What Is Celtic Bank, and Are Its Credit Cards Right for You?
The card offerings are a mixed bag, but are especially fee-heavy if your aim is to build credit.
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Based in Salt Lake City, Celtic Bank provides financing for small businesses. It issues several credit cards that serve a variety of purposes, from building credit to earning rewards. Celtic’s cards include:
Celtic Bank also once offered the Deserve EDU and Deserve PRO cards, as well as the AMC credit card, the Mesa Homeowners Card, and the Rocket Visa Signature® Card. But those products have either been discontinued or are no longer open to new applicants.
Here’s a closer look at the cards issued by Celtic Bank.
Celtic Bank is issuing a crypto-earning credit card, the Fold Bitcoin credit card, which is expected to hit the market in late 2025.
Celtic Bank credit cards for building credit
Celtic Bank issues several credit cards for bad credit that don’t require security deposits. However, be mindful of their interest rates and fees.
The Indigo Platinum Mastercard
The Indigo Platinum Mastercard is an unsecured credit card, meaning it doesn’t require a security deposit. Your payment activity will be reported to all three of the main credit bureaus. But that’s basically it as far as benefits go. Otherwise, this card costs a lot to carry. It charges an annual fee of $175 for the first year and $49 after that, plus a monthly fee of $12.50 after the first year (that comes out to $150 per year). Plus, as of this writing, the interest rate was almost 36%, which is shockingly high.
The Reflex® Platinum Mastercard®
The Reflex® Platinum Mastercard® offers a credit limit of $300 to $1,000. Your activity is reported to the three credit bureaus. But, again, the fees add up. Let’s start with the annual fee, which is $75-$125.
There’s also a monthly fee if your credit limit is $300 or $500. It’s $0 per month for the first year, but then you’ll pay $12.50 per month (that’s $150 per year). The ongoing APR is 35.90% Fixed APR.
The Surge® Platinum Mastercard®
Similar to the Reflex® Platinum Mastercard®, the Surge® Platinum Mastercard® comes with a credit limit of $300 to $1,000. Your payment activity is also reported to the three credit bureaus.
The annual fee is $75-$125, and there’s a monthly maintenance fee of $12.50 per month after the first year (if your credit limit is $300 or $500). The ongoing APR is 35.90% Fixed APR.
The Perpay Credit Card
With the Perpay Credit Card, you direct-deposit a portion of your paycheck into an account, which serves as the funding source for your credit card payments. You can get a credit limit of up to $1,500, with the possibility of a credit limit increase in as little as three months. It earns 2% back on all payments (as opposed to earning rewards on spending), which you can redeem for merchandise purchases through the Perpay Marketplace.
There’s a $9 one-time account opening fee, plus a monthly fee of $9, meaning the card costs $117 in the first year and $108 per year after that.
Celtic Bank credit cards for earning rewards
Deserve’s Digital First Card
As the card’s name implies, its main benefit is that once your application is approved, you’ll get a digital version to add to Apple Pay within minutes. The annual fee is $0.
The Digital First Card earns cash-back rewards based on your spending amount:
1% cash back on all purchases up to $500 in spending.
1.25% cash back on all purchases once you spend more than $500 in a billing cycle.
1.5% cash back on all purchases once you spend more than $1,000 in a billing cycle.
Other cash-back cards offer 1.5% back or higher without the need to spend $1,000 first, so this isn’t the most impressive rewards program available.
The Fasten Rewards Visa Card
Another big budget line item is the cost of car ownership — payments toward your loan or lease, maintenance, gas and more. The $0-annual-fee Fasten Rewards VIsa Card earns rewards on car-related spending, including:
3X points on goods and services purchased at “Fasten Partners,” which are participating dealerships and auto service shops.
2X points on car loan or lease payments, insurance and auto-related spending (this includes gas and electric vehicle charging, repairs, car washes, towing services, purchases at car dealers and tire stores, parking, roadside assistance, car registration and more).
1X points on all other purchases.
You don’t have to use the Fasten Rewards Visa Card to make car loan or lease payments. Instead, you sign up for a Fasten account (which is free) and connect your bank account. As you make payments, you’ll earn points. Note that you can only earn up to 2,000 points per month on loan and lease payments, and you must make at least $500 in purchases per month to earn rewards on this specific spending.
You can redeem points for:
A statement credit for purchases made at Fasten Partners within the last 12 months, at a value of 1 cent per point.
A statement credit for all other purchases made within the past 12 months, at a value of 0.5 cent per point.
Gift cards at a value of 1 cent per point.
Flights and hotels booked through a travel portal in the Fasten app, at a value of 1 cent per point.
Is a Celtic Bank credit card right for you?
For the most part, Celtic Bank’s rewards cards are OK, but not amazing. Some of them may fit your spending, but it's worth researching other no-annual-fee cards that earn rewards.
Celtic Bank’s credit-building cards, meanwhile, charge high fees and interest rates, so you should consider other options, including secured credit cards if their upfront security deposits are in your budget.
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