First Premier Bank
reviews & complaints

I am a recipient of a First Premier Bank Card. I once had poor credit due to medical bills, and when I became a parent and went back to school, I knew I needed to get my credit back on track. I paid off all my debt, but my credit score wasn't moving up. So, like most in my position, I chose to go with a subprime credit company - First Premier Bank.

When I signed up, I thought the only charge I would see was the $29.00 set-up fee, however, even though I was given a $250 limit, I was only able to use $90.00 because there were all types of other fees, including an annual fee of $48.00, as well as a $79.00 fee for a "program fee." I made only a purchase of gas the first month, and have only made three other purchases in a year - all less than $20 because I basically had no credit with which to buy things.

When I started to pay my balance, I felt like I wasn't making a dent. Each month I paid on time, over the amount. There were three times I paid on the due date, and I was charged an extra $11to have it processed that day. I never knew they had a web site to make payments until a rep "slipped" and told me I wouldn't have to pay the $11 fee if I paid online - so, I was about to hang up and pay online when she told me their "system was down." Looking back, I was being lied to so they could collect this outrageous fee from me for paying ON TIME!

My limit went "over" ONLY because of their fees! I have not made a purchase in 6 months. I thought I was doing a good job of paying down, then received the annual fee and went over my limit! How is this? They charge me $17/month for NOT making purchases, even though I can't because I have no credit b/c of their fees! Each month I was being charged an extra $25 for the "over the limit fee." Even though it is not anything I actually bought, it's their fees that put me over the limit!

I called to cancel my card. I was told if I cancelled with over a $20 balance, I would still be charged $17/month for the "no purchase made fee." I said, "I'm going to be charged 17 bucks a month even though I can't technically USE the card?!" The rep said, "YES!" This can't be legal!

This company preys on people with poor credit because they know they will be able to make money off unethical, ridiculous fees. This is unethical, immoral and should be illegal!

I want to make a class action lawsuit. I have read many complaints. TOday is 12/11/2010. Let's do this together! I need a lawyer to help me with this. To any lawyer interested: I don't want any money from this. You can keep it all if we get a settlement! I just want to be able to close my account w/o a balance. PLEASE JOIN ME AND HELP!

(After a year of having my card, I did get offers from other companies, like Orchard Bank and Capital One - which are much better options.)

I closed my FPB credit card in Oct 2009 with $0.00 on the card. In Jan 2011, I received a credit alert from the FPB, with $64.00 of outstanding balance. I never used it after I close my account. I called FPB guys, they said everything is closed with your account and they dont know how the charges are made on my credit card. This is a terrible card and terrible bank. For anyone at any circumstances, this bank is not recommended! It is highly negative bank.

My balance goes up even when I make my payment. I've made three (3) payments of $200.00 and one (1) payment of $30.00.
I've only seen the $30. dollar payment posted never the $600.00
dollars payments. My balance is now over the $750.00 limit.
Talked to them. I never went over the limit with any charges but
instead of going down, its going up and up. I asked for a complete print out, but was denied. If I pay them the $798. payment I was have paid them an additional $ 750. over double the $750 limit.
I would be paying them over 1, 500.00 dollar. I need help!

2 months ago I had my account paid down to half of my credit limit. Then the due date was changed and a 38 dollar fee was added plus 44 dollar "over limit fee". I called and was told this would be taken care of. They have continued to move my due date, making each monthly payment late and continuing to add 38 late fees. They have now run my account back up to just 2 dollars below the limit. Next month they now are threatening to add another 48 dollar fee for being over the limit. There is no sense to this. They put me on hold and then never return to the call, or transfer me to another office and I am cut off. How do they get away with this and not government agency is looking into it.

For many months, I have used my business checking account to pay the Credit Card online and it was accepted. Was informed that since the credit card is a personal card, I must delete the business checking account and issue a personal checking account to pay the bill. I went through the process and finally told that I need a letter from my bank telling First Premier that it is a personal account. What were they thinking I would do, put in another business checking account? So, bottom line after asking for a "higher-up" and denied, had them cancel the credit card that was a measly $300.00 maximum and I was told that this could possibly ruin my credit standing with the Bureaus. They offered $30 if I would stay on with them, but still needed to get letter from my bank that the account I was going to enroll was a personal account. CANCEL!

Ok, I signed up needing a card a for christmas time because I was short on cash and needed a few extra bucks and they are the only one who would give me a card. The card had a $300 limit, more than I would need but the card came with a bill for $270 for memberships fee, and whole bunch of other bogus fees that made no sense and the due date on the bill was the 2nd, I get paid on the 3rd this bank makes a living ripping people off and taking their money but they aint getting a dime from me, screw them!

Due to their interest hikes and fees I was forced to file bankruptcy in 2005. I am now being told that they filed a civil case against me (it's been 5 years) for not paying the bill. Even though they were properly notified they have refused to discharge this debt.

After the bankruptcy they were calling me multiple times a day and sending me threatening letters. I told them, via certified mail and every contact to take me to court..they ignored it. Despite the fact that I told them every time I had filed bankruptcy with them they continued to harass me.

Now that I am trying to buy a house this bill is preventing me from doing that..

I was not sued nor taken to court like I told them to do but now they refuse to accept my bankruptcy. This is illegal also. why file bankruptcy if the companies can continue to demand money from you.

When I was paying them I always paid on time. Yet they would not post it until AFTER the due date and then charge me a late fee. I was always told that I didn't mail it 10 days ahead of time. I only got the bill 6-7 days before it was due..how could I pay it 10 days ahead of time. By the time you take the holidays and weekends off that left no time at all for paying.

I started this credit card account in 2007. I wanted a card for a backup to cash due to I'm disabled, I'm on a set in come. So I used the card tried to pay off balance and my dues just kept getting bigger. I called the support rep's got thier run around told them to cancel the account in Nov. 2008. I just wanted to pay this off and be done with it. Thinking First Premier Bank followed my request here it is Dec. 2009 no matter what I send it never goes against a closed out account balance.

I applied for a credit card which I subsequently received. I never activated the card and the company keeps on sending monthly bills to me. I tried have been trying to get the bank's email address to get the credit card cancelled but without luck.

Please direct all communications to my email address: [email protected]

Filed against :
First PREMIER Bank

Complaint Description:
Many web sites are dedicated to this institution providing poor customer service and excessive fines. To validate this all one has to do is google First Premier Bank and visit the sites of individuals providing reviews about service. I have dealt with this company for a month and have suffered rude, short, and painfully ill rapport with customer service from this "bank". The issue that truly needs to be addressed is the excessive poorly represented fees attached to my account and additionally excessive fees for what would be standard account service. The most ludicrous fees are the program fee, account set up fee, and participation fee. Overall activation of the account was in excess of $170.00 in fees that are not normal credit charges. In short someone sat down and decided to attach as many fees as possible to their clients. The biggest slap in the face is the monthly fee to view your account online. This is just outrageous! I have never had to pay for account access with any bank I have held an account with! It gets worse from there: if you make a payment via telephone you get charged a "convenience fee" in the double digits, and large fee is attached to making a payment online. It is known that banks may charge such fees legally . . . as long as they are competitive within the market. Once these fees are excessive and beyond what the average instition charges within the shared market it does become a dance a bank will do on the line of enforcable law. I believe First Premier Bank is crossing the legal line and a class action lawsuit may be a viable option. It should also be noted a new consumer law is expected to pass on January 2010 that will go directly at banks that have excessive fees towards their clients like First Premier Bank. At a time of people falling deeper in debt the fees First Premier Bank are almost, if not, criminal. I am a 100% disabled veteran that fought in Iraq, and my credit went from good to bad because of the time it took for the government to process and adjust my income. I have bad credit now and I understand that that creates issues with banks. I also understand when I am getting taken advantage of. I expect the BBB to confront this institution about the business practices it has and to press First Premier Bank into fair competitive services and fees within the industry. It would be best for First Premier Bank to stop the excessive fees before the new laws are passed that protect the consumer in a few months.

Your Desired Resolution:
A complete review of business practices, dealing specifically with excessive fines and charges that would make the products provided discontinue over-zealous fines and fees for expected practical standard service; (i.e. charges for on-line account management).

This case will be reviewed by a complaint specialist at the Better Business Bureau, and then forwarded to the business for their response. It is our policy to allow the business no more than thirty working days to respond to your complaint. Within those thirty days, we will write, fax, email or phone the company in an effort to seek a resolution to your case. You will be notified when the business has responded.

I really hate this bank! The worst bank ever! Every time I would go to deposit a check, they needed a manager for an over ride. And half the time there was never a manager to be found! Then they have to call around to other First Premier Bank branches till they find someone with over ride authorization. This process holds up the line and makes me late for work! I have even had checks put on hold for up to 14 business days! I could see the reason for this if I was a hot check writer. But I have never bounced a check ever! And I have plenty of money in my account. They tell me I can take the check to the bank it's drawn off of. And have it cashed there, and then bring the cash back to deposit. WHAT? If I am going to go to that much trouble, I am just going to open an account at that bank! These checks I deposit are not even over 600.00 the tellers are usually really rude. And I had to deal with the regional VP at one time. I quickly found out that she was just a woman on a power trip! She treated me like a piece of gum she had just stepped in. I am not one to complain. I know how to treat people! When you work in, or have worked in, customer service, you tend to be more patient with people. I would rather climb through razor wire, with my hair on fire and put my money in a coffee can and bury it under a fire ant bed in my back yard before I would even consider putting it back in First Premier Bank "so called" Bank. I wouldn't recommend this bank to anyone. In fact, when clients ask me about banks, I tell them how pathetic this bank is. And sometimes I even go into the whole" razor wire.

I signed up for a card through First Premier Bank like any other person would... to build credit. I thought it would be a great idea. My first statement came and I forgot to pay it... It was due on the 8th. I started recieving calls from the cc company on the 4th stating that my account was "seriously past due." All of the calls had gone to voicemail as they called while I was at work. On the 18th I recieved a call and talked to a representative. She stated that my account was "extremely delinquent" I said, "How do you figure, it is only 10 days past the due date" She proceeded to tell me that my statement was "PRINTED UP" on the 15th of the month BEFORE the due date, and therefore, I was 30DAYS past due... 30 DAYS! I was 10 days late!
UGH! They are a HORRIBLE COMPANY... please DO NOT GET THEIR CARD... if for no other reason... don't get it so that you can protect your SANITY.

I accepted the terms for the credit card from Premier Bank Card because I wanted to help build some credit. This was a HUGE mistake! Not only do they charge you to have online access, but they also charge you a minimum of $7 just to make a payment online. This is just the beginning... Then, when the time came for me to get rid of these cards because the expense wasn't worth the credit, it became a hassle just to get them to close my account. They changed my auto draft info without my permission and caused me to have 'late' payments because THEY messed up my bank acct info! Finally! I think they closed my first card because when I log on to the site, I see there is a $0 balance. BUT! On my other card, there is an outstanding charge for $58, and I have a minimum payment of $75! WTF! These people are not here to help, they will only damage your credit like they have been doing to me for the past few months. DO NOT EVER, EVER, EVER GET ANYTHING FROM THIS COMPANY! RUN FROM THEM AS FAST AS YOU CAN!

I rarely have used this card with a $250 yet I owe $368. Although I have paid this 250 over and over again. They charge this outrageous fee that is a made up they find a way that you then over your balance and they charge for an over balance fee. If you are close to your due date they wait to post your payment until it is late then a late fee. The late fee then puts your over the limit which is another 29.00.

I spoke to a representative on Friday not only was she very nasty but she could speak about a 25.00 charge that I made. In the conversation I mentioned that I paid 165.00 last week and I have a 17.00 available balance, she continuously mentioned that I used 25.00. What she didn't mention were 200.00 in fees that they have charged me. After the conversation I sent 106.00 which should have given me 123.00 available. I checked the available balance tonight I have an available balance of 6.00. At the very least where in the heck did the 11.00 go?

There strategy not only cost money but somehow gets reported on the report as late and over charged.