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Credit Cards

Milestone Gold Mastercard Review: Improve Bad Credit Without a Deposit

Updated Feb 28, 2022   |   7 mins read
Reviewed by Christy Rakoczy  
Updated Feb 28, 2022

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Card Summary

Pros

  • Although the card is targeted towards people with imperfect credit, it doesn’t require a security deposit, unlike most secured credit cards.
  • You can pre-qualify for the card without a hard credit inquiry, so you can find out if you’re eligible — and on what terms — without hurting your credit.
  • You can choose a custom card design at no extra cost

Cons

  • The card charges high annual fees  
  • You may have to pay an account opening fee
  • There is no rewards program or sign-up bonus for new cardmembers
  • The credit limit on the card is low

Recommended Credit Score

Poor

Milestone Credit Card Review: High Fees and Few Benefits

The Milestone Gold Mastercard may seem like a good credit card for people with bad credit or no credit history because it doesn’t require collateral. However, it comes with very high fees and provides no rewards or benefits to justify that cost. There are much better bad credit credit cards you should consider instead — even secured cards, as making a refundable deposit is better than paying a high fee.

In this review:

Milestone Card Benefits

The only real benefit the Milestone credit card offers is that you may be able to qualify without a security deposit even if you don’t have perfect credit. Secured credit card companies typically require a deposit of a few hundred dollars to open an account. 

Additionally, the card issuer reports your payments to the three major credit bureaus, which means you can improve your credit score by making regular, timely payments. It also helps that the pre-qualification process won’t ding your credit score.

Downsides of the Milestone Gold Mastercard

The Milestone Gold Mastercard has way more downsides than upsides. Some of the disadvantages of this card include the following:

No Rewards

Many cards catering to people with bad credit don’t provide rewards. However, there are a few out there that do. In fact, even some secured credit cards have rewards programs that provide cash back or the opportunity to earn points for purchases you make.

High Fees

The annual fee could be $35, $59, or $75 in the first year and $99 thereafter. The specific fee you’ll pay for being a card member will vary depending on your credit score.

In some cases, cardholders are also required to pay an account opening fee to access their new account. The account opening fee plus the first-year annual fee could add up to a maximum of $75.

Fees are typically assessed before you begin using your card and are charged to the card, so if you have a $300 credit limit and pay a $75 fee, you’ll end up with only $225 in available credit. The card also charges cash advance fees of $5 or 5% of the amount advanced; foreign transaction fees of 1% per transaction; and a $38 fee for late payments, returned payments, or exceeding your credit limit.

Low Credit Limit

The Milestone Gold Mastercard provides a very small line of credit, just as many secured cards do. However, secured cards often provide the opportunity to increase your credit limit by making a larger security deposit — or increase your credit limit over time after you make on-time payments.

With the Milestone Gold Mastercard, your credit limit typically stays at around $300. Unfortunately, the fees associated with the card often take up a substantial portion of the card’s credit limit. This is a problem because credit utilization ratio — or the amount of your credit limit used — is a key factor in your credit score. A low utilization ratio is necessary to improve your credit and it’s harder to do that with this card.

Milestone Card Credit Limit

The Milestone Gold Mastercard comes with a $300 credit limit. Typically, this is the maximum amount of credit that will be available to you as a cardholder. Unfortunately, a card with such a low credit limit doesn’t do much to help you build credit, and it also doesn’t provide you with much help if you need to charge on your card in case of emergencies.

There are several secured cards out there with higher credit limits, and many secured credit cards with similar limits will raise your credit limit after only a few months of timely payments.

How it Compares to Similar Cards

The Milestone Gold Mastercard is a poor choice for people with bad credit because of its high fees and low credit limit. There are way better options available to most people.

Many of these options are secured cards, so you’ll need to deposit collateral to open your account. But you’re better off making a one-time refundable security deposit than paying annual fees you’ll never recover.

Additionally, the best secured credit cards offer rewards and a system for increasing your credit line or refunding your deposit once you’ve proved you’re a responsible borrower.

Milestone Gold Mastercard vs. Discover it Secured

The Discover it Secured is a far better option for most bad credit borrowers. The Discover it Secured Card provides the chance to earn 2% cash back on restaurant and gas station purchases on up to $1,000 in combined purchases quarterly. You also get an unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases — and Discover matches all the cash back you’ve earned from all purchases at the end of your first year.

Although the Discover it Secured does require you to make a security deposit to open your account, Discover automatically reviews your account after eight months. If you’ve used credit responsibly, you could get back your security deposit while still being allowed to keep your account open — so the card could end up an unsecured one after only a brief period of time.

You also have the chance to obtain a higher credit limit with the Discover it Secured than you do with the Milestone Gold Mastercard, as you can simply put down a larger security deposit to increase the amount of credit available.

On top of all the advantages the Discover it Secured has over the Milestone Gold Mastercard, it provides these benefits with no annual fee. You can begin repairing your credit for free.

Milestone Card Login & Customer Service

You can visit MilestoneGoldCard.com to log into your credit card account if you are a cardholder. All Milestone Gold Mastercard cardholders have free 24/7 account access and can choose to pay their monthly credit card bill online.

Customer service is also available via phone from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM Pacific time. You can call customer service for help with your account or with questions about applying, but you cannot apply for the Milestone Gold MasterCard via telephone.

Bottom Line: The Milestone Gold Mastercard Isn’t Worth It

The high fees, low credit limit, and absence of rewards make the Milestone Gold Mastercard a poor choice. It might be nice to qualify for a card with bad credit, even without a security deposit. But it’s definitely not worth paying upwards of $100 in fees just to have a card open, especially when you aren’t getting any rewards for your business.

If you have good or excellent credit, this card definitely isn’t for you. Check out the best credit cards instead.