card will approve you too, for free.
Our 2.8 out of 10 rating
Each score weighs the rewards rate, value after the annual fee, welcome offer, points flexibility, and perks, with every point valued at a flat 1 cent. This is our editorial assessment to help you compare cards, not a guarantee of approval or of the value you will get.
Earning rates at a glance
Rewards: how it earns
There are no rewards. None. Every dollar this card touches is a cost, never a benefit.
| Category | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Dining and restaurants | 0x | Base rate |
| Groceries | 0x | Base rate |
| Gas | 0x | Base rate |
| Travel | 0x | Base rate |
| Streaming | 0x | Base rate |
| Everything else | 0x | Everything else |
The fine print on rates: The textbook fee-harvester card. Stacks a one-time program fee, an annual fee, and a monthly servicing fee on a tiny limit at a ~36% APR, and earns no rewards. You are effectively paying to borrow your own money. A no-fee secured card is far better.
Every point and mile above is valued at a flat 1 cent, the same honest standard we use for every card. Run your own spending through the calculator to see what this card would actually return for you.
Best ways to earn & redeem
Use it as a flat-rate everyday card, since it earns the same on every purchase, and pair it with bonus-category cards for groceries, dining, and travel.
When you cash in, take the rewards as cash back or a statement credit, worth a flat 1 cent each. We value every point at a flat 1 cent, so treat any transfer upside as a bonus rather than the baseline — see what your points are really worth.
Pros and cons
- Reports to all three credit bureaus
- Approves very low credit scores
- Program fee, annual fee, AND monthly fee stacked together
- About 36% APR and no rewards
- Fees can eat much of a $200-to-$300 limit; a free secured card is vastly better
The welcome bonus
No welcome bonus, of course. Instead you get a roughly $95 program fee before you have made a single purchase.
Is it worth the annual fee?
This is the entire point of the card, and it is brutal: about a $95 one-time program fee, a $75 first-year annual fee dropping to $45, and then a monthly servicing fee of roughly $8 to $10 (over $100 a year) starting in year two, all at about 36% APR on a $200-to-$300 limit. The fees can consume a huge chunk of your available credit before you spend anything.
First-year value vs ongoing value
| Welcome bonus | None |
| To earn it | No minimum spend |
| Est. first-year value* | $-45 |
| Est. ongoing value / yr* | $-45 |
There is no lump-sum welcome bonus, so first-year and ongoing value are about the same, roughly $-45 a year on typical spending after the fee. What you see is what you get from day one.
*First-year value counts the welcome bonus, estimated rewards, and annual credits, minus the annual fee; ongoing value is a typical year after. Every point at a flat 1 cent, on average spending.
Benefits and protections
Beyond the rewards, the perks and protections worth knowing about include:
- One-time program fee of about $95 just to open the account
- Annual fee of $75 the first year, then $45
- Monthly servicing fee (about $8 to $10) starts in year two, roughly $100+/year
- About 36% APR and no rewards
- Credit limits often start around $200 to $300
Statement credits
This card does not come with recurring statement credits. Its value is in the rewards rate and welcome offer.
Who should get it, and who should skip it
Do not get this card. Full stop. If your credit is poor, a no-fee secured card, like the Discover it Secured or Capital One Platinum Secured, will approve you, charge you nothing in fees, build your credit exactly the same way, and give you your deposit back when you graduate.
First PREMIER survives on people who do not realize those free options exist. Now you do.
Alternatives to the First PREMIER® Bank Mastercard®
Pairs well with
The First PREMIER® Bank Mastercard® earns a flat rate on everything, so pair it with a category card or two to earn more where you spend the most.
Frequently asked questions
Best-card guides featuring this card
Learn more
How does it rank for your spending?
Every card is ranked by what it actually returns on the way you spend. Run your numbers and see where the First PREMIER® Bank Mastercard® lands.
Calculate My CardOffer details verified against issuer sources as of October 2026. Editorial opinions are our own. Cardocrat values all points at a flat 1 cent and never inflates redemptions.
