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When your credit isn’t perfect or you’re just starting to build a credit history, getting a credit card can be a challenge. Secured cards — which require you to put down a deposit that serves as your credit limit — are often the easiest to get. Traditional unsecured credit cards that approve those with low credit scores are few and far between.
The Credit One Bank Platinum Visa Card is one of them and could be a good option if you’re trying to build your credit. What’s more, it offers you 1% cash back, which is a perk you don’t often see in a credit-building card. Here is our review of the Credit One Bank Platinum Visa Card and what you need to know before applying.
Unsecured Credit for Poor or No Credit History
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Credit One Bank Platinum Visa Card
Current Offer
Opportunities to increase your credit line
Annual Fee
$39
Rewards Rate
1% cash back on eligible gas, grocery, mobile phone service, internet service, and cable and satellite TV service purchases
Who should get this card?
The Credit One Platinum Visa is a good option for someone who ranks as having poor or fair credit. This means your FICO scores are likely in the 300 to 669 range, and you may have some collections, defaults, or even bankruptcy on your record. It could also be useful to students and those who are new to building a credit history.
This Credit One credit card is specifically designed to help you build good credit by reporting your payments to credit bureaus. By using the card and paying on-time, your credit line can also increase, which will also help boost your credit score — so long as you don’t use up too much of that credit line. Keeping your credit card balances low can have a positive impact on scoring.
This card is also a good option for people who are also looking to earn cashback rewards while building credit or who don’t want to put down a deposit like you would with a secured card.
Card Basics
| Card Issuer | Credit One Bank |
| Annual Fee | $39 |
| Recommended Credit Score | Bad, Poor |
| Foreign Transaction Fee | Either $1 or 3%, whichever is greater |
Top Card Benefits
- Simple rewards: The rewards program for Credit One’s Platinum Visa is pretty simple. You earn 1% cash back on eligible gas, grocery, mobile phone service, internet service, and cable and satellite TV service purchases, paid in the form of statement credits.
- You could be approved even with poor credit: Because this card is designed for those with limited or poor credit, your chances of being approved could be pretty good. You can fill out a pre-approval application on the website to estimate what kind of offer Credit One may make you. This application will not show up on your credit report as a hard credit pull. If you want to move forward to the full application, you can do so after seeing what you qualify for; this will count as a hard inquiry on your credit reports.
- Free credit score: As a Credit One customer, you’ll have access to your Experian credit score and credit report summary online for free. This can be a useful way to track your score’s improvement over time.
- Regular credit review: Your account will be reviewed regularly. This is a good thing because if you’re spending and paying responsibly, you could be approved for increases to your credit limit. This can have a positive impact on your scores.
Earning and Redeeming
The Credit One Platinum Visa offers 1% cash back on eligible gas, grocery, mobile phone service, internet service, and cable and satellite TV service purchases, including gas, groceries, and cell phone, internet, and cable expenses. Use your card when making purchases to fill up your gas tank, getting your weekly groceries from the supermarket, or paying your internet or cable bills.
| Categories | Rewards rate |
| Gas Station | 1% |
| Grocery Store | 1% |
| Mobile phone, internet, and cable services | 1% |
Unfortunately, your options to redeem your cash back is pretty limited. You can only access your rewards in the form of automatic statement credits to your account.
Common Questions
Is Credit One Bank a legitimate company?
Yes, Credit One Bank is a legitimate company. It is a technology and data-driven financial services company based in Las Vegas and has more than 10 million cardmembers.
Are Credit One and Capital One the same company?
No, these are two different companies with different credit card offerings. Capital One primarily serves customers in the average to excellent credit range. Credit One serves mostly those with poor to fair credit.
Does Credit One increase your credit limit?
Yes, if you are eligible. Credit One will review your account regularly to see if you’re making responsible choices with your card. If they find you are, your credit limit may be increased.
What is the max credit limit for Credit One?
Credit One doesn’t publish information about the maximum limit available, but there is a minimum credit line of $300 on new accounts. Your limit may increase thereafter as a result of regular reviews of your account and good credit performance.
Is there an annual fee for the Credit One Platinum Visa?
The Credit One Platinum Visa comes with an annual fee of $39. The amount will be automatically billed to you when your account is opened, and then again annually after that.
Other Cards to Consider
While the Credit One Platinum Visa is a decent choice for an unsecured credit card you can get with less-than-stellar credit, here are a few other options for credit cards to consider before completing an application.
Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card
The Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card is pretty comparable to the Credit One Platinum Visa, with a few extra perks. You get unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase; plus 5% unlimited cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, an annual fee of $39, unlimited access to your credit score, and automatic consideration for a credit line increase in as few as six months.
You can use your cash back as statement credits, to cover the cost of a recent purchase, or purchase gift cards. All this is steps ahead of what Credit One offers, but you do have to have what Capital One defines as average credit to be approved.
Citi® Secured Mastercard®
The Citi® Secured Mastercard® is designed for those with limited or poor credit and comes with a $0 annual fee. This is a secured card, which works differently than the Credit One Platinum Visa. You will have to put down a deposit, which will serve as your credit limit. The deposit is refundable if you close the account in good standing.
Unsecured Credit for Poor or No Credit History
Credit One Bank Platinum Visa Card
Why We Like It
Opportunities to increase your credit line
See how these cards compare:
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Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card
- 1.5% unlimited cash back on every purchase, every day
- Plus earn unlimited 5% unlimited cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- Consideration for a higher credit line as quickly as 6 months after account opening
- Unlimited access to CreditWise: a free monitoring tool that won't damage your score
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Citi® Secured Mastercard®
- Flexible payment dates
- Helps build credit
- No annual fee