First Premier Bank,
headquartered in
Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 117th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into northern Lincoln County. The population was 192 ...
, South Dakota, is an issuer of
MasterCard brand
credit cards in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. The bank is known for specializing in a wide range of
subprime
In finance, subprime lending (also referred to as near-prime, subpar, non-prime, and second-chance lending) is the provision of loans to people in the United States who may have difficulty maintaining the repayment schedule. Historically, subpr ...
credit cards that are marketed to individuals with low
credit score
A credit score is a numerical expression based on a level analysis of a person's credit files, to represent the creditworthiness of an individual. A credit score is primarily based on a credit report, information typically sourced from credit bu ...
s.
[AP Story/NYTimes: ]
History
The bank was founded in 1986 and is owned and controlled by
T. Denny Sanford.
In 2020, Sanford was being investigated for possession of child pornography. Investigators obtained a search warrant prior to referring the case to the
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...
. Sanford was cleared of charges in May 2022.
The typical First Premier Bank MasterCard user uses the card for about 18 months before transitioning to another card with better terms. Sanford described the company as providing a "lifeline" for those with poor credit.
In 2014, it was announced that First Premier Bank had filed a lawsuit against
cardhub.com for allowing customers to view rates and terms, as well as for enabling users to review the card. However, the lawsuit was dropped a few months later.
Legal actions against
In 2007, the bank settled a case with the New York Attorney General, who claimed that the bank used deceptive practices to market its credit cards. As part of the settlement, the bank paid $4.5 million.
Criticisms
As of December 2010, First Premier Bank was reportedly offering a credit card with a 79.9% interest rate and a $300 limit. This was cited by Senator
Bernie Sanders
Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...
as an example of what he called "extortion and
loan sharking".
First Premier Bank's CEO, Dana J. Dykhouse, was referenced in a 2014 piece in the Argus Leader as belonging to a group of would-be local benefactors who the author wrote, "should quit gouging poor people who can't make it from paycheck to paycheck, or don't qualify for regular credit cards. ... Loan sharks who charge an obscene profit just because they can don't make good community leaders."
Reviews
In April 2018, John Kiernan of
WalletHub, a personal finance website, ranked the First Premier Bank MasterCard poorly, giving it 1 star out of 5. He wrote that the card had excessive fees, a low credit limit, and a high
annual percentage rate
The term annual percentage rate of charge (APR), corresponding sometimes to a nominal APR and sometimes to an effective APR (EAPR), is the interest rate for a whole year (annualized), rather than just a monthly fee/rate, as applied on a loan, mort ...
, making it a bad choice for most users.
First PREMIER® Bank Mastercard Credit Card
by John Kiernan, Credit Card Editor, WalletHub website, June 8th, 2022
Awards
* Two 2023 Gold Stevie Awards: Contact Center of the Year and Front-Line Customer Service Team of the Year.
* Bronze 2023 Stevie for Customer Service Management Team of the Year.
* Best Banks to Work For – American Banker Magazine 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
See also
* First National Bank of Norden
References
External links
*{{official website, http://www.firstpremier.com
Banks based in South Dakota