SelfScore initially launched a credit card targeted towards international students with no credit score or SSN. They have rebranded to Deserve and have just finished raising $12 million. They now offer three credit cards:
- Deserve Classic
- Deserve Edu
- Deserve Pro
The first two options are designed for people with no credit history and Deserve Pro is designed for those who do have a credit history. When comparing to their old SelfScore cards, it seems the Deserve Edu is the same as the SelfScore Achieve Rewards card and Deserve Classic is similar to the basic SelfScore card with an annual fee of $39. Deserve Pro is a completely new product. Let’s review each card in a bit more detail.
Deserve Classic Review
- Annual fee of $39
- Credit limit of up to $1,500
- SSN required
- No rewards program
- 23.99% APR
This card is quite bad. It has an annual fee and it still requires a SSN to be eligible. This seems like a typical credit card targeted towards people with bad credit with relatively high fees and no rewards program. I don’t see why anybody would want to apply for this card when there are better options out there.
Deserve Edu Review
- No annual fee
- 1% cash back on all purchases
- Amazon Prime Student membership as a sign up bonus
- Credit limit of up to $5,000
- No SSN required
- Card earns 1% cash back on all purchases
- 19.74% APR
- Requires the following:
Honestly one of the better/best cards for international students with no credit history. Comes with a sign up bonus and earns 1% cash back on all purchases. I still think a card like Discover it Secured might be a better option if you do have an SSN though.
Deserve Pro Review
- No annual fee
- Credit limit of up to $10,000
- SSN required
- Card earns at the following rates:
- 3% cash back on travel and entertainment
- 2% cash back on restaurants
- 1% cash back on all other purchases
- Limit of $500 in spend on 2% & 3% categories
- No foreign transaction fees
- 16.99% to 23.99% APR
Basically a standard rewards card with no sign up bonus and very average categories. Only the 3% categories would be useful as you should be earning at least 2% cash back on all purchase. Don’t think signing up for this card makes any sense at all.
Our Verdict
To recap SelfScore made one of their cards worse (by adding the annual fee), one slightly better (the Edu card now comes with Amazon Prime Student) and added a useless rewards card. Deserve would be wise to focus on their core business of providing value to wealthy international students without SSNs and credit history rather than trying to compete in other market segments.
