Credit One Bank® Platinum X5 Visa® review: Light rewards with heavy fees

The Credit One Bank offers an attractive set of rewards and perks for a credit card for fair credit.

Rewards rate: Generous cash back for a credit-building card

The Credit One Platinum X5 Visa card earns 1 percent cash back rewards on all purchases and 5 percent cash back rewards on your first $5,000 in annual spending on eligible gas, grocery, internet service, cellphone service, cable and satellite TV service purchases. After you meet this spending cap in those categories, your rate reverts to 1 percent. 

This generous rate covers a terrific mix of everyday spending categories and it’s one of the highest rewards rates you can get in these categories on a card available with only fair credit. Most competing cards only offer a flat 1 to 1.5 percent back.

That said, the card’s bonus category spending limit is disappointing. While a $5,000 annual spending limit is impressive for a card designed for people with fair credit, it is less lucrative than the limit on most 5 percent rotating cash back category cards (typically $1,500 per quarter or $6,000 per year). Maximizing your rewards may also be unrealistic if you start with the minimum credit limit of $500. If you pay your bill monthly, you may only have $500 in purchasing power each billing cycle, which could mean missing out on potential cash back.

Also, although it’s a Visa card, eligible purchases for this card are defined by each merchant’s “Standard Industrial Classification Code” instead of Visa’s typical merchant category codes (MCCs). That means your Platinum X5 Visa might not earn rewards at the same places your other Visa cards do.

Cardholder perks: More opportunities for cash back

The Platinum X5 Visa's perks aim to put even more cash back in your pocket. The Credit One More Rewards and Visa Offers + Perks programs allow you to save money with select online shopping retailers by linking your credit card to these online portals.

The limited-time More Rewards merchant offers can provide extra cash back rewards, while Visa Offers + Perks provides product discounts. Just be sure to read the offer limitations carefully.

All Visa credit cards also carry perks based on your credit limit. The Credit One Platinum X5 Visa card qualifies as a Visa Traditional card, which will get you basic features like $0 liability on unauthorized purchases, emergency card replacement, emergency cash disbursement and 24/7 pay-per-use roadside dispatch.

While the Platinum X5 Visa offers a great rewards rate for a credit-building card, it falls short in other areas like rates and fees and credit-building features. 

Rates and fees: High interest can impact your balance

If you’re looking for a low-cost starter card, you might want to pass on the Platinum X5 Visa. The APR is well above the current average credit card interest rate and you’ll have to spend at least $1,900 per year (or $159 per month) in the card’s 5 percent cash back rewards categories just to offset the $95 annual fee with rewards.

Depending on your creditworthiness, you may also need to pay a fee to upgrade your credit limit. The card’s foreign transaction fee, late payment fee and returned payment fee could also snowball your balance given the high interest rate.

Credit-building: Few features to speak of

Despite being marketed as a credit-building card, the Platinum X5 Visa offers little in the way of additional perks to help you build credit. It offers a mobile app and the ability to check your credit score for free, but these are standard features on nearly all credit cards. 

The card also offers a “credit protection” program, but its cost may outweigh its benefits. By paying 0.96 cents per $100 of your standing balance on each monthly statement, Credit One will waive your minimum payment for up to six months if you experience involuntary unemployment or disability. Beneficiaries can also receive up to a $10,000 balance payoff in the event of death.

Along with the monthly fee for carrying a balance, drawbacks include having your account frozen (except to accrue interest) once you activate your protection and having to wait 30 days to see your policy take effect. Considering these setbacks and other major costs, like compound interest, opting for another debt management plan might be a better idea.

Credit limit: It may be small to start

The minimum initial credit limit with the Credit One Bank X5 Visa is just $500 (minus the $95 annual fee). A low starting credit limit doesn't offer much spending power and could make it challenging to maintain a low credit utilization ratio, which may harm your credit. Plus, Credit One can cancel your account if you’re 20 percent over the limit. 

This small credit limit is also counterproductive to the reward potential of the card, giving you less wiggle room to spend on eligible categories depending on your financial situation.

Even with only a fair credit score, you can do much better than the Platinum X5 card, says Bankrate editor Nouri Zarrugh. When he was looking to build his limited credit history, he had luck getting approved for a couple of no-annual-fee co-branded cards, including store cards.

Based on this experience, he cautions credit-builders not to assume they can't get approved for low-cost unsecured cards. As long as you seek out preapproval opportunities and keep your expectations in check, you should be able to find a decent card to help you move from fair to good credit, without drowning in fees.

His advice: Hold off on pricey rewards cards until you've established at least a good credit score. That will give you more options in the long run — cards that will not only offer solid rewards rates and more value for their fee, but also higher starting limits, reasonable APRs and sign-up bonuses.

When I was looking for my first credit card, I got a lot of mail offers for cards like the Platinum X5 — high-fee cards with lots of restrictions, sent from companies I'd never heard of. I almost applied, too, thinking I had to start somewhere.

But I ended up trying for a no-annual-fee store card first. I didn't want to pay fees just to get my credit score established. Though the store card had limited flexibility with where you could earn rewards, it helped me save money while I built my score and set me up for long-term credit success. I learned the value of being patient and not letting a high rewards rate blind me to unreasonable fees.

— Nouri Zarrugh, Senior Editor, Credit Cards

The Credit One Platinum X5 Visa is a notable credit-building tool that — unlike many credit-building cards — offers cash back on purchases. The card’s interest rate is in line with the standard interest rate on cards for fair credit, but the $95 annual fee is higher than similar cards’ fees and the lack of additional credit-building features is a sore spot. Here’s how the card stacks up to similar cards on the market. 

The Credit One Bank Platinum X5 isn’t the top pick on the market for credit building or rewards, but it can still suit a particular type of consumer. 

The Credit One Bank Platinum X5 Visa credit card dangles an alluring cash back rewards rate on major expenses like groceries, gas and eligible digital services. But the annual fee and restrictive card terms could make it more trouble than it’s worth if you’re focused on building credit.

While this card’s rewards rate may look fantastic, you can easily find well-rounded credit cards that won’t nickel and dime you as you build your credit score and work towards qualifying for a full-fledged rewards 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: