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Surge Secured Mastercard® review
Build credit with responsible card use and earn 1% back on all purchases, but it’ll cost you $69 annually.
- Get this card if you want to build your credit score and earn cash back.
- Pick something else if you don’t want to pay an annual fee or if you can’t afford a $300 secured deposit.
- Apply with a bad credit score or with no credit history.
Up to 1%
Cash back
$69
Annual fee
19.99%
Purchase APR (variable)
300
Recommended credit score
Review by
Kliment Dukovski
kliment.dukovski@findercrew.comKliment Dukovski is a credit cards and investments writer. He's written over 600 articles to help readers find and compare the best credit cards. Kliment has also written on money transfers, home loans and more. Previously, he ghostwrote guides and articles on foreign exchange, stock market trading and cryptocurrencies.
Expert review
As the name suggests, the Surge Secured Mastercard® is a secured card for building credit. Being a secured card means you have to make a deposit of $300 that acts as your credit limit. This basically guarantees that you’ll pay off your credit card balance. Should you decide to close your account and have no outstanding debt, you will get your full deposit back.
If you can afford the $300 deposit to start using the card, the Surge Secured Mastercard® can be a decent credit-building option. It reports to Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, and you get a free monthly access to your credit score to monitor your progress. On top of that, you’ll earn 1% back on your purchases. Not many secured cards offer this perk.
On the downside, the card comes with a $69 annual fee. This isn’t necessarily expensive, but it’s on the higher end. Secured cards typically cost $49 annually. However, some secured cards have no annual fee and can help you build credit just the same. To offset the $69 annual fee, you have to earn enough rewards by spending $6,900 with your card each year. If you spend more than that, you can even earn something on top.
How to apply for the Surge Secured Mastercard®
Applying for the card is easy. Here’s how to do it:
- Click apply now.
- Fill out your first and last name, your email and zip code.
- Select that you have a debit card or a checking account. You cannot apply if you don’t have a checking account.
- Select that you are 18 or older (19 in AL) and click See my offers.
- Fill out the application form and submit.
What credit score do I need?
You can apply with no credit history or with a bad credit score.
Surge Secured Mastercard® benefits
- Cash back. Earn 1% cash back on your purchases. It’s rare to find a secured credit-building card that lets you earn any rewards. However, Surge doesn’t disclose whether you have a cashback cap or limit of any kind or how you can redeem your earnings.
- Build credit. Surge reports all your card activity to the three major credit bureaus — Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. With responsible use, you can easily build your credit.
- Free monthly credit score. Track your credit-building progress with free access to your credit score each month. To use this feature, you have to enroll in e-statements.
What to watch out for
- Secured credit card. You have to deposit $300 that act as your credit limit. You can get your deposit back if you close your account without any outstanding debt. With responsible use, you can get a credit limit increase after six months.
- Annual fee. The card costs $69 each year. This isn’t bad, but there are secured cards without an annual fee that can also help you build credit.
- Expedited phone pay fee. Every time you reach out to Surge by phone and ask them to arrange a payment by a draft on your deposit account or by debit card using the expedited service, you’ll pay a $10.95 fee. Of course, you can avoid this by not using this service and waiting for your payment to clear the standard way, which may take a few days.
- Foreign transaction fee. Every transaction made abroad or online with foreign merchants will cost you 3% of the amount.
What do customers say?
Surge Secured Mastercard® has almost 5,000 reviews on Trustpilot, most of them positive. But both the positive and negative reviews focus only on the customer service and making payments on their card. There were no other comments on whether cardholders managed to build credit, how much cash back they earned or whether the card is worth the annual fee.Compare secured credit cards
If you’re not satisfied with this card, check out other secured cards below to see more options for building credit.
Bottom line
The Surge Secured Mastercard® is a decent credit-building option. However, the card costs $69 annually, which isn’t expensive for this type of card, but you can get other secured cards without an annual fee.
