Total Visa Review: The Verdict Up Front
The Total Visa charges you four separate ways: $95 before the account even opens, an annual fee of $50 to $125 in year one ($48 after), a monthly servicing fee of $6.25 to $10.25 from year two, and 25% of every credit limit increase after the first year. APR: 35.99%.
What you get is an unsecured approval for challenged credit, monthly bureau reporting, and credit lines of $200 to $500 you cannot use outside the US.
Verdict: this is the fee structure to walk away from unless it is truly the last door open. The first-year cost on a $300 line is $170, more than half the limit.
The Full Total Visa Fee Table
From the terms and conditions on totalcardvisa.com, issued by The Bank of Missouri:
- Program fee: $95, one time, paid before the account opens
- Annual fee, year one, by limit: $50 at $200, $75 at $300, $100 at $400, $125 at $500
- Annual fee after year one: $48
- Monthly servicing fee: none the first year, then $75 a year ($6.25/mo) at $200, $99 a year ($8.25/mo) at $300 or $400, $123 a year ($10.25/mo) at $500
- Purchase and cash advance APR: 35.99%
- Cash advance fee: none year one, then $10 or 3%, whichever is greater
- Credit limit increase fee: 25% of each increase, after the first year
- Late or returned payment: up to $41 each
- Additional card: $29 a year. Premium card design: up to $10 one time
- Express card delivery: $35. Statement copies: $3 each
The issuer’s own illustration: approved at the $200 minimum, your initial available credit is about $150.
The Rewards Asterisk
Total advertises up to 10% cash back at select merchants and 1% back on payments. The select-merchant offers are rotating deals through a rewards portal, not a flat earn rate, and the 1% applies to payments you make on the account per the program terms. Treat rewards as a rounding error next to $170 of first-year fees, because that is what they are.
Total Visa vs Revvi
Same skeleton, different bank. The Revvi card is issued by MRV Banks with an identical fee schedule: $95 program fee, $50 to $125 then $48 annual, the same monthly servicing tiers, the same 25% limit-increase fee, and the same 35.99% APR. If you are choosing between them, you are choosing a logo.
The real comparison is with First Premier, the other program-fee heavyweight. First Premier’s fees run on the same architecture with a per-tier schedule of its own.
The Cheaper Path
$170 of first-year Total Visa fees exceeds the entire deposit on many secured cards, and deposits come back. The Capital One Platinum Secured opens from $49 down with a $0 annual fee. The OpenSky Secured Visa approves without a credit check for $35 a year. Full rankings: best secured cards.
Then go after the reports themselves. Credit Booster AI reads your TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax files, flags entries that look wrong, and drafts the challenge letters, for $9.99 a month. Clearing a genuine error typically moves a score 30 to 60 points, which can retire fee cards from your life entirely.
Bottom Line
Total Visa works mechanically and costs punishingly. Take it only with no alternatives, keep it a year, never carry a balance at 35.99%, and decline the limit increases that bill you 25% for your own progress. And download Credit Booster AI so the next card you qualify for is not in this catalog.
Sources
- Total Visa terms and conditions: 35.99% APR, $95 program fee, annual fees $50 to $125 then $48, monthly servicing fees $6.25 to $10.25 after year one, 25% credit limit increase fee, issuer The Bank of Missouri: Total Visa T&C document (verified 2026-07-25)
- Total Visa homepage: application flow, program fee step, rewards claims, monthly bureau reporting: totalcardvisa.com (verified 2026-07-25)
- Capital One Platinum Secured comparison figures: capitalone.com/credit-cards/platinum-secured (verified 2026-07-20)
Related reading: The Total Visa approval requirements cover score bands and approval odds. Its twin: the Revvi card review. The other program-fee card: First Premier review.
Total Visa fee stack vs a no-fee secured card
A program fee, an annual fee, a monthly fee, and a 25% limit-increase fee, versus $0.
| Feature | Total Visa | Capital One Platinum Secured |
|---|---|---|
| One-time program fee | $95 before the account opens | $0 |
| Annual fee, first year | $50 to $125 by credit limit | $0 |
| Annual fee, year 2 on | $48 | $0 |
| Monthly servicing fee | $0 year 1, then $6.25 to $10.25/mo | None |
| Purchase APR | 35.99% | 29.74% variable |
| Credit limit increase fee | 25% of each increase | None |
| Use outside the US | Not permitted | Yes |
| Reports to credit bureaus monthly | Yes | Yes |
Source: Total Visa terms and conditions, totalcardvisa.com (The Bank of Missouri). Pulled July 25, 2026.
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Get the AppFrequently Asked Questions
Is the Total Visa a good credit card?
It is one of the most expensive ways to build credit that still technically works. You pay a $95 program fee before the account opens, a $50 to $125 annual fee in year one, then $48 a year plus $6.25 to $10.25 a month from year two, at 35.99% APR. It reports monthly to the bureaus, so it builds, but nearly any secured card gets you there for a fraction of the cost.
What is the annual fee on the Total Visa card?
By credit limit, per the terms on totalcardvisa.com: $50 the first year at a $200 limit, $75 at $300, $100 at $400, and $125 at $500. Every year after costs $48. A monthly servicing fee also begins after the first year: $6.25 a month at a $200 limit, $8.25 at $300 or $400, and $10.25 at $500.
What is the Total Visa program fee?
A one-time $95 fee you must pay in full before the account opens. It is separate from the annual fee, so a $300-limit approval costs $95 plus $75 before you can spend, and the annual fee reduces your available credit: the issuer's own example shows a $200 limit opening with about $150 available.
Does the Total Visa report to the credit bureaus?
Yes, monthly. The card's whole legitimate function is that payment history flows to the credit bureaus. Pay on time every month and the file grows; miss and the same pipeline damages you.
Can I use the Total Visa abroad?
No. The cardholder terms prohibit using the card outside the United States or in a foreign currency, and also block gambling transactions and automated fuel pumps. It is a domestic-only card by design.
What happens when Total Visa raises my credit limit?
You get charged for it. After the first year, each approved credit limit increase carries a fee of 25% of the increase. A $100 increase costs $25, automatically assessed, leaving $75 of new usable credit. Factor that in before celebrating a higher limit.
