Merrick Bank must be looking to increase its cardholder base. Never heard of them until a few months ago. I received their pre-approved offer six months ago. My DH just got one yesterday for $1500 with no annual fee, but high APR. I have two friends in the area (Illinois) who received the same. In each case they pulled a TU soft about two months ago. Sure takes them a while to crank out a pre-approval letter. They do pull a hard if you accept. Also in each case we have public records (various types) that are pretty old, but no lates now. That seems to be the target profile. You cannot apply online for anything except the secured or prepaid card. I am very satisfied with my card and just got an C/L increase.
I had a go-round with them on behalf of DW. They were working with "The Credit Store", a sleazy bunch who bought old debts that were past SOL and attempted to collect by offering you an unsecured card, with the catch being that the old debt would already be on it. The cynical motto was "Giving People the Credit They Deserve" and the really sleazy part was they would call people and offer them the card on the phone and if they didn't get a "hell no get out of here" they sent the card, signed the people up and started reporting the debt ... and if not paid, the delinquency. Both the Credit Store and Merrick were pretty easy to scare off, though. And I believe the Credit Store has folded its tents.
Beware of Merrick Bank. They will close your account for no reason at all. I have had an account with them since March of 2003. Paid on time every month, charged up a total of around 300.00. My cl was 500.000. Stop making charges around 2 months ago, and have just been paying it down. They closed my account this month. No notice, no letter, not anything. I sent them a letter around 2 weeks ago, asking for an explanation, and am still waiting for a response. My credit has actually gotten better since obtaining the Merrick card, so that could not be the reason for them closing the account. I got mad momentarily, then said, f&ck 'em, cuz in a couple of months or so, I will be in primeland. Just be careful with Merrick.
Beware of Merrick Bank. They will close your account for no reason at all. I have had an account with them since March of 2003. Paid on time every month, charged up a total of around 300.00. My cl was 500.000. Stop making charges around 2 months ago, and have just been paying it down. They closed my account this month. No notice, no letter, not anything. I sent them a letter around 2 weeks ago, asking for an explanation, and am still waiting for a response. My credit has actually gotten better since obtaining the Merrick card, so that could not be the reason for them closing the account. I got mad momentarily, then said, f&ck 'em, cuz in a couple of months or so, I will be in primeland. Just be careful with Merrick.
Thanks for the alert. Merrick seems to be love em or hate em. Please post the results when (if) you get an answer as to why they closed the account.
I misspoke myself. The bank that was hooked up with The Credit Store was Cross Country Bank (formerly Bank of Hoven). Merrick Bank bought NextCard's credit card portfolio when the latter went under. They were really pesky about doing anything for DW because just as NextCard went under, she paid them off so that she wouldn't have any problems with a new creditor. The result was that the NextCard people never reported that the account had been paid off, and it has taken time to be stricken from the CRAs reporting. But since the account was paid, Merrick didn't get it, and they would do nothing to help.
Are they THAT bad of a bank? How about for a secured card? I used their online app form at https://www.merrickbank.com/Applications/Secured_Card/sc_application_wizard.aspx to request a secured card. My God...if they are such bl**dsuckers then maybe I shouldn't apply? If you are familiar with them please respond.
Merrick Bank also bought a large subprime portfolio from Providian a few years back - tens of thousands of accounts. I heard real horror stories about the switch. Who knows, maybe they've cleaned up their act?
