Total VISA^® Credit Card Review: High Costs Driven by Excessive Fees

The Total VISA^® Credit Card may be a tempting option to rebuild your credit score because it’s an unsecured card that welcomes applicants with poor / fair credit. It can help build credit since it reports your credit activity to the three major credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion). But, due to its high ongoing costs — including a program fee, annual fee and monthly servicing fee — the card isn’t worth it.

You’ll be better off with an alternate credit-building card that offers more straightforward terms and no annual fee, like the Discover it^® Secured Credit Card, Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card (see rates & fees) or U.S. Bank Altitude Go Visa Secured Card.

• Annual fee: See Terms*
• Sign-up bonus: No bonus
• Rewards: Earn 1% cash back rewards on payments made to your Total Credit Card
• APR: 35.99%* variable
• Foreign transaction fee: None
• Recommended credit: Poor / Fair

• Can qualify with poor / fair credit

  The Total VISA^® Credit Card accepts applicants with poor / fair credit. You can use this card to build credit over time by making on-time payments and keeping your credit utilization low.

   See all of the top credit cards for bad credit.

• No security deposit required

  The Total VISA^® Credit Card is an unsecured credit card, meaning you won’t need to put down a deposit to secure your line of credit. Many unsecured cards offer benefits and rewards but usually require good credit scores. Unsecured cards for bad credit often come with expensive fees and high interest rates. The best credit cards for people with bad credit are typically secured credit cards.

• Reports to the three major credit bureaus

  This card reports your credit activity to the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion). If you’re trying to build or rebuild your credit, it’s important that your positive payment history is reflected on any credit report a lender may pull when you apply for credit in the future.

   Tip: The Total VISA^® Credit Card offers free credit monitoring through TransUnion. Or you can check your credit score for free without negatively impacting your credit by using LendingTree Spring.

• Cash back rewards

  The Total VISA^® Credit Card allows you to earn 1% cash back rewards on payments made to your Total Credit Card. It’s not common for credit cards geared towards bad credit to offer rewards, so this is a plus.

  There are a few secured cards that offer even better rewards programs and no annual fee. For example, the Discover it^® Secured Credit Card allows you to earn 2% cash back at Gas Stations and Restaurants on up to $1,000 in combined purchases each quarter. 1% unlimited cash back on all other purchases - automatically. The Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card (see rates & fees) allows you to earn 1.5% Cash Back on every purchase, every day; 5% Cash Back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel (terms apply).

  Be aware that you can’t start redeeming rewards with the Total VISA^® Credit Card until your account has been open for at least six months. In comparison, the Discover it^® Secured Credit Card and Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card don’t have restrictions for when you can start redeeming rewards.

• Excessive fees

  The main reason to steer clear of the Total VISA^® Credit Card is that it comes with a long list of fees that make the card incredibly expensive. You could pay up to $220 total in the first year and up to $171 each year after just to keep your card open.

  The issuer notes that some of the set-up and maintenance fees will even reduce your initial credit line. If you’re assigned a $200 credit limit, your available credit will only be about $150.

  Here are all of the fees to be aware of:

  • One-time program fee: Before you can even get this card, you need to pay a one-time program fee of $95.
  • Annual fee: Around $50 to $125 the first year and around $48 annually after that (See Terms*). Your annual fee is based on the credit limit you’re assigned.
  • Monthly servicing fee: For your first year as a cardholder, you don’t have to pay a monthly servicing fee, but after the introductory period, the fee is around $75 to $123 annually, or around $6.25 to $10.25 per month. The monthly servicing fee is based on your credit limit.
  • Credit limit increase fee: After your account has been open for at least a year, a 25% fee of the amount of any increase in your credit limit may be charged to your account. For example, if your credit limit is increased by $100, you’ll be charged a $25 fee.
    Credit card issuers typically don’t charge a fee to consider you for a credit limit increase. In fact, Capital One offers automatic credit limit reviews starting at six months for cards like the Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card (see rates & fees) and the Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card (see rates & fees).
  • Additional card fee: If you request an additional card for an authorized user, you’ll have to pay a fee of $29 for each additional card. There’s a $35 fee for express delivery of your card. There’s even a fee to choose a “premium plastic card design.”
  • Copying fee: If you request duplicates of any monthly billing statement, or other document, you’ll have to pay a copying charge of $3 for each copy, unless the request is made because of a billing dispute.
  • Other fees: Late payment fee, returned payment fee and cash advance fee.

  There are many credit-building cards available to you if you have poor credit and won’t charge excessive fees, including secured credit cards. Even with a deposit, a secured card may cost way less than the Total VISA^® Credit Card.

  See all of the top credit cards to build credit.

• Extremely high APR — even for a credit-building card

  The Total VISA^® Credit Card comes with a high APR of 35.99%* variable. This is one of the highest APRs currently available, even for a credit-building card. We found that the average APR for credit cards is nearly 10 percentage points lower than the Total VISA^® Credit Card APR.

  If you don’t pay your balance in full, you could owe a huge amount of interest. A card with a lower APR like the Discover it^® Secured Credit Card, which has a 27.24% Variable APR may be a safer choice.

• Some liability for fraudulent charges

  Most credit cards offer $0 fraud liability — meaning, you won’t be held responsible for unauthorized or fraudulent charges if your credit card is lost or stolen. However, with the Total VISA^® Credit Card, you may be responsible for up to $50 for fraudulent charges, which is the maximum amount any cardholder can be liable for under federal law.

• Limitations on where you can use the card

  In an attempt to limit fraudulent charges, you can’t use your Total VISA^® Credit Card to make the following purchases:

  • Purchases outside the United States
  • To pay for gasoline at automated fuel pumps (you can go into the gas station and use your card there to pay for fuel)
  • Gambling transactions
  • Illegal transactions

  The issuer states that if you use or allow someone else to use your card for any of these transactions, you’ll be responsible for such use. You may be required to reimburse the issuer for all amounts or expenses the issuer paid as a result of the transaction.

   Tip: Many cards geared for people with low credit scores let you purchase gas at the pump. Some credit cards offer gas rewards, including the Discover it^® Secured Credit Card and U.S. Bank Altitude Go Visa Secured Card.

Total VISA^® Credit Card vs. Discover it^® Secured Credit Card

The Discover it^® Secured Credit Card, our top pick for the best secured card for building credit, is a much better option than the Total VISA^® Credit Card. While the Total VISA^® Credit Card has a long list of fees, the Discover it^® Secured Credit Card has a $0 annual fee. Plus, you’ll get solid cash back on every purchase and a significantly lower 27.24% Variable APR.

The Discover it^® Secured Credit Card requires a refundable security deposit ranging from $200 to $2,500, which will equal your credit limit. But Discover will automatically review your account starting at seven months to see if you can transition to an unsecured card and get your deposit back.

Total VISA^® Credit Card vs. Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card

The Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card is another more affordable option than the Total VISA^® Credit Card. There’s a $0 annual fee (see rates & fees) and you’ll earn 1.5% Cash Back on every purchase, every day; 5% Cash Back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel (terms apply). You’ll have to put down a refundable $200 security deposit to get a $200 initial credit line. But you’ll be automatically considered for a higher credit line in as little as six months with no additional deposit needed.

Total VISA^® Credit Card vs. U.S. Bank Altitude Go Visa Secured Card

The U.S. Bank Altitude Go Visa Secured Card also comes with a $0 annual fee, making it more cost-effective than the Total VISA^® Credit Card. The card also offers excellent rewards on popular spending categories. You can earn 4X points on dining, takeout and restaurant delivery, 2X at grocery stores, grocery delivery, streaming services, gas stations and EV charging stations, 1X on all other purchases. Plus, you’ll get a $15 streaming service credit after 11 months of streaming purchases.

The U.S. Bank Altitude Go Visa Secured Card requires a security deposit of $300 to $5,000, which will equal your credit limit. But, the card offers the chance to automatically graduate to the U.S. Bank Altitude^® Go Visa Signature^® Card over time and get your deposit back. This is an excellent cash back card to upgrade to.

You may want to avoid the Total VISA^® Credit Card. It’s a very expensive credit card to own due to all of its fees and a high APR. Although it can help you build credit, it may end up harming your finances more than helping.

Instead, we recommend a secured credit card with a $0 annual fee like the Discover it^® Secured Credit Card, Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card (see rates & fees) or U.S. Bank Altitude Go Visa Secured Card.

We devote a large part of the score for credit-building cards to features that help build credit — we want to help you locate cards that don’t cost a lot to own and get help you upgrade to better card offers.

• Annual savings (50% of rating): We calculate how much the average cardholder can save with the card on a yearly basis. If it is 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 detract points for features that can be costly to cardholders trying to build credit, such as security deposits, penalty APRs and late payment fees.

Note, that our ratings are a starting point for comparing and choosing the best credit card for building credit. However, your needs may be different from the average cardholder. You should consider the amount you’re likely to spend in a card’s bonus categories and which benefits you value to choose the best card for you.