Mission Lane Visa^® Credit Card Review: An Easy-to-get Option for Building Credit

Depending on your credit score, you may end up with a high APR and an annual fee with the Mission Lane Visa^® Credit Card, which may not make it worth it. The card does offer applicants the opportunity to be prequalified in under a minute for an unsecured line of credit. However, you can find more affordable cards that accept applicants with limited or poor credit.

For example, many secured credit cards with no annual fee, like the Discover it^® Secured Credit Card and Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card (see rates & fees), offer more value. You can earn rewards on your purchases, and both cards offer a path to upgrade to a card with more perks.

• Annual fee: $0-$59
• Sign-up bonus: N/A
• Rewards: N/A
• APR: 19.99 - 33.99% Variable
• Foreign transaction fee: If the transaction occurs at a merchant outside of the U.S., the fee is 3% of the U.S. dollar amount of the transaction, regardless of whether a currency conversion is performed at the time of the transaction.
• Recommended credit: Fair

• No security deposit required

  The Mission Lane Visa^® Credit Card is an unsecured credit card, meaning you won’t need to submit a security deposit to secure your line of credit. While this will save you a little cash upfront, depending on your creditworthiness, you may have to pay an annual fee for the card. Unlike a security deposit, you’ll have to pay this annual fee as long as the account is open, and it’s non-refundable.

• Be considered for a credit limit increase in as few as 7 months

  With the Mission Lane Visa^® Credit Card, your account will be regularly reviewed for potential credit limit increases. Your account will be evaluated once in the first year (in as few as seven months) and on a regular basis each year after. To be eligible for a credit limit increase, your account must be in good standing. The issuer may consider several factors including your income and housing information as well as your history of on-time payments with the card. If you’re eligible, you’ll receive an email and the new limit will be reflected in your online account immediately.

  Tip

  If you’re looking for even more flexibility with your credit limit, consider a secured credit card. With a secured card, you can control your credit limit based on the deposit you put down. For example, the Discover it^® Secured Credit Card has a credit limit of $200 to $2,500, equal to your deposit.

• Reports to the 3 major credit bureaus

  When you use your Mission Lane Visa^® Credit Card, all of your payments are reported to the three major credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. This is important for building credit, since payment history is the most important factor affecting your credit score.

  Tip

  You can check your credit score for free without negatively impacting your credit by using LendingTree Spring.

• Get prequalified in under 60 seconds

  The Mission Lane Visa^® Credit Card offers a prequalification decision in under 60 seconds without any negative impact to your credit score. Just know, being prequalified doesn’t guarantee approval for the card. If you’re pre-qualified and submit your application, the issuer will run a hard credit pull before making a final decision.

  Most popular credit card issuers offer similar prequalification options. For example, you can fill out Discover’s preapproval form to see the APR and offers you may qualify for before applying for a card.

   Learn more about which credit cards you’re prequalified for.

• Possible annual fee

  The annual fee for the Mission Lane Visa^® Credit Card ranges from $0-$59 and is determined by your creditworthiness. You won’t know which fee you’ll pay until you are approved for the card.

  If you want to avoid an annual fee, think about applying for a secured credit card. Many don’t charge annual fees and require a security deposit starting at around $200 to $300. You’ll be able to get your deposit back when you upgrade your card or pay your balance in full and close the account. This may save you more in the long run in case you end up with the higher end of the annual fee with the Mission Lane Visa^® Credit Card.

• Potentially high APR

  Like the annual fee, your APR with the Mission Lane Visa^® Credit Card is determined during the approval process and will range between 19.99 - 33.99% Variable. While the low end of this range is reasonable, applicants with low scores could land a very high APR.

  The average APR is currently around 24.21% as of February 2025, but the Mission Lane Visa^® Credit Card APR is still comparable to other cards for lower credit scores. For example, the Petal^® 2 Cash Back, No Fees Visa^® Credit Card has a 28.99% - 30.99% variable APR and the Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card has a 29.74% (Variable) APR (see rates & fees). It’s best to pay your balance in full each month to avoid paying interest.

• No rewards program

  The Mission Lane Visa^® Credit Card doesn’t come with rewards or a sign-up bonus. When you’re focused on building credit, rewards shouldn’t be the highest priority, but they can be a helpful way to put a little money back in your pocket.

  Although it’s common for credit-building cards to lack a rewards program, there are secured credit cards available that offer rewards programs. For example, the Discover it^® Secured Credit Card and Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card both offer cash back rewards on every purchase.

Mission Lane Visa^® Credit Card vs. Discover it^® Secured Credit Card

The Discover it^® Secured Credit Card offers much more value than the Mission Lane Visa^® Credit Card. Though it requires a deposit of at least $200 (which will serve as your line of credit), it has a $0 annual fee and offers a welcome bonus and cash back rewards.

You’ll earn 2% cash back at Gas Stations and Restaurants on up to $1,000 in combined purchases each quarter. 1% unlimited cash back on all other purchases - automatically. Plus, Discover will match all the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year for new cardholders.

Your payment history is reported to the three credit bureaus, and Discover may graduate you to an unsecured card in less than a year. Account reviews begin automatically after seven months. If you qualify for an unsecured card, or if you pay your balance in full and close your account, you can get your deposit back.

Mission Lane Visa^® Credit Card vs. Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card

Another secured credit card option that offers more value than the Mission Lane Visa^® Credit Card is the Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card. It has a $0 annual fee and requires a $200 deposit for a $200 line of credit (see rates & fees). You’ll also earn 1.5% Cash Back on every purchase, every day; 5% Cash Back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel (terms apply).

In as little as six months, you will automatically be considered for a credit line increase without needing to put down an additional deposit.

Mission Lane Visa^® Credit Card vs. Petal^® 2 Cash Back, No Fees Visa^® Credit Card

The Petal^® 2 Cash Back, No Fees Visa^® Credit Card is another unsecured credit card available if you have less than perfect credit. It’s a good alternative to the Mission Lane Visa^® Credit Card because there’s a $0 annual fee and you’ll earn 1% cash back on eligible purchases right away, and 2% to 10% cash back at select merchants. Plus, earn up to 1.25% cash back on most purchases after six months of timely payments and up to 1.5% cash back on most purchases after 12 months of timely payments.

Since this card is unsecured, you won’t be required to put down a security deposit and the card doesn’t require a credit check to get approved.

The Mission Lane Visa^® Credit Card can help you build credit and is available to you if you have fair credit. Plus, you can get prequalified in less than 60 seconds. However, it may come with an annual fee and a potentially high APR, making it an expensive option.

Instead, you may want to consider a more affordable card, like the $0-annual-fee Petal^® 2 Cash Back, No Fees Visa^® Credit Card. If you’re specifically seeking a card for rebuilding credit, a secured option, like the Discover it^® Secured Credit Card or the Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card (see rates & fees), could be a better fit. Both offer rewards and come with no annual fee.

We devote a large part of the score for credit-building cards to features that help build credit — we want to help you locate cards that don’t cost a lot to own and get help you upgrade to better card offers.

• Annual savings (50% of rating): We calculate how much the average cardholder can save with the card on a yearly basis. If it is a rewards card, we use U.S. Bureau of Labor data and $300 in monthly spend (the typical starting credit limit for an introductory card) to calculate how much the average cardholder can earn in rewards. We then subtract fees — including annual fees and maintenance fees — from this amount.
• Credit building features (50% of rating): We give points for features that help build credit, including reports to all three credit bureaus, regular account reviews for card upgrades and free credit score access. We detract points for features that can be costly to cardholders trying to build credit, such as security deposits, penalty APRs and late payment fees.

Note, that our ratings are a starting point for comparing and choosing the best credit card for building credit. However, your needs may be different from the average cardholder. You should consider the amount you’re likely to spend in a card’s bonus categories and which benefits you value to choose the best card for you.