FIT Credit Card Review: An Honest Look at FIT Mastercard®

There’s a one-time processing fee of $89.

The FIT credit card is also known for its hefty annual and maintenance fees:

Key FIT Mastercard® credit card fees

Low credit score requirement

Here’s the good news—even those with low credit scores (300–499) and no credit history can apply for the FIT platinum credit card.

If your goal is to build a better credit score (and you don’t plan to carry a balance on your credit) the FIT Mastercard® may be a viable option.

That, of course, if the hefty fees won’t kill your budget.

No security deposit

As it’s an unsecured credit card, there’s no need to pay a security deposit.

Access to Mastercard® Zero Liability protection

Fit Mastercard® credit card also gives you Zero Liability protection in case of any fraudulent transactions—which means you won’t have to pay for them.

Seeing that in 2022 around 44% of Americans reported two or more fraudulent charges on their credit cards (up from 35% in 2021), the Mastercard® bonus can come in really handy.

Free monthly credit scores

It’s yet another advantage—typically, you can access your free credit score only once a year.

If you’d like to do that now, go to the official FICO website.

24/7 account access

You might be thinking, “isn’t that a given these days”? Not to disappoint you, but only major issuers guarantee 24/7 account access. Lucky for you, Mastercard® is one of them.

AutoPay

Another benefit that could turn out to be a game changer for you. Building good credit requires making monthly payments on time—and what better way to do that than using AutoPay?

Hefty fees

Yes, we’ve already covered the fees, but—

Forbes found out that 47% of US cardholders don’t know (or are unsure of) their APY. You don’t want to be one of them, do you?

Take a look at your budget and see if paying a $99 annual fee, $89 processing fee, and $75 maintenance fee makes sense for your situation (keeping in mind that the issuer deducts a $99 fee from your credit limit on day one).

High interest rate

Fit Mastercard® has an APR of 29.99%, which is very high. A good APR for those with poor credit scores typically falls between 19% and 28%.

Look at the table below for examples of how long it would take to pay off $10,000:

If you want to know exactly how much and for how long you’d need to pay off your credit card, download our free Credit Card Payoff Calculator.

Low credit limit

While a $400 credit limit is more than the average $300 offered to people with low credit scores, it’s also true that, considering the annual fee, you’re left with $301.

And that’s not so much.

But that might not be an issue for you if you plan to use your Mastercard® FIT card only to build credit.

Play it nicely by staying under the credit limit, and you’ll see better results on your credit reports in no time.

Lack of a reward program

As you’re building or re-establishing your credit score, you might not care about rewards just yet—but take note of the point we make below.

No good exit option

It’s perhaps the biggest downside of them all—

There’s no easy way to upgrade your card once your credit score is better (at that point, you can usually access cheaper cards with much smaller interest charges).

And to stop using the FIT credit card you’ll have to get rid of it—which will affect your credit history.

As Dmytro Kondratiev, a Legal Board Advisor and Tax Expert at LLC.Services says,

Even seemingly small financial missteps can significantly impact your credit score.

He adds,

I once closed an older credit card account that I wasn't using, thinking it would be a smart financial move. However, it ended up reducing the average age of my credit history and hurting my credit score. I learned that keeping older accounts open is usually better, even if they're not actively used.

Dmytro Kondratiev,A Legal Board Advisor and Tax Expert at LLC.Services

Thankfully, once you have an average to good credit score, you can get credit cards with better conditions. A good example is the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards for Good Credit. It has no annual fee, and you can earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase.

A hard pull on the credit report

There are more things that can damage your credit score—doing a hard pull on your reports is one of them.

Some cards, like the Destiny™ Mastercard®, offer similar conditions without the hard inquiry. Learn more from our Destiny™ Mastercard® review.

Yes, the card was designed to do just that. If you make your minimum monthly payments on time, and stay under your credit limit, you can build or reestablish your credit.

The issuer sends monthly reports to all three credit bureaus—and if you sign up for e-statements, you can access your monthly report about the current credit score. It’s an easy way to stay on top of your credit-building efforts.

If you want to learn more about building your credit, check out our article on tips to develop a good credit score.

Fit Mastercard® has a credit limit of $400—more than the average of $300.

Keep in mind, though, that the annual fee of $99 is deducted from your balance immediately, which means you’re left with $301.

Tim Doman, an investment analyst and CEO of TopMobileBanks, says,

Your credit utilization ratio, or the amount of credit you are using compared to your credit limit, makes up 30% of your credit score. It is recommended to keep your credit utilization ratio below 30%. If you have a high amount of debt, it can negatively impact your credit score.

Tim DomanAn investment analyst and CEO of TopMobileBanks

Fit Mastercard® lets you double your credit limit six months after you open your account. All you need to do is make your minimum monthly payments on time.

Later, the FIT card credit increase is only possible periodically if you qualify—and the maximum credit limit for this card is $2,000. Kind of like going from skinny jeans to sweatpants after Thanksgiving dinner.

Yes, the FIT credit card allows you to get cash advances— but it’ll cost you either $10 or 3% of the cash advance amount.

You can avoid interest charges on purchases by paying your balance in full each month.

No such luck with the cash advances, though. The charges start from day one and continue until you pay your balance in full (however long that may take).

If you apply for online statements, you can access a free monthly Vantage 3.0 score from Experian.

The Continental card is a fully functional Mastercard®, which means you can use it anywhere Mastercard® is accepted.

According to their website, they have over 80 million merchant locations worldwide.