Because the Blaze Mastercard® isn’t a secured credit card, it doesn’t require a security deposit. You’ll still have to pay a $75 annual fee when you open your account, but if you’re short of other options, this might be worthwhile.
The Blaze Mastercard® gives you a credit limit of up to $1,500 and also allows you to increase your credit limit after 6 months if you use your credit responsibly. Fee-less foreign transactions are another point in its favor.
Unfortunately, you can’t make balance transfers, the benefits are basic, and there are no cashback rewards. As such, the Blaze Mastercard® is probably only a good idea as a short-term solution. Although it’s definitely not the best deal out there for holders of less-than-perfect credit, it’s definitely not the worst.
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Quick Review
The Blaze Mastercard® touts itself as a card designed to help people rebuild credit. Unlike many credit cards for bad credit scores, it’s unsecured, so you don’t have to pay a deposit. But that doesn’t mean it won’t cost you, thanks to steep annual fees of $75.
The Blaze Mastercard® probably won’t give you a high initial credit limit, as credit lines start at $350–$1,500 (although you can increase your credit limit after 6 months). The card also has no rewards, few benefits, and a very high APR of 29.9%. However, these drawbacks are fairly common with credit cards for credit building.
Because the Blaze Mastercard® is geared toward people who want to rebuild their credit, credit reporting is one area where it shines. When we contacted customer services, they told us that the card reports to four credit bureaus—Experian, Equifax, TransUnion, and another less well-known bureau called Innovis. It’s quite unusual to get such comprehensive credit reporting, so this is a major plus point.
The Blaze Mastercard® also has other notable advantages. One is that you don’t need a bank account to apply. Another is that it’s great for traveling, since it gives you extensive coverage in most parts of the world courtesy of the Mastercard® network, and it even offers fee-less foreign transactions.
If you already have a reasonable credit score, we definitely advise looking for credit cards with lower fees, more credit-building tools, and better benefits. However, if you’re having trouble qualifying for cards, the Blaze Mastercard® isn’t the worst deal out there.
Blaze Mastercard® Credit Card Important Details
Basic Card Details
- Credit card issuer: First Savings Bank
- Annual fee: $75
- Regular APR: 29.9% (fixed)
- Grace period: 25 days
- Credit limit: $350–$1,500
Additional Information
- Credit limit increases available after 6 months.
- Cash advances available.
- No-fee foreign transactions available
- Balance transfers unavailable.
- Credit reporting to four bureaus.
- You can add authorized users to your account.
- $0 fraud liability for unauthorized use.
- Mastercard® benefits (e.g., ID theft and fraud protection and 24-hour assistance with lost or stolen cards).
- No bank account required.
Blaze Mastercard® Credit Card Feature Breakdown
In this section, we’ll look at some of the most important features of the Blaze Mastercard® so you can determine if it meets your borrowing needs.
Fees
- Annual fee: $75
- Cash advance fee: 2%
- Authorized user fee: $20
- Late/returned payment fee: Up to $25
One of the major drawbacks of the Blaze credit card is the high annual fee, which isn’t offset by any cashback rewards or particularly notable benefits.
However, the late/returned payment fee is relatively low, as most cards charge up to $40.
Interest Rates
- Regular APR: 29.9% (fixed)
- Cash advance APR: 29.9% (fixed)
- Penalty APR: None
- Minimum interest charge: None
If you don’t pay your Blaze Mastercard® credit card balance in full each month, you’ll be charged interest. The interest you’ll pay each year is called your APR (“annual percentage rate”).
Grace Period
The Blaze Mastercard® credit card gives you a grace period of 25 days (beginning on the first day of the new billing cycle). The grace period allows you time to pay your bills in full without racking up any interest charges.
If you pay off your balance in full by the due date, your purchases during the grace period won’t accumulate interest. However, if you carry a balance from previous billing cycles, you’ll still be charged interest on charges you make to your card during the grace period.
Rewards
The Blaze Mastercard® credit card doesn’t offer any rewards.
Many rewards credit cards aren’t available to applicants with poor credit or limited credit histories. However, there are exceptions, so if rewards are important to you, keep searching for the perfect card.
Benefits
The benefits you get with the Blaze Mastercard® credit card are:
- Zero fraud liability: This means the credit card issuer won’t hold you responsible for transactions not authorized by you.
- Mastercard® ID theft protection: This includes TransUnion credit report monitoring and dark web monitoring to check for misuse of your personal information (e.g., your social security number and your credit or debit card information).
- 24-hour assistance if your card is lost or stolen: This gives you an emergency phone number to report your card lost or stolen and request emergency card replacement as well as emergency cash advances.
- Discounted airport concierge services: This gives you 15% savings on Mastercard® airport meet-and-greet services.
These rewards are fairly standard across Visa® and Mastercard® credit cards.
Cash Advances
A cash advance is when you use your credit card to withdraw money from an ATM. Cash advances are allowed on the Blaze Mastercard® credit card.
There’s a cash advance fee of 2%, which is less than a lot of other cards charge for cash advance fees (often 3%–5%). The Blaze Mastercard® cash advance APR is the same as the purchase APR at 29.9%, and you won’t enjoy a grace period. So be careful when deciding whether or not to use a Blaze Mastercard® to get cash out, as you could rack up expensive interest charges.
Balance Transfers
A balance transfer is when you move debt from one credit card to another (which is a common form of credit card debt consolidation). The Blaze Mastercard® credit card doesn’t offer balance transfers.
If you need to consolidate debt, look for a credit card that allows balance transfers, and ideally has a low balance transfer fee.
Foreign Transactions
Foreign transactions are available on the Blaze Mastercard® credit card. They recommend that you warn them before you travel abroad so that they can authorize use of your card outside the country.
Many credit cards have foreign transaction fees equivalent to 1%–3% of the transaction amount. However, the Blaze Mastercard® doesn’t charge any foreign transaction fees, so this is an important selling point.
Credit Limit
First Savings Bank says that you can get an initial credit limit of $350–$1,500 with the Blaze Mastercard®. The Blaze Mastercard® website states that you could also get a credit line increase in as little as 6 months if you keep your card account in good standing and make payments on time.
Note that the Blaze Mastercard® will also take your annual fees from the amount of available credit you’ll initially get. So if you have an initial credit limit of $350, for example, your initial available credit will be $275 (or even less if you add authorized users).
Credit Reporting
Credit reporting is an important part of credit building, as your credit report is based on the information your lenders send to the credit bureaus.
Lenders aren’t legally required to report your credit history; many lenders report to only one or two of the major credit bureaus, if any. Fortunately, the Blaze Mastercard® reports to four credit bureaus—the three major bureaus (Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion) plus another smaller credit bureau called Innovis.
It’s unusual to get four-bureau reporting, but this is a major point in the Blaze Mastercard® credit card’s favor if building credit is a priority for you.
Credit Building
Because the Blaze Mastercard® credit card reports to four credit bureaus, it’s fantastic for credit building. However, you must keep up with your monthly payments. Late payments and other negative activity will hurt your credit.
Credit Score Requirements
The Blaze Mastercard® website doesn’t specify any credit score requirements. However, Blaze calls it “the go-to card for people to start rebuilding their credit.”
We also spoke to Blaze Mastercard® customer services, and they said that you may be able to qualify for the card even if you have bad credit. FICO scores under 580 are considered bad, so you may be eligible even if your score is below that. 1
Application and Approval
If you’ve received a Blaze Mastercard® offer in the mail, you can respond online by going to the website and entering your reservation number and access code (which you’ll find on the acceptance form you received).
Even if you haven’t received an offer in the post, you can still apply online.
When we spoke to Blaze Mastercard® customer services, they also told us that you can apply for the card without a bank account. However, as with most credit cards, you will need to provide a Social Security number along with other personal information.
Managing Your Account
You can log in and manage your Blaze Mastercard® online. This includes making payments, reviewing purchases, or setting up alerts. There’s also an Android app you can download.
As well as paying online, you can pay your Blaze Mastercard® bill by mail. Send a check or money order to:
Blaze Mastercard
PO Box 2534
Omaha, NE 68103-2534
Although the website doesn’t specify that you can pay over the phone, credit cards often allow you to do this through their customer service phone number. The Blaze Mastercard® customer service phone number is (866) 205-8311.
Additional Cardholders
You can add authorized users to your Blaze Mastercard® account so that other people can use it (e.g., family members or your partner). This will cost $20 per additional cardholder you add.
Customer Service
If you need help with your Blaze Mastercard® credit card, you can contact customer service by phone at (866) 205-8311.
You can also write to them at:
Blaze Mastercard
PO Box 5096
Sioux Falls, SD 57117-5096
Lost or Stolen Cards
If your Blaze Mastercard® is lost or stolen, call Mastercard Global Service™ on (800) 307-7309 to report it. They can also help you with emergency cash advances and emergency card replacement.
Should You Get the Blaze Mastercard® Credit Card?
FinanceJar Verdict
Because it reports to four credit bureaus, the Blaze Mastercard® is particularly good for credit building. We also like the no-fee foreign transactions and relatively cheap cash advance fees.
However, because of its high annual fee, high APR, and underwhelming benefits, it isn’t among our top credit card choices. We recommend looking for alternatives with lower fees and better terms before you commit to the Blaze Mastercard®.
If you’re worried about your eligibility for credit cards, consider:
Who is this card for?
- Credit rebuilders: The Blaze Mastercard® advertises itself as a card for rebuilding credit. This means that those with bad credit or negative marks on their report—like discharged bankruptcies or loan defaults—may still be able to qualify for the card. And because the Blaze Mastercard® reports to four credit bureaus, it’s exceptionally good for boosting credit fast.
- People who don’t want to pay a security deposit: Although the Blaze Mastercard® doesn’t require a security deposit, you’ll still need to fork out at least $75 in fees when you open the account. Because this fee comes from your initial credit line, you won’t need to pay it immediately; instead, you’ll get a reduced line of credit until you pay off your fee charges.
Comparable Cards
To decide whether the Blaze Mastercard® credit card is right for you, take a look at how it measures up against other cards for lower credit scores.
Blaze Mastercard® vs. Discover it® Secured Credit Card
The Blaze Mastercard® and the Discover it® Secured credit card are both suitable for people who want to improve their credit scores. However, they differ in that the former card is unsecured, whereas the latter is secured, and you’ll have to pay a security deposit for it.
Nonetheless, the Discover it® Secured card also has several advantages over the Blaze Mastercard®:
- It doesn’t charge an annual fee.
- It has a lower APR (23.74% variable).
- It allows balance transfers and even gives you a reduced intro APR for balance transfers (of 10.99%).
- It gives you cashback rewards.
- It waives fees for your first late payment.
- It has a higher maximum credit limit ($2,500).
The Discover it® Secured credit card has a lot going for it. So unless you’re unable to pay the $200 deposit, we recommend the Discover it® Secured credit card over the Blaze Mastercard® credit card.
Blaze Mastercard® vs Credit One Bank® Platinum Visa® for Rebuilding Credit
Like the Blaze Mastercard®, the Credit One Bank® Platinum Visa® for Rebuilding Credit is an unsecured credit card and is, as the name suggests, designed for credit rebuilding.
The Credit One Bank® Platinum Visa® for Rebuilding Credit has a few disadvantages compared with the Blaze Mastercard® credit card:
- Its initial credit limit is lower at $300.
- Its cash advance fees are higher at 8%.
- It has higher annual fees of $99 from the second year onwards.
On the other hand, it also has some advantages:
- It gives you free monthly credit scores.
- It has a lower APR at 24.40%.
- It gives you cashback rewards.
- It has flexible due dates.
All the same, for most purposes—especially if you’re likely to make cash advances—the Blaze Mastercard® gives you a slightly better deal than the Credit One Bank® Platinum Visa® for Rebuilding Credit.
Blaze Mastercard® vs. Surge Mastercard®
The Blaze Mastercard® and Surge Mastercard® are both cards for people who need to work on their credit scores, and they share the following features:
- No cashback rewards.
- No welcome bonuses or intro offers.
- Opportunities for credit limit increases if you make your first six payments on time.
However, the Surge Mastercard® is more expensive compared with the Blaze alternative: It has higher cash advance fees (5% vs. 2%), higher foreign transaction fees (3% vs. 0%), and potentially more expensive annual fees of $75–$99 (compared to $75 for the Blaze Mastercard®); plus, after the first year, it charges monthly fees.
It also might not give you as much credit: The initial credit limits range from $300 to $1,000 (compared to $350–$1,500 for the Blaze Mastercard).
However, the advantages of the Surge Mastercard® are:
- It has a potentially lower APR of 24.99%–29.99% (variable).
- It gives you free monthly credit scores.
All in all, the Surge Mastercard® will almost certainly end up being much costlier than the Blaze Mastercard®, especially if you’re likely to have your credit card for more than a year. Because of this, we recommend applying for the Blaze Mastercard® instead.
