Credit One Bank® Platinum Visa® review: A mediocre, confusing unsecured card

The no-annual-fee Discover it® Secured Credit Card earns 2 percent cash back (up to $1,000 in combined purchases per quarter, then 1 percent) on gas station and restaurant purchases each quarter and 1 percent back on all other purchases. This is one of the top reward rates for a secured credit card and is far superior to the Credit One Bank Platinum Visa.

Discover also matches your earned cash back at the end of the first year, which is an unmatched benefit by any other secured card. Your initial security deposit also serves as your credit line, so you can choose how large you want your spending limit. This can help you establish a solid credit utilization ratio and improve your chances of graduating to an unsecured line of credit after Discover’s seven-month review.

The Mission Lane Visa® Credit Card’s annual fee can range from $0 to $59 depending on your creditworthiness, compared to $39 with the Credit One Platinum Visa. However, unlike the Credit One Bank Platinum Visa, the Mission Lane Visa doesn’t offer rewards. Instead, the Mission Lane Visa’s value comes from better credit-building opportunities.

While Credit One doesn’t give many opportunities to build credit or let you know when you’ll qualify for credit line increases, the Mission Lane Visa has clearly outlined terms to incentivize responsible credit-building habits after seven months of on-time payments with the potential for credit line increases.

Depending on how Credit One judges your creditworthiness, you may be eligible for the Credit One Bank® Platinum Rewards Visa® with No Annual Fee or the Credit One Bank® Platinum Visa® for Rebuilding Credit. 

While terms aren’t clearly defined, Credit One may automatically increase your credit limit after six months of on-time payments. You can also request a credit increase online or by calling (877) 825-3242. It’s important to note a credit limit increase is not guaranteed.

While prequalification can show you what you’re eligible for, it doesn’t guarantee approval. You’ll still need to complete the application to determine whether you’ll be approved for the prequalified offer. Make sure to read the terms to know whether or not they're favorable to you. 

The primary criteria for a rewards or cash back card’s rating is its rewards value. This includes the card’s average rewards rate, estimated annual rewards earnings, sign-up bonus value and reward redemption value.

To estimate a card’s average annual rewards earnings, we first calculate its average rewards rate based on how much it earns in different bonus categories and how closely its categories align with the average person’s spending habits, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The most recent BLS data estimates average total spending in 2022 was $72,967 per consumer. We then narrow our focus to which purchases are likely to be put on a credit card and earn rewards, subtracting expenditures like housing, vehicle purchases and education. This gives us a total “chargeable” annual spend of around $22,500.  

Some of the major spending categories that contribute towards the annual spend include:

• Groceries: $5,700
• Dining out: $3,600
• Entertainment: $2,400
• Gas: $3,100
• Apparel and services: $1,900

Using this data, we assign a weighting to each of a card’s bonus categories. For example, a card’s grocery rewards rate receives a 22 percent weighting based on how much of the average person’s budget is spent on groceries. We also estimate the redemption value of points or miles from various issuer, airline and hotel rewards programs.

This weighting and rewards valuation allows us to estimate a card’s average annual rewards earnings — how many points or miles you’d earn with a given card if your spending was about average and you used the card for all of your purchases, as well as what those points are worth. We also use point valuations to determine a card’s sign-up bonus value.

With these calculations complete, we assign each card a score based on how its average rewards earnings, sign-up bonus value, rewards rate and redemption value stack up against other rewards cards.

We also rate cards based on how much it costs to keep them in your wallet or carry a balance. 

To start, each rewards or cash back card is scored based on whether it offers an intro APR and how its ongoing APR compares to the rates available on other rewards or cash back cards. 

We also score each card based on how its annual fee influences its overall value. 

We consider a card’s annual fee in two ways — how it ranks relative to the fees you’ll find on other cards in the category and how it impacts a card’s overall rewards value. Cards with an annual fee will always be at a slight disadvantage in our scoring system since annual fees inherently cut into your rewards value, but if a card offers terrific value via its ongoing rewards and perks, it can earn a high score even if it carries a high annual fee. 

With this in mind, we rate a card based primarily on how its ongoing rewards value and ongoing perk value (such as annual credits or bonuses) stack up against other cards in the category when you subtract its annual fee.

We rate each card’s flexibility based on the restrictions it imposes on earning and redeeming rewards and factor this rating into a card’s overall score. 

Flexibility factors include whether a card only allows you to earn a high rewards rate on a small amount of spending or requires you to meet a certain earning threshold before you can redeem rewards. We also examine whether your points are worth less when you redeem for some options versus others and whether a card gives you the flexibility to transfer rewards to airline and hotel partners. 

We also score each card’s set of features – its perks and benefits — against five tiers of features to provide a rating. 

We break down these tiers as follows:

• Tier 1 has less than standard card features (an ultra-streamlined card that offers basic utility and next to nothing in the way of ancillary benefits. 
• Tier 2 includes the benefits you’d expect on standard Visa or Mastercard credit cards, such as free access to your credit score, car rental insurance and $0 liability for fraudulent charges. 
• Tier 3 includes “prime card” or better-than-average card features like cellphone insurance, lost luggage insurance, concierge services and purchase protection. 
• Tier 4 includes luxury features such as airport lounge access, elite status with an airline or hotel and credits for expedited security screening membership programs. 
• Tier 5 includes the sort of exemplary benefits you’ll find on top-tier luxury cards, such as high-value travel credits, cardholder memberships and other unique and valuable perks.