Mission Lane Cash Back Card Review: Solid Rewards for Limited Credit

Accessibility

It may be easier to get the Mission Lane Cash Back Visa® Credit Card because of the company’s proprietary underwriting technology, which is used to gain a fuller, clearer picture of applicants’ unique financial circumstances. Mission Lane looks at multiple factors beyond credit scores, including payment history, income, credit usage and debt-to-income ratio. You may be asked to provide W-2s, 1099s, pay stubs or benefits documents to verify your income.

» MORE: Best credit cards for fair credit

Fast pre-qualification process

To officially apply for the card, you'll have to submit to a "hard" credit check, which can knock points off your credit scores. But before you get to that point, the card issuer offers a pre-qualification process that gives you a sense of whether you'll be approved — and, therefore, whether the hard inquiry will be worth it. The pre-qual process requires information such as your annual income and Social Security number. The issuer will provide a decision in about a minute. If you qualify for the card, you’ll receive details about the annual fee, APR and rewards rate you qualify for. You can choose to decline the offer if you don’t like the terms, and because pre-qualification initiates only a soft inquiry, your credit scores won’t be affected.

» MORE: Credit cards that offer pre-qual or preapproval without a hard pull

No security deposit

Plenty of credit cards targeting consumers with less-than-ideal credit require a security deposit, which typically becomes your credit limit. Security deposits tend to be a minimum of $200 to $300, which can present a significant barrier for some applicants.

The Mission Lane Cash Back Visa® Credit Card is an unsecured card, meaning you won’t have to put down a security deposit to get it. And unlike a lot of secured cards, your credit limit isn't necessarily fixed and unchanging.

» MORE: Secured credit cards vs. unsecured credit cards

Potential for credit limit increase

The issuer automatically considers increasing your credit limit at least once within the first 12 months of your opening an account. Cardholders may be eligible for a credit line bump if they’ve made their first seven payments on time, among other requirements.

Rewards

You can earn up to 1.5% cash back on purchases made with the Mission Lane Cash Back Visa® Credit Card, which keeps it competitive with others in its class, such as the Petal® 2 Visa® Credit Card. Redemption is limited to a statement credit, but those rewards are automatically applied without any work on your part, and earnings aren’t capped.

» LEARN: On starter cards, rewards are now standard. Here’s why

Vague credit limit policy

The issuer does not disclose the maximum credit limit for the Mission Lane Cash Back Visa® Credit Card, if any. Without knowing the maximum credit limit, it’s difficult to estimate the potential for earning cash back with the Mission Lane Cash Back Visa® Credit Card. There’s a meaningful difference between 1% cash back on $500 in purchases ($5) versus $1,000 ($10). 

Higher credit limits can also help lower your credit utilization ratio. In general, it's best for your credit scores if you use less than 30% of your available credit. It’s easier to go over that threshold with a credit card that has a $300 credit limit, for example, than one with a $1,000 limit. You may want to look at other cards that are more transparent about their credit limits if you want to minimize the impact of credit utilization on your credit score.

» LEARN: How to calculate your credit utilization ratio

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