How to Use the Mission Lane Visa Card for Financial Success

If you have a blemished credit report and your credit score is low, it can be difficult to get your finances back in order. A poor credit score can make it hard to get a loan at a good interest rate or buy an affordable home. It can even affect your job prospects.

Proving you can use credit cards responsibly is a strategy to improve your credit score and, in turn, your financial well-being. But not many lenders are willing to take a chance on someone who’s been late with bill payments or defaulted on debts with other lenders.

But if you find yourself in this situation, you still have options. One of them is applying for a Mission Lane Visa® credit card, which could be the vehicle to start or restart your credit card journey. This basic credit-building card doesn’t offer rewards or access to many cardholder benefits, but if used responsibly, it can help you build credit over time.

The key to getting the most out of your Mission Lane Visa is how you use it. This card can be a boon to your finances if used disciplined and strategically, but it can hurt your credit score if used haphazardly. If you want to maximize the value of your card while improving your credit score so you can apply for a better card later, here’s what you need to know about this card’s features:

Mission Lane Visa Card Features

Mission Lane Visa is targeted at people with credit scores as low as 500. However, it doesn’t offer many perks or benefits to cardholders. However, this card does have some notable pros:

Higher Credit Limit Over Time

The card has a minimum credit limit of $300, but over time your credit limit may increase. The Mission Lane Visa card agreement states that the issuer will “Evaluate your Account at least once within the first 12 months of the Account opening to determine whether your Account is eligible for an increase in Credit Limit.”

If you stay in good standing by paying your bills on time and keeping your spending within your credit limit, the issuer will consider your account for a higher credit limit. This can be completed in as little as seven months, but as we mentioned earlier, it can take up to 12 months.

Not only does a higher credit limit give you more purchasing power, it also makes it easier to maintain a low credit utilization ratio. Credit utilization refers to the amount of credit you’re using compared to the total amount of credit you have available. So if your credit limit is $500 and you make $250 worth of purchases on the card, your credit utilization ratio is 50 percent. A low credit utilization ratio can help improve your credit score even more over time.

Money Tip: While experts recommend keeping your credit utilization ratio below 30 percent, people with the highest credit scores tend to keep their credit utilization ratio below 10 percent.

Visa Credit Card Convenience

Mission Lane Visa is a Visa credit card that can be used at millions of locations worldwide that accept Visa. It also offers essential Visa benefits like 24/7 customer service, emergency card replacement and zero fraud liability.

Transparent Pricing

Mission Lane charges an annual fee that ranges from $0 to $59 depending on your credit score. However, your card issuer mentions this fee from the start and doesn’t mention other hidden fees in the fine print.

However, the Mission Lane Visa charges a 3% foreign transaction fee, making it unsuitable for overseas or foreign currency purchases. You may also be subject to cash advance fees and penalties of up to $35 if you pay your bill late.

Instant Credit Decision

Mission Lane Visa offers an instant credit decision option, so you don’t have to wait days or weeks to find out if your loan has been approved. Perhaps more importantly, this card allows you to get pre-approved online without checking your credit report, which helps you evaluate your chances of approval, as well as any interest rates and annual fees you may be charged, before you apply.

Make the most of your Mission Lane Visa card

If you decide to get a Mission Lane Visa, use it as strategically as possible. Your ultimate goal is to get the most out of the card’s rewards and improve your credit score enough to qualify for a rewards credit card with better rewards.

To make the most of your Mission Lane Visa card, follow these steps after signing up:

Pay your bills on time Mission Lane Visa credit cardholders are required to pay their credit card bills early or on time every month. After all, payment history is the most important factor in your FICO credit score, so making payments on time helps build credit more than anything else. Paying your bill on time can also help you avoid a $35 late penalty.
Pay your bills in full. In addition to paying your bills on time, you should also make sure you pay your bills in full each month, especially because the card has a high annual percentage rate (APR). If you carry a balance from one month to the next, you’ll pay a variable APR of 26.99 to 29.99 percent.
Don’t use your card for cash advances. Technically, you can use this card to withdraw cash from an ATM, but it will cost you. Not only will you have to pay a 3% upfront fee on the transaction (at least $10), but you’ll also have to pay a higher APR and lose your grace period. This means interest on your cash advance will start accumulating from day one.
Keep your credit usage low. Because this card has a low starting limit of $300, it’s also important to keep an eye on your credit utilization with this card. Most experts recommend keeping your credit utilization below 30% for best results. This means maintaining a balance of $90 or less with a $300 credit limit.
Pay only for small purchases that you can easily afford. When considering your credit utilization, it’s best to only pay for a few small subscriptions each month on your card, like streaming subscriptions or gas station purchases. Because the Mission Lane Visa doesn’t offer rewards, there’s no benefit to trying to pay as much as possible on your card.
Keep an eye on your credit score Finally, as you build credit over time with the Mission Lane Visa, keep an eye on your credit score and its trends. If you have used your credit responsibly for months and have been consistently making on-time payments, you can switch from this card to a better option after enough time has passed.

Conclusion

Although the Mission Lane Visa doesn’t have many card perks, it can still be a good card if you have bad credit and want to rebuild your credit score. By reading our Mission Lane Visa credit card review, you can learn more about this card and what benefits it can bring to you. However, you should also take the time to compare other credit cards for bad credit, such as secured credit cards that require a cash deposit as collateral.

By comparing different credit building cards and seeing how they perform, you can determine whether the Mission Lane Visa credit card is the best option for you to achieve your financial goals.