Elevate Credit Introduces a Subprime Credit Card |
Elevate Credit which specializes in lending to subprime consumers is adding a credit card to its suite of products The Today Card announced Thursday offers customers with blemished credit records some of the features that are typically available to cardholders with prime credit scores For example the card will come with a mobile app that customers can use to make payments and receive alerts It will also offer free credit score monitoring the Fort Worth Texas-based company said Ken Rees formerly the chief executive at Think Finance became the CEO of Elevate Credit when the latter company was spun off in 2014 Elevates card will run on Mastercards network and be issued by Capital Community Bank of Utah It will compete in a segment of the credit card market that has grown more competitive in recent years There were 75 million subprime credit card accounts in the US in the fourth quarter of 2017 up from 52 million four years earlier according to data from the American Bankers Association Industrywide the average credit line available on subprime cards was around 3 600 or less than one-third of the average for customers in the top credit band Credit lines on the Today Card will top out at 3 500 Elevate plans to charge variable interest rates starting at 2999 Customers will have the option of buying additional cards for 10 each in order to allow family members to access a specified portion of the credit line Elevate said in a press release that the card is currently undergoing pilot testing and that a customer waiting list has been launched Elevate Credit was spun off from Think Finance another company that specializes in subprime consumer credit in 2014 Elevate held an initial public offering in April 2017 In addition to the new credit card Elevate offers an installment loan product called Rise and a line of credit called Elastic to US customers