Credit One Bank^® Platinum Visa^® Review: Is It a Good Card?

The Credit One Bank^® Platinum Visa^® is a mediocre credit-building card for those with fair / good credit. Its main selling point is that it’s unsecured, so you won’t have to tie up $200 or more to secure your line of credit.

Its annual fee of $39 might seem like a small price to pay, but there are other cards that cater to consumers with low credit scores that cost less and offer better rewards. When you’re trying to rebuild your credit, a secured credit card is often a better choice. However, you can still find plenty with no annual fees and rewards that help you build credit just like an unsecured credit card. Plus, you’ll get your deposit back when you upgrade or close your credit card.

• Annual fee: $39
• Sign-up bonus: N/A
• Rewards: Earn 1% cash back rewards on eligible gas, grocery purchases and mobile phone service, internet, cable and satellite TV services, terms apply.
• APR on purchases: 29.49%* Variable
• APR on balance transfers: N/A
• Other benefits: Free credit score access, zero fraud liability, choose your payment date
• Credit needed: Fair / Good

• Doesn’t require a security deposit

  A lot of credit cards for bad credit, such as the Discover it^® Secured Credit Card, require a security deposit (usually $200). This card is unsecured, which means you won’t need to send in any money to begin using it.

  The minimum Credit One Bank^® Platinum Visa^® credit limit is only $300, though you may be able to increase it with good credit use over time.

  Secured credit cards often let you choose how much money you send in, thereby giving you access to a larger line of credit.

• Accepts applicants with Fair / Good credit

  Perhaps the biggest reason to apply for the Credit One Bank^® Platinum Visa^® is for rebuilding credit because it accepts applicants with fair / good credit (generally, a FICO Score between 580 and 739). Credit cards are an ideal way to build credit, but it can be challenging to be approved for a card when your credit history has some blemishes. You’ll have an easier time being approved for the Credit One Bank^® Platinum Visa^®.

  Tip: Secured credit cards offer one of the simplest paths to credit card ownership. This is because your money, not the bank’s, is used to secure your line of credit. When you apply for a secured card, a credit check may not be required.

• Automatic account reviews for credit line increases

  Although you’ll start with a low credit limit, there’s the chance that it can increase over time. Credit One Bank conducts automatic reviews of your account and grants credit line increases if you establish a solid history of responsible use. This includes making payments on time and not going over your credit limit.

  Credit limit increases can affect your credit score positively because they add to your available credit limit.

  Check your credit score for free and learn how your credit score works with LendingTree Spring.

• Earns minimal rewards

  The Credit One Bank^® Platinum Visa^® lets you earn 1% cash back rewards on eligible gas, grocery purchases and mobile phone service, internet, cable and satellite TV services, terms apply.

  Considering that many cards for consumers with low credit scores don’t have rewards programs, this is a nice added benefit that can compensate for some of the annual fee.

  When building credit, a rewards program shouldn’t be a primary deciding factor in choosing a credit card. Spending responsibly by sticking to a budget and paying off your bill in full should be your top priority.

• Charges an annual fee

  The Credit One Bank^® Platinum Visa^®‘s $39 annual fee may seem like a fair trade for an unsecured credit card. However, there are many no annual fee credit cards for people with fair or bad credit. Some of these are secured credit cards — and it’s often a better value to make a $200 to $300 deposit up front than to have to pay an annual fee each year.

  As the table below shows, you can earn rewards with some no-annual-fee secured cards. In comparison, the annual fee is likely to be greater than any rewards that you earn with the Credit One Bank^® Platinum Visa^®.

  	Annual fee	Estimated first-year rewards*
  Credit One Bank® Platinum Visa®	$39	$13
  Capital One Platinum Credit Card	$0 (see rates & fees)	$0
  Discover it® Secured Credit Card	$0	$91
  Petal® 2 Cash Back, No Fees Visa® Credit Card	$0	$54

  *Based on LendingTree’s value methodology
  Remember that security deposits are refundable when you close your account or upgrade to an unsecured credit card. However, if you don’t pay your balance, your deposit will be used to cover the charges.

• Has a high APR

  The Credit One Bank^® Platinum Visa^® charges a higher-than-average interest rate for carrying a balance. You’ll pay a 29.49%* Variable APR on any remaining balance after your payment date.

  There is a 24-day grace period, which means you won’t owe interest as long as you pay your balance by the due date. However, if you’re likely to carry a balance, you should avoid applying for this card, as the interest will be costly if you miss a credit card payment.

• Not all purchases earn cash back

  As noted above, the Credit One Bank^® Platinum Visa^® limits its rewards to a few eligible categories, such as eligible gas, grocery purchases and mobile phone service, internet, cable and satellite TV services. While something is better than nothing, the rewards rate is still far from the best. Many secured credit cards and unsecured credit cards offer unlimited 1% or higher rewards on all purchases. And with the Credit One Bank^® Platinum Visa^®, purchases outside of eligible categories do not earn rewards.

• Poor customer service

  Several Credit One Bank^® Platinum Visa^® cardholders have shared their less-than-stellar customer service experiences. Some users have noted a lack of support for reporting fraud on their credit cards. Others have noted that the application process can be more rigorous than usual, and that Credit One has requested copies of tax returns, drivers licenses and utility bills to open the card.

  Multiple commenters did say that Credit One did waive the annual fee when asked or have it refunded if you get the card but decide not to use it. Your experience may vary according to the card’s terms and conditions. However, it never hurts to ask for fees to be reduced or removed altogether — a LendingTree study found that 93% of consumers were granted reduced or waived annual fees.

Credit One Bank^® Platinum Visa^® vs. Capital One Platinum Credit Card

The Capital One Platinum Credit Card is a $0-annual-fee unsecured card that’s geared to those with limited / fair credit (see rates & fees). It doesn’t come with a sign-up bonus or rewards, but that shouldn’t be a primary focus when you’re looking to build credit. You’ll want a card that costs you as little as possible. And if you don’t carry a balance and make your payments on time, you should be able to avoid fees and interest with the Capital One Platinum Credit Card.

You can be automatically considered for a higher credit line in as little as six months, which can help boost your credit score if you’re keeping your credit utilization low. Plus, you have access to features like CreditWise that lets you track your credit.

Credit One Bank^® Platinum Visa^® vs. Discover it^® Secured Credit Card

The Discover it^® Secured Credit Card is a secured card and requires a minimum $200 deposit. However, it has a $0 annual fee, and unlike the Credit One Bank^® Platinum Visa^®, it offers rewards on every purchase and a generous welcome offer.

The Discover it^® Secured Credit Card reports your activity to the credit bureaus. Plus, Discover begins monthly reviews of your account starting at seven months to see if you can graduate to an unsecured credit card and have your deposit refunded.

Credit One Bank^® Platinum Visa^® vs. Petal^® 2 Cash Back, No Fees Visa^® Credit Card

If you don’t have a credit history, the Petal^® 2 Cash Back, No Fees Visa^® Credit Card is a great card that doesn’t require a security deposit. Instead, it uses a “Cash Score” to determine your creditworthiness based on your bank account’s transaction history, including your income and bills paid from the account. It also reports to all three credit bureaus, which helps build your credit history and score.

It has a $0 annual fee, and you may be able to earn a credit limit increase in as little as six months by making qualifying on-time payments. Notably, unlike the Credit One Bank^® Platinum Visa^® it earns rewards on every purchase. Plus, you’ll have the chance to boost your rewards rate over time by making timely payments.

If you really want to have an unsecured credit card to build credit, the Credit One Bank^® Platinum Visa^® is more affordable than other options. However, the annual fee, while minimal, only adds to the cost of card ownership and the estimated rewards don’t make up for it.

A better choice, if you can put down a security deposit, is to get a secured credit card that offers the same credit-building benefits and comes with rewards. The Discover it^® Secured Credit Card  is a good starter card. Over time you may be eligible to upgrade to an unsecured Discover credit card that will allow you to continue building credit.

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.