The Cerulean Card is an unsecured credit card with an initial credit limit of $300 to $1,000. It’s free of monthly fees and program fees and doesn’t require a deposit like many credit cards for bad credit holders. However, the downsides are that the application process is a bit dodgy and it comes with a $99 annual fee.
Table of Contents
Cerulean Card Advantages:
- Fast application and approval
- Credit reports to all three agencies
- No deposit required
- Ways to double your initial credit limit in 6 months
- International transactions and cash advances are possible
Cerulean Card Disadvantages:
- High APR
- High annual fee
- No rewards
- No welcome bonus or introductory offers
- No balance transfers are available
- Important details about the Cerulean Mastercard® credit card
Cerulean Card Details
- Credit card issuer: Bank of Missouri
- Credit card manager: Continental Finance
- Regular APR: 25.90% (variable)
- Annual fee: $99
- Deposit: N/A
- Grace period: 25 days
- Credit limit: $300-$2,000
Cerulean Card Extra information
- Initial credit limit from $300 to $1,000 (with credit limit increases up to a maximum of $2,000)
- Double your initial credit limit by paying on time for the first 6 months
- Cash advances are available
- International transactions are available (3% fees apply)
- Balance transfers are not available
- $30 fee for additional cards
- Credit check from three credit agencies
- Free Credit Scores
Cerulean Card Quick review
Unlike many bad credit cards, the Cerulean Mastercard® credit card is unsecured. This means you don’t have to pay a deposit and the amount you get doesn’t depend on the deposit you pay.
The Cerulean Mastercard® credit card gives you an initial credit limit of $300 to $1,000. You can double your credit limit by making six timely payments, which means you can have a $2,000 credit limit after 6 months of card ownership.
However, the $99 annual fee is steep and the APR is relatively high. In its favor, the Cerulean Mastercard® reports credit activity to all three major credit bureaus, making it a great option for building credit.
The credit card market certainly has worse credit cards for bad credit card holders, but the Cerulean Card is still a relatively expensive option with limited benefits.
Mastercard® Zero Liability Protection
Option to join the Continental Credit Protection program, which forgives some or all of your debt if you lose your job, become disabled or die
Breakdown of Cerulean Mastercard® credit card features
In this section, we look at some of the key features of the Cerulean Mastercard® credit card to determine how viable it is as an unsecured card for less than perfect creditors.
Cerulean Card Fees
- Annual fee: $99
- Cash Advance Transaction Fee: $5 or 5% (whichever is greater)
- Foreign transaction costs: 3%
- Late Fee: Up to $40
- Return Fee: Up to $40
- Additional card fee: $30 (one-time fee for adding an authorized user to your account)
Cerulean Card Interest charges
- Regular APR: 25.90% (variable)
- Cash advance APR: 25.90% (variable)
- Minimum Interest Cost: None
If you don’t pay off your credit card balance in full each month, you will be charged interest. The interest you pay each year depends on your credit card’s APR (“Annual Percentage”).
Note that the Cerulean Mastercard® does not impose a penalty APR (a higher APR than credit cards, which often charge if you miss payments). However, if you do not pay your bill on time, the card issuer may take action such as closing your account, increasing your minimum payment, lowering your credit limit, or repaying your entire account balance immediately from you.
Payment Term
The Cerulean Mastercard® credit card grants you a 25-day grace period (starting on the first day of the new billing cycle). The grace period gives you time to pay your bills in full with no interest charges.
If you have paid your remaining balance in full by the due date, your purchases will not earn interest during the grace period. However, if you have a balance from previous billing cycles, you will be charged interest on any charges you incur on your card during the grace period.
Cerulean Card Reward
The Cerulean Mastercard® credit card does not grant you any rewards.
Many award cards are not available to applicants with poor credit or limited credit histories. However, there are cards with cashback and bonus points for holders with a lower credit rating. So if rewards are important to you, keep researching to see if you can find more appropriate cards.
Cerulean Card Advantages
In terms of benefits, the Cerulean Mastercard® credit card gives you the pretty standard $0 fraud liability protection and free credit scores.
Continental Finance does not specify what type of credit score you receive (whether it is a FICO score, the score most commonly used by lenders, or a VantageScore). However, both scores are a valuable measure when monitoring the progress of your credit score.
You can also choose to participate in the Continental Credit Protection program by paying $0.99 for every $100 of your debt. This program allows you to forgive part of your debt if you lose your job or become incapacitated (in which case the program will pay you up to 12 consecutive minimum monthly payments).
In the event of death, the program will also pay out any outstanding balances on your card in full.
Cerulean Card Cash Advances
A cash advance is when you withdraw money from an ATM using your credit card. Cash advances are allowed on the Cerulean Mastercard® credit card, but only after the account has been open for 95 days.
The cash advance fee is $5 or 5% of the amount of each advance, whichever is greater.
Credit Transfers
A balance transfer is when you move debt from one credit card to another (which is a common form of debt consolidation). Unfortunately, the Cerulean Mastercard® does not offer balance transfers.
Cerulean Card Credit Limit
The Cerulean Mastercard® initially gives you a credit limit of $300 to $1,000. However, the card issuer also deducts your $99 annual fee from your credit limit.
That means when you first receive your Cerulean Mastercard® and get an initial $500 line of credit, your line of credit is only $401 ($500 − $99) until you pay your $99 balance.
The good news is that there are credit limit increase options.
Credit Limit Increases
The Cerulean Mastercard® website says you can double your credit limit after 6 months by making the first six minimum monthly payments on time.
Cerulean Credit Report
The credit report is an important part of building credit because your credit report is based on the information your lenders send to the credit bureaus.
Lenders are not required by law to disclose your credit history; Many lenders only check in with one or two of the major credit bureaus, if any. Luckily, the Cerulean Mastercard® reports to all three credit bureaus, which can help you improve your credit score quickly.
Cerulean Card Accrual
Since the Cerulean Mastercard® reports to all three credit reporting agencies, it is ideal for building up credit. However, you need to keep track of your monthly payments to benefit from your credit score; Your creditworthiness suffers when your payments are late or non-existent.
Credit Requirements
Continental Finance has listed the Cerulean Mastercard® credit card as a card for people with bad credit. FICO scores below 580 are considered “poor” or “poor.” Even if your score is lower, you can still qualify for the card.
Cerulean Card Application And Approval
You can request a Cerulean Mastercard® credit card:
- By calling (866) 513-4598
- By responding to a pre-approval offer online
- By returning the confirmation of acceptance that you received in the e-mail with a preselected offer
When registering, you must provide the following information:
- Your complete name
- Your social security number
- Your date of birth
- Your address (no po boxes)
The Cerulean Mastercard® credit card issuer uses this information to verify your creditworthiness. They then use the information about your loan along with other information (e.g. your monthly income) to decide whether to approve your application and what loan terms to offer you.
In most cases, you should receive an immediate decision on your application, according to the Cerulean Mastercard® website. However, some applicants may need to provide additional information to facilitate the decision. In this case, the application process can take up to 30 days.
Once Cerulean Mastercard® has approved your application, your new card should be in the mail within 3 business days.
You get a tough question when you apply for a Cerulean Mastercard®
A tough check, also known as a hard pull or hard credit check, appears on your credit report when you apply for a loan and takes a few points off your credit score.
Cerulean Card Manage your account
You can sign up online and manage your Cerulean Mastercard® credit card, including checking your expiration dates, making payments, and viewing bank statements. Alternatively, you can use the iOS app or Android app.
You can also email payments to the address on your monthly statement.
Customer service
If you need assistance with your Cerulean Mastercard® or credit card, the customer service phone number is (866) 449-4514.
For general questions and correspondence, you can also write to:
- Continental Finance,
- PO box field 3220
- Buffalo
- NY 14240-3220
Lost or stolen cards
If your Cerulean Mastercard® or credit card is lost or stolen, call (800) 556-5678.
Cerulean Card Compare
To decide if the Cerulean Mastercard® credit card is right for you, take a look at how it compares to other comparable credit cards on the market.
Cerulean Mastercard® vs. First Access Visa® credit card
Like the Cerulean Mastercard®, the First Access Visa® is an unsecured credit card for people looking to improve their credit score. It also reports to the three major credit bureaus, making it a good credit card.
The main differences between the two cards are:
- The First Access Visa® credit card has a much lower maximum initial credit limit ($300).
- The First Access Visa® has a monthly fee after the first year (and they’re not cheap, $8.25/month).
- The First Access Visa® credit card charges $95 to open an account plus a $75 annual fee for the first year, for a total of $170 in first-year fees.
- The First Access Visa® has a much higher APR (34.99%) than the Cerulean Mastercard® (25.90%).
- The First Access Visa® charges a fee for increasing the credit limit (equivalent to 20% of the increased amount).
- The First Access Visa® does not allow foreign transactions, while the Cerulean Mastercard® does.
- With a lower APR, fewer fees, higher maximum credit limits, and the ability to use your card abroad, the Cerulean Mastercard® is a much better credit card overall. If you qualify for both cards, we recommend choosing the Cerulean Mastercard® over the First Access Visa®.
Cerulean Mastercard® vs. Aspire® credit card
The Aspire® credit card is another unsecured credit card for people with bad credit who want to improve their credit score. The two cards have the following properties in common:
- Same maximum initial credit limit of $1,000
- No account opening or credit limit increases costs
- No deposits required
- 5% or $5 cash advance transaction fee (whichever is greater)
- The ability to conduct foreign trades (with a fee of 3%)
However, there are also some differences between the two cards:
- The Cerulean Mastercard® has a constant annual fee of $99, while the Aspire® credit card has an annual fee of $49 to $175 in the first year and $0 to $49 per year thereafter.
- The Aspire® credit card has a monthly fee while the Cerulean Mastercard® does not.
- The Cerulean Mastercard® has an APR of 25.90%; The Aspire® credit card often has a higher APR (although it ranges from 22.74% to 36% depending on credit history).
- All in all, these cards are remarkably similar. However, there’s more potential for a high APR on the Aspire® credit card, so the Cerulean Mastercard® is probably a better choice if you’re planning on having a balance on your credit card.
Cerulean Mastercard® vs. Discover It® secured credit card
If you’re looking to build credit and are willing to pay a deposit, we strongly recommend the Discover it® Secured credit card as an alternative to the Cerulean Mastercard®. Like the Cerulean Mastercard®, it is available to bad credit holders and reports to the three credit bureaus.
Aside from the fact that the Discover it® Secured card is secure, as the name suggests, there are a few key features that differentiate the Discover it® Secured credit card from the Cerulean Mastercard®:
- The Discover it® Secured card’s initial limit is the refundable security deposit (minimum of $200).
- The Discover it® Secured card has a lower variable APR (22.99%).
- The Discover it® Secured card does not charge an annual fee.
- The Discover it® Secured card offers cash back rewards.
The big advantage of the Cerulean Mastercard® credit card is that you don’t have to pay as much money upfront to get a higher credit limit compared to the Discover it® Secured credit card. While this is good in the short term, the Discover it® Secured card gives you a much better deal in the long term.
Do you need to apply for the Cerulean Mastercard credit card?
If you have bad credit, the Cerulean Mastercard can be a great option to restore positive credit history and regain your financial health. The card is currently only available to those who receive an offer in the mail, such as the Verve Mastercard.
Fortunately, Continental Finance offers other credit cards to apply for, including the FIT Mastercard, Reflex Mastercard, and Surge Mastercard. The lender also offers the impressive Surge Secured Mastercard, which offers 1% cashback on all eligible purchases.
However, if you receive an email offer, the card offers a good platform to rebuild funds. It may not offer cashback rewards, but having good credit and more impressive card offers in the future is rewarding enough. Those without a credit history should consider a merchandise card such as Merit Platinum, Freedom Gold, Buy on Trust, or Unique Platinum.
Who is this Cerulean Card for?
Bad credit card holders who can’t make a down payment: If you need a credit card to get short-term credit, the Cerulean Mastercard® credit card is a solution (though probably not the best). Your annual fee comes from your line of credit, so you don’t have to pay anything until your first monthly bill rolls in. If you’re short on cash now but expect to have cash soon, consider this card.
Lower Credit Holders Who Want a Credit Boost: An advantage of the Cerulean Mastercard® credit card is that it is suitable for those with poor credit. If you have bad credit and other cards have been declined, you can still qualify for the Cerulean Mastercard® Credit Card so you can use it to build your credit by paying your monthly bills quickly. Once you’ve boosted your credit score, you can qualify for cheaper credit cards.
Conclusion – Cerulean Card
Compared to many comparable unsecured credit cards, the Cerulean Mastercard® offers a relatively good maximum initial credit limit. However, it has a high annual fee, no rewards, and limited benefits.
Ultimately, better cards are available for those with poor or limited credit, although the Cerulean Mastercard® is a reasonable option if you’re having trouble getting a line of credit approved.
Consider checking other credit cards available for your credit range, including:
- Credit cards for bad credit
- Credit cards with no balance
- Secure credit cards
Keep in mind that secured cards require a deposit, which often determines your initial credit limit. While these may be more expensive upfront than the Cerulean Mastercard®, those with no annual fees will likely cost less in the long run.