Tribute MasterCard Review

The Tribute MasterCard, issued by the First Bank of Delaware, is ideal for consumers that do not have favorable credit and therefore have some difficulty obtaining approval for other credit cards.

There are some costs associated with the Tribute MasterCard, an annual fee of $150, and a monthly maintenance fee of $6.00 ($72 a year). Fees for the card total $222..  These costs are not in addition to finance charges for carrying a balance from one month to the next.

The initial credit limit on the Tribute MasterCard is $300.  Both the annual fee and the account opening fee will appear on the cardholder’s first statement decreasing the available credit to $141.  The monthly maintenance fee is billed the first month (and every month thereafter) after the cardholder makes a purchase using the credit card.  Advance authorizations made by merchants also affect the credit limit.

High interest rates are applied to credit card balances that are carried beyond one month.  There is a minimum cap on the variable interest rate for all types of balances, including purchases and cash advances.  Since there is a minimum cap in effect on the credit card, it doesn’t matter how low the prime rate goes, the interest rate on the credit card will never fall below the minimum cap.  The APR for the credit card is tied to the highest prime rate in a 90-day period.  So the effective interest rate on the credit card will never reach even the lowest prime rate.

An extremely high delinquency APR of 31.75% will take effect if the cardholder fails to make the minimum payment required for two consecutive billing cycles.  The delinquency APR also applies if the cardholder is delinquent any four billing cycles in a 12-month period.  The good news is that the delinquency rate will end once the cardholder makes timely payments for six consecutive months.

The Tribute MasterCard does report to the credit bureaus, so consumers may benefit from the credit card in that aspect.  However, the high interest rate and applicable fees may make the credit card unattractive.  The annual fee and account opening fee take up much of the credit limit making it difficult to use the card for making purchases until that portion of the credit limit is freed.

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