Orchard Bank Credit Card Review
In today’s economy, obtaining a credit card is much more of a struggle than it was a few years ago. High unemployment rates have made it increasingly difficult for banks and other financial institutions to tender credit as freely as they have done in the past.
There are credit cards that exist, however, for people who have either no credit, poor credit, or are trying to recover from filing bankruptcy. One such credit card is the Orchard Bank Classic MasterCard. If you are interested in learning more about the Orchard Bank credit card, then you are going to want to read this article as it provides useful information pertaining to the pros and cons of obtaining this card.
Orchard Bank is an affiliate of HSBC bank, which has firmly established itself as one of the largest and most viable North American financial institutions. HSBC is one of the top ten financial companies in the United States and it has a large Canadian presence as well.
Orchard Bank credit cards are accepted at any location that recognizes MasterCard, which includes reservations, online purchases, over-the-phone catalog purchases, and regular, run-of-the-mill in-store purchases.
Orchard Bank is not like every other sub-prime credit card. Orchard Bank screens your credit and approves you for a credit card that is based on your credit history. As a result, if you are a person who has credit that is on the cusp of being considered fair, you may be approved for a card with a 0% APR deal and no annual fee. If your credit is poor, however, then you will be likely to be approved for a secured credit card.
Secured Orchard Bank credit cards have very reasonable annual fees and they do not mandate application or processing fees like other sub-prime credit cards. The annual fee for an Orchard Bank credit card is $35 and is waived for the first year.
With an Orchard Bank credit card, you are allowed to deposit between $200 and $15,000 and the credit limit that is given to you is based on 100% of your deposit. An Orchard Bank credit card can be a good card choice to commence building or rebuilding your credit, especially with a low APR rate of 7.9%.
In addition to the secured card, Orchard Bank offers three more types of credit cards. They are: the Orchard Bank Classic MasterCard, the unsecured Orchard Bank Classic MasterCard, and the Orchard Bank Platinum MasterCard.
In spite of low annual fees and APR rates, however, many Orchard Bank subscribers are not happy with this credit card. There have been many complaints about pushy and confusing customer service representatives and numerous customers have had issues where Orchard Bank has withdrawn more money from their checking accounts than has actually been owed and then has been very slow to issue refunds.
Overall, most Orchard Bank users agree that in theory this credit card is good to start building or rebuilding your credit, but at the end of the day, the drawbacks of an Orchard Bank credit card outweigh its advantages.
