First Premier Bank SCRA: No Fees, Lower Rate, How to Apply

First PREMIER Bank sells credit to people rebuilding it. Its own site says its APRs run from 19.9% to 36% depending on the card, its navigation has a “Pay Your Program Fee” button, and its card agreements name a Program Fee, an Annual Fee, and a Monthly Fee (verified August 2026). That fee stack is why the PREMIER Bankcard SCRA program matters more than its small balances suggest. The help center FAQ, in the “Service Members Civil Relief Act (SCRA)” section, states that on eligible accounts “the interest rate is lowered, the minimum payment amount is reduced, and no fees are assessed other than for PREMIER Credit Protection, if applicable,” effective from your active duty start date.

Read that as two benefits, not one. The rate drops to the 6% floor, which on a $700 balance at 36% is about $210 a year in forgiven interest. The fees stop, which on a card that bills a program fee up front and a monthly fee every cycle can be worth as much again. Under § 3937(d)(1) fees and charges count as “interest” anyway, so PREMIER’s fee line tracks the statute rather than adding to it. Run your numbers in the savings calculator, and if fees have already posted since your orders date, the refund guide is next.

What PREMIER Bankcard puts in writing

The FAQ opens by saying the SCRA “can offer protection or relief to members of the military, their spouses, partners, and dependents.” That sentence describes the law, not a PREMIER extension to family members; the request itself is filed on the servicemember’s account.

How to file with PREMIER Bankcard

File your SCRA request with First Premier

1. Confirm the account was opened before your active duty start date. A PREMIER card opened after that date is a Military Lending Act account instead.
2. If you use Online Access, open Document Upload and choose the Military Documents option; that is the route PREMIER lists first.
3. Otherwise fax your written request to 605-357-3438, or mail it to PREMIER Bankcard, Attn: SCRA Request, PO Box 5524, Sioux Falls, SD 57117-5524.
4. Include what PREMIER asks for: the servicemember’s name, the PREMIER Bankcard account number, and a copy of active duty orders or a letter from your executive or commanding officer on official letterhead showing your name and SSN, active duty start date, and branch of service. The letter generator drafts the cover letter with the § 3937 citation.
5. Watch the mail: PREMIER says the decision letter goes to the address on file within 30 days of receipt. Then check the first statement for the lower rate, the smaller minimum, and the absence of fees, and keep paying on time.

Where PREMIER cardholders lose money

Credit Protection keeps billing unless you stop it. PREMIER’s SCRA fee waiver carves out one product: PREMIER Credit Protection, an optional debt-cancellation plan priced at $0.89 per $100 of your ending monthly balance, per the contract on PREMIER’s site (verified August 2026). The contract says either side may terminate at any time by written notice or by calling. If you enrolled without meaning to, or the coverage no longer earns its cost while your rate is capped, cancel it in the same call or letter, otherwise it is the only line item that survives your SCRA request.

No SCRA phone line means paper is the record. The FAQ lists Document Upload, fax, and mail, and nothing else. PREMIER’s general customer service number on the same help page is 1-800-987-5521 (Monday to Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Central; Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Central), useful for follow-up but not a filing channel. Keep the fax confirmation or the upload receipt; that timestamp is what your retroactive credit runs from if there is a dispute.

“Lowered” is not a number. Nothing on PREMIER’s page says 6%, and nothing says less. The law fixes the ceiling at 6% and forgives everything above it, so that is what you hold PREMIER to, and the 30-day letter should state the applied APR. If it does not, ask in writing before the next statement.

Reported late payments do not pause. PREMIER states outright that late payments on enrolled accounts may go to the credit bureaus. The reduced minimum is still due on the due date. Autopay for the new minimum protects the credit score you took the card to build; the credit impact guide explains what the SCRA does and does not shield.

Compare before you carry. PREMIER publishes a real program, but issuers on the bank comparison publish lower rates and broader fee waivers. If a PREMIER card is a stepping stone, the fee-waiver playbook shows what a card opened during service can get under the MLA instead.

The law behind this: 50 U.S.C. § 3937

Maximum rate of interest on debts incurred before military service: read the statute , or see where it sits in the whole Act .