Credit One Bank American Express® Card review: Decent benefits for a fair-credit Amex
This Credit One Amex card adds a few additional benefits to a modest credit-building card.
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Snapshot
3.0
Bottom line
This card stands out from other Credit One options due to its low annual fee and Amex perks. However, many of other credit cards for fair credit offer better long-term value.
on Credit One Bank's secure site
See Rates & FeesIntro offer
N/A
Annual fee
$39
Regular APR
29.49%* Variable
4.4
Cardholder rating
Online tools
Customer service
Information safe
Extra perks
3.0
Bankrate score
Reward Details
Card Details
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Credit One Bank American Express® Card overview
The Credit One Bank American Express® Card is a card for fair credit and offers several decent benefits such as shopping protections, travel perks and Amex Offers. It also earns modest cash back on all purchases, making it a solid choice if you need to boost your credit score.
While rewards shouldn’t be your primary focus when building credit, other cards for fair credit or secured credit cards may offer higher cash back rates and more valuable benefits. If you’re interested in earning more cash back as you establish a credit history, you might want to explore different options.
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Rewards
- 1 percent cash back on all purchases
Expert Appraisal: Typical
See our expert analysis -
Rates and fees
- APR: 29.49%* Variable
- Annual fee: $39
- Foreign transaction fee: Either $1 or 3 percent (whichever is greater)
- No intro APR for purchases and balance transfers
- Late payment fee: Up to $39
- Returned payment fee: Up to $39
- Cash advance fee: Either $5 or 8 percent (whichever is greater)
Expert Appraisal: Typical
See our expert analysis -
Credit-building features
- Free online credit monitoring
- Free credit score
- Reports to all three credit bureaus
Expert Appraisal: Typical
See our expert analysis -
Other cardholder perks
- Amex Offers
- Amex entertainment access
- Retail protections
- Optional credit protection program
- Primary car rental loss and damage insurance
- Travel accident insurance
- Credit protection program
- Zero fraud liability
Expert Appraisal: Good
See our expert analysis
Credit One Bank American Express Card pros and cons
Pros
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It offers solid American Express benefits for a card for fair credit.
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You can earn unlimited 1 percent cash back on all purchases, which helps offset the card’s annual fee.
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The card reports to all three credit bureaus, which may help improve your credit score.
Cons
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The $39 annual fee can eat into your cash back earnings and undermine your efforts to build credit.
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Your cash back earnings are automatically redeemed for statement credits, which results in less reward flexibility than competing cards.
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The minimum credit line can be as low as $300, which can make it difficult to keep your credit utilization ratio below 30 percent.
How to build credit with the Credit One Bank American Express Card
The Credit One Bank Amex is primarily a credit-building card geared towards those with fair credit or no credit history. By reporting to all three credit bureaus, this card can help improve your credit score if you use it responsibly by making on-time payments, maintaining a favorable debt-to-credit ratio and increasing your overall credit account age.
It also offers a few other helpful features, such as free online credit monitoring and free credit score checks — all typical of credit-building cards, although not all of them allow you to earn rewards like this card does.
Why you might want the Credit One Bank American Express Card
If you want a credit-building card with rewards, this card could be a good option. It offers a straightforward, flat-rate rewards program along with valuable Amex benefits.
Rewards: Easy-to-understand flat-rate structure
The Credit One Bank Amex card offers a no-frills way to earn rewards while building credit: You earn unlimited 1 percent cash back on all purchases. This isn’t bad when you consider it’s a card designed for average credit. Plus, it can encourage credit building through responsible spending rather than chasing rewards, which is a habit worth exploring further when you qualify for credit cards for good credit.
Cardholder perks: Solid protections and benefits from Amex
This card offers more features than other Credit One Bank cards and many competing cards for fair credit because of its American Express benefits. You’ll get many standard American Express card features that provide solid perks and shopping protections, including the following:
Why you might want a different credit-building card
Even though the Credit One Bank American Express offers some credit-building features, it lacks educational tools and other perks that may help first-time cardholders understand how to use a card and access information about their credit. On top of that, it doesn’t offer a welcome bonus, has limited redemption options and poses too many fees.
Staff experience: Here's what our experts say
Bankrate editor Nouri Zarrugh recognizes the appeal of this card: it's available with just a fair credit score, it doesn't require a security deposit, offers a chance to earn rewards (albeit at a low flat rate), and includes a few perks you typically won’t find on credit-building cards.
Based on his experience building credit from scratch, however, he thinks it's possible to avoid annual fees and earn rewards with a limited credit history, even if you want an unsecured card. He started with a no-annual-fee store credit card.
Bankrate staff insights
Where did this quote come from?
Our focus at Bankrate is on delivering accurate content and the right context for making well-informed financial decisions.
We gather real quotes from real people through surveys, interviews, and testimonials from consumers like you who have actual experience with these products. We then hand-pick what to feature to ensure credibility and relevance.
Even when I had a limited credit history, I was able to qualify for an unsecured card that earned rewards and carried no annual fee. The catch? It was an Amazon store card that couldn't be used anywhere else.
Looking back, though, I think it was a great starter option thanks to its low cost, $0 deposit and even its low starting limit, which kept me from getting into trouble.
While a card like the Credit One Bank Amex isn't crazy expensive, I'm sure you can find an unsecured, rewards-earning alternative that carries no fee at all. I think store cards are especially underrated as credit-building options. They may not be the best value long term, but they can be a great starting point if you already do some of your everyday spending with the store.
Nouri Zarrugh, Senior Editor, Credit Cards
How the Credit One Bank American Express Card compares to other credit-building cards
You should carefully weigh the value of the American Express benefits included. While beneficial for shopping and travel, these perks may not consistently save you money. Here’s how this card stacks up against similar cards.
Annual fee
Intro offer
Rewards rate
Earn unlimited 1% cash back rewards on all purchases, terms apply.
Recommended Credit Score
A FICO score/credit score is used to represent the creditworthiness of a person and may be one indicator to the credit type you are eligible for. However, credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.
Annual fee
Intro offer
Rewards rate
Earn unlimited 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options. Terms apply. Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every day.
Recommended Credit Score
A FICO score/credit score is used to represent the creditworthiness of a person and may be one indicator to the credit type you are eligible for. However, credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.
Annual fee
Intro offer
Intro Offer: Unlimited Cashback Match - only from Discover. Discover will automatically match all the cash back you've earned at the end of your first year! There's no minimum spending or maximum rewards. Just a dollar-for-dollar match.
Rewards rate
Earn 2% cash back at Gas Stations and Restaurants on up to $1,000 in combined purchases each quarter, automatically. Earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases.
Recommended Credit Score
A FICO score/credit score is used to represent the creditworthiness of a person and may be one indicator to the credit type you are eligible for. However, credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.
Is the Credit One Bank American Express Card right for me?
The Credit One Bank American Express Card is a decent option if:
- You're working toward building better credit.
- You want a few extras like rewards, shopping protections and American Express benefits.
However, several cards for fair credit and secured credit cards carry similar or better cash back and benefits.
Alternative picks
The Credit One Bank American Express Card may not be the best fit if you wish to upgrade to an unsecured card after demonstrating responsible use, or you're looking to earn rewards — even if you have a fair or bad credit score.
All information about the Credit One Bank American Express® Card has been collected independently by Bankrate and has not been reviewed or approved by the issuer.
Frequently asked questions
How we rated this card
Our proprietary card rating system takes into account a mix of factors when scoring credit cards for students and people building credit, including each card’s cost, APR, credit-building tools and more.
We analyzed over 50 of the most popular cards designed for students and people with no credit history, bad credit or a fair credit score and scored each based on where its key features stood in relation to others in its category.
Here are some of the key factors that gave this card its score:
What cardholders think
Credit One Bank American Express® Card
In May 2024 and March 2025, Bankrate collaborated with a third-party vendor to survey 8170 cardholders nationwide. Bankrate and our vendor collected, averaged and presented website analytics and cardholder responses to six questions on a 5-point scale. Responses are based on individual cardholder's product details, and therefore cannot be verified for accuracy. Users received an incentive for their feedback. User ratings are unedited and have not been reviewed or approved by credit card issuers, nor do these ratings reflect Bankrate's own reviews of these cards.
Community Reviews
* See the online application for details about terms and conditions for these offers. Every reasonable effort has been made to maintain accurate information. However all credit card information is presented without warranty. After you click on the offer you desire you will be directed to the credit card issuer's web site where you can review the terms and conditions for your selected offer.
Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, and have not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser. The information, including card rates and fees, is accurate as of the publish date. All products or services are presented without warranty. Check the bank’s website for the most current information.
