Indigo^® Mastercard^® for Less than Perfect Credit Review

The Indigo^® Mastercard^® for Less than Perfect Credit is a subpar option for building credit that you should avoid even though it promises to make credit accessible if you have bad credit.

Its annual fee will cost you between $175 - $199 per year based on your creditworthiness. Some cardholders are charged monthly fees on top of that, and these fees are charged whether or not you use the card. Further, Indigo has a reputation of poor customer service which may lead to a frustrating experience.

Your best bet when trying to build or rebuild credit is to choose a secured credit card to help build up your credit score without draining your bank account. Although you need to save up a security deposit, you can get the money back when you close your account — unlike with annual and monthly fees, which you pay for as long as you own the card and are nonrefundable.

• Annual fee: $175 - $199
• Sign-up bonus: None
• Rewards: Non-rewards card
• APR on purchases: 35.9%
• Other benefits: Zero liability protection, Mastercard ID Theft Protection™
• Credit needed: Poor / Fair

• May get up to a $700 credit limit with no security deposit

  Security deposits are often required for credit cards for bad credit, but the Indigo^® Mastercard^® for Less than Perfect Credit doesn’t require one. It may be possible to get a credit limit up to $700 with no deposit (though Indigo’s terms don’t specify exactly what credit limit you will receive).

  Note that your annual fee, if one is assessed, is added to your credit card statement when you open the account. This will lessen the amount of credit available for your first month. In other words, if you have a $175 annual fee and a credit limit of $700, you’ll have an actual credit limit of $525.

  → Discover secured credit cards

• Accepts applicants with poor / fair credit

  It can be hard to find a credit card for rebuilding credit, but the Indigo^® Mastercard^® for Less than Perfect Credit accepts applicants with poor / fair credit. Note, however, that this card is an expensive option due to the fees noted above.

  → Find credit cards for bad credit

• Reports to three major credit bureaus

  The Indigo^® Mastercard^® for Less than Perfect Credit reports to the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. This is a key feature for building or raising your credit score with a credit card. When you apply for another type of credit — like an auto loan or personal loan — the prospective lender will see your payment history, no matter which credit bureau they pull your credit report from.

  → Learn how to build credit with a credit card

• Comes with hefty fees

  The annual fee for the Indigo^® Mastercard^® for Less than Perfect Credit is based on your creditworthiness and ranges from $175 - $199.

  You may also be assessed a monthly fee — which, like annual fees, are not refundable.

  → Learn more about common credit card fees and how to avoid them

• High APR

  Like many cards geared toward consumers building credit, the Indigo^® Mastercard^® for Less than Perfect Credit has a high APR of 35.9%. However, by paying your balance in full every month, it’s possible to avoid this altogether.

  → Discover the average credit card interest rate in America today

• No rewards program

  Sign-up bonuses and rewards programs sweeten credit card offers, especially when there’s an annual fee involved. However, the Indigo^® Mastercard^® for Less than Perfect Credit doesn’t offer a bonus or rewards. This could be a positive, as you won’t be tempted to overspend to earn rewards. However, if you’re a responsible card user looking to earn rewards, this is a drawback.

  If rewards are an important factor for you, you can find cards for no or limited credit scores that offer cash back programs.

  → Find secured credit cards with rewards

• Customer service issues

  As often happens with smaller issuers who target applicants with low credit scores, there are many online complaints about Indigo’s customer service. Some of the most frequent complaints from cardholders on Reddit include:

  • Accounts closed soon after paying the annual fee.
  • Indigo freezing new accounts and requiring cardholders to fax or mail in a photo ID to release the freeze.
  • Payments taking 14 days or more to post to accounts, resulting in late fees and leaving cardholders unable to use their card in the interim.
  • Poor experience with customer service agents.

Indigo^® Mastercard^® for Less than Perfect Credit vs. Discover it^® Secured Credit Card

One of the best credit cards for bad credit, the Discover it^® Secured Credit Card is much more affordable than the Indigo^® Mastercard^® for Less than Perfect Credit. It requires a security deposit of at least $200, but it has a $0 annual fee and no monthly fees. Plus, unlike the fees that the Indigo^® Mastercard^® for Less than Perfect Credit has, your security deposit can be refunded.

The Discover it^® Secured Credit Card offers cash back rewards on every purchase. Plus, starting at seven months, Discover will automatically review your account each month to possibly upgrade you to an unsecured Discover credit card and refund your deposit.

Indigo^® Mastercard^® for Less than Perfect Credit vs. Petal^® 2 Cash Back, No Fees Visa^® Credit Card

Like the Discover it^® Secured Credit Card, the Petal^® 2 Cash Back, No Fees Visa^® Credit Card is a $0-annual-fee credit card that offers a cash back rewards program. Your creditworthiness is not dependent on your Social Security number — instead, it’s judged on your past banking history, including transaction history, income and money spent each month.

Like the Indigo^® Mastercard^® for Less than Perfect Credit, the Petal^® 2 Cash Back, No Fees Visa^® Credit Card is an unsecured credit card, so you won’t need to send in a security deposit. There aren’t any fees, you may get a credit limit up to $10,000 and it reports your account activity to all three credit bureaus.

Indigo^® Mastercard^® for Less than Perfect Credit vs. Chase Freedom Rise® Credit Card

If you’re looking to establish and build credit, the Chase Freedom Rise® Credit Card is our top choice for credit cards for no credit history. You can increase your odds of being approved for this unsecured credit card if you have a balance of $250 or more in a Chase checking or savings account.

It has a $0 annual fee, a sign-up bonus and a cash back rewards program, making it a card to keep long after you’ve achieved a good credit score. It also has helpful credit-building features and, like many Chase credit cards, offers a variety of purchase and travel protections.

Due to the cost of the Indigo^® Mastercard^® for Less than Perfect Credit, you should only apply for it as a last resort. You can find better cards to build credit or rebuild bad credit that have no annual fee and offer rewards programs, while still assisting you in building credit.

The Discover it^® Secured Credit Card is one of the best secured credit cards. It comes with a $0 annual fee, so you won’t have to pay to carry the card. Its refundable security deposit is a better deal, since you’ll get it back when you close your account or graduate to an unsecured card. And if you prefer an unsecured card, the Petal^® 2 Cash Back, No Fees Visa^® Credit Card is a solid choice if you have no credit or limited credit, as it allows you to build credit with no fees.

We rate credit-building cards on how they help you build credit and how much they help you save in the process:

• Annual savings (50% of rating): We calculate how much the average cardholder can save with the card on a yearly basis. If it’s a rewards card, we use U.S. Bureau of Labor data and $300 in monthly spend (the typical starting credit limit for an introductory card) to calculate how much the average cardholder can earn in rewards. We then subtract fees — including annual fees and maintenance fees — from this amount.
• Credit building features (50% of rating): We give points for features that help build credit, including reports to all three credit bureaus, regular account reviews for card upgrades and free credit score access. We take away points for features that can be costly to cardholders trying to build credit, such as security deposits, penalty APRs and late payment fees.