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Editorial Disclosure We have not reviewed all available products or offers. Compensation may impact the order of which offers appear on page, but our editorial opinions and ratings are not influenced by compensation.

Petal 1 Credit Card Review: Build Credit, Earn Rewards, and Avoid Fees

Refreshed Review Updated Jan. 10, 2023
Lyle Daly
By: Lyle Daly

Our Credit Cards Expert

Many or all of the products here are from our partners that compensate us. It’s how we make money. But our editorial integrity ensures our experts’ opinions aren’t influenced by compensation. Terms may apply to offers listed on this page.

The Petal® 1 "No Annual Fee" Visa® Credit Card is worth considering for people with limited credit histories or those who are building credit. There's no annual fee and cardholders can earn up to 10% cash back at select merchants. This card has several other perks that we like, and we'll cover them all in our Petal® 1 "No Annual Fee" Visa® Credit Card review.

Ratings Methodology

Petal® 1 "No Annual Fee" Visa® Credit Card

Great for: Building credit

Apply Now for Petal® 1 "No Annual Fee" Visa® Credit Card

On Petal's Secure Website.

Petal® 1 "No Annual Fee" Visa® Credit Card
Rating image, 4.00 out of 5 stars.
4.00 stars
Circle with letter I in it. Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor. We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.
 = Best
= Excellent
= Good
= Fair
= Poor

Credit Score:
Fair (300-669) Circle with letter I in it. Falling within this credit range does not guarantee approval by the issuer. An application must be submitted to the issuer for a potential approval decision. There are different types of credit scores and creditors use a variety of credit scores to make lending decisions.

Apply Now for Petal® 1 "No Annual Fee" Visa® Credit Card

On Petal's Secure Website.

Intro APR

Purchases: N/A

Balance Transfers: N/A

Regular APR

24.24% - 33.74% Variable

Rewards

2% - 10% cash back at select merchants

Annual Fee

$0

  • The combination of cutting fees competitors charge, along with the opportunity to earn rewards, makes this a worthwhile card to consider when building credit.

    • Easy approval process
    • No annual fee
    • Rewards from select merchants
    • No foreign transaction fee
    • Limited rewards opportunities
    • No 0% intro APR offer
    • $0 Annual Fee
    • Variable APRs range from 24.24% - 33.74%
    • $300 - $5,000 credit limits
    • Earn a credit limit increase in as little as 6 months. Terms and conditions apply.
    • No credit score? No problem. If eligible, we'll create your Cash Score instead.
    • 2% - 10% cash back at select merchants
    • See if you're pre-approved within minutes without impacting your credit score.
    • No annual or foreign transaction fees.
    • Build credit alongside hundreds of thousands of Petal card members.
    • Petal's mobile app makes it easy to manage your money, track your spending, and automate payments.
    • Petal reports to all 3 major credit bureaus
    • No deposits required
    • Card issued by WebBank, Member FDIC
Rates & Fees External Link Icon

Full Petal 1 Credit Card review

This credit card is a good fit for: Consumers who haven't established a credit history yet or have a bad credit score due to some previous problems.

Top perks

Easy approval

Petal makes the approval process as simple and stress-free as possible. People with complicated credit or with no credit history at all are eligible for the Petal® 1 "No Annual Fee" Visa® Credit Card. If you haven't established a credit history yet, you can link your bank accounts when you apply. Petal uses the payment information from your banking transactions to help decide whether to approve you. You can also see if you're likely to get approved for this credit card before you apply. Petal's pre-approval tool won't impact your credit score, so there's no risk to using it.

No annual fee

The best credit cards for building and rebuilding credit are no annual fee cards, and there's no annual fee for this Petal card. You can use it to improve your credit without it costing you.

Rewards with select merchants

When you use the Petal® 1 "No Annual Fee" Visa® Credit Card at participating merchants, you earn between 2% and 10% cash back on eligible purchases, depending on the merchant's specific offer. Petal's lineup of participating merchants currently includes over 20 national offers and over 500 local offers. The cash back rate with this card at participating merchants is excellent.

Learn more: Best Rewards Credit Cards

No foreign transaction fees

You won't need to pay extra if you use your Petal® 1 "No Annual Fee" Visa® Credit Card while you're traveling internationally. The lack of foreign transaction fees is a helpful perk we don't see very often from credit cards for bad credit.

High credit limits

Petal offers credit limits of $300 to $5,000 for the Petal® 1 "No Annual Fee" Visa® Credit Card. The benefit of a high credit limit is that it can helps you keep your credit utilization ratio down.

Read more: How to Build Credit Fast

Alternatives to consider

  • If you're building credit and want more rewards: The Petal® 2 "Cash Back, No Fees" Visa® Credit Card has many of the same perks as its younger sibling. Its main advantages are 1% cash back on purchases to start, which increases to 1.5% back after you've made 12 on-time monthly payments, and credit limits of up to $10,000. The difference is that it's not intended for rebuilding credit.
  • If you want a lucrative sign-up bonus: The Discover it® Secured Credit Card earns 2% back on up to $1,000 in purchases at gas stations and restaurants each quarter, plus 1% back on other purchases. To make it even better, Discover will automatically match all the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year for new cardholders. This is a secured credit card, though, so you must pay a deposit to open it.

Read more: Best Sign-Up Bonus Credit Cards

As of Jan. 24, 2023
Image for
Image for
Image for
Petal® 1 "No Annual Fee" Visa® Credit Card Petal® 2 "Cash Back, No Fees" Visa® Credit Card Discover it® Secured Credit Card
Rating image, 4.00 out of 5 stars.
4.00 stars
Circle with letter I in it. Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor. We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.
 = Best
= Excellent
= Good
= Fair
= Poor
Rating image, 4.00 out of 5 stars.
4.00 stars
Circle with letter I in it. Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor. We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.
 = Best
= Excellent
= Good
= Fair
= Poor
Rating image, 5.00 out of 5 stars.
5.00 stars
Circle with letter I in it. Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor. We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.
 = Best
= Excellent
= Good
= Fair
= Poor
Apply Now for Petal® 1 "No Annual Fee" Visa® Credit Card

On Petal's Secure Website.

Apply Now for Petal® 2 "Cash Back, No Fees" Visa® Credit Card

On Petal's Secure Website.

Apply Now for Discover it® Secured Credit Card

On Discover's Secure Website.

Read Full Review
Read Full Review
Rates & Fees Rates & Fees Rates & Fees

Credit Rating Requirement:

Fair (300-669) Circle with letter I in it. Falling within this credit range does not guarantee approval by the issuer. An application must be submitted to the issuer for a potential approval decision. There are different types of credit scores and creditors use a variety of credit scores to make lending decisions.

Credit Rating Requirement:

Fair/New to Credit Under(669) Circle with letter I in it. Falling within this credit range does not guarantee approval by the issuer. An application must be submitted to the issuer for a potential approval decision. There are different types of credit scores and creditors use a variety of credit scores to make lending decisions.

Credit Rating Requirement:

New/Rebuilding Under(579) Circle with letter I in it. Falling within this credit range does not guarantee approval by the issuer. An application must be submitted to the issuer for a potential approval decision. There are different types of credit scores and creditors use a variety of credit scores to make lending decisions.

Welcome Offer:

—

Welcome Offer:

—

Welcome Offer: Circle with letter I in it. Discover will match all the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year.

Cashback Match

Rewards Program:

2% - 10% cash back at select merchants

Rewards Program: Circle with letter I in it. Up to 1.5% cash back on eligible purchases after making 12 on-time monthly payments. 1% cash back on eligible purchases right away

1% - 1.5% cash back

Rewards Program: Circle with letter I in it. 2% cash back at Gas Stations and Restaurants on up to $1,000 in combined purchases each quarter. 1% unlimited cash back on all other purchases - automatically

1% - 2% Cashback

Intro APR:

Purchases: N/A

Balance Transfers: N/A

Intro APR:

Purchases: N/A

Balance Transfers: N/A

Intro APR:

Purchases: n/a

Balance Transfers: 10.99%, 6 months

Regular APR:

24.24% - 33.74% Variable

Regular APR:

17.24% - 31.24% Variable

Regular APR:

27.24% Variable APR

Annual Fee:

$0

Annual Fee:

$0

Annual Fee:

$0

Highlights:

  • $0 Annual Fee
  • Variable APRs range from 24.24% - 33.74%
  • $300 - $5,000 credit limits
  • Earn a credit limit increase in as little as 6 months. Terms and conditions apply.
  • No credit score? No problem. If eligible, we'll create your Cash Score instead.
  • 2% - 10% cash back at select merchants
  • See if you're pre-approved within minutes without impacting your credit score.
  • No annual or foreign transaction fees.
  • Build credit alongside hundreds of thousands of Petal card members.
  • Petal's mobile app makes it easy to manage your money, track your spending, and automate payments.
  • Petal reports to all 3 major credit bureaus
  • No deposits required
  • Card issued by WebBank, Member FDIC

Highlights:

  • No fees whatsoever. No late fee, foreign transaction fee, annual fee, or any-other-kind-of-fee, fee.
  • Variable APRs range from 17.24% - 31.24%
  • Up to 1.5% cash back on eligible purchases after making 12 on-time monthly payments.
  • 1% cash back on eligible purchases right away
  • 2% - 10% cash back at select merchants
  • $300 - $10,000 credit limits
  • No credit score? No problem. If eligible, we'll create your Cash Score instead.
  • See if you're pre-approved within minutes without impacting your credit score.
  • Build credit alongside hundreds of thousands of Petal card members.
  • Petal reports to all 3 major credit bureaus.
  • No deposits required
  • Card issued by WebBank, Member FDIC

Highlights:

  • No credit score required to apply.
  • No Annual Fee, earn cash back, and build your credit history.
  • Establish your credit line by providing a refundable security deposit of at least $200. That means a $200 deposit for a $200 credit line. Or a $500 deposit for a $500 credit line. Bank information must be provided when submitting your deposit, and the security deposit equals your credit limit.
  • Automatic reviews starting at 7 months to see if we can transition you to an unsecured line of credit and return your deposit.
  • Earn 2% cash back at Gas Stations and Restaurants on up to $1,000 in combined purchases each quarter. Plus, earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases – automatically.
  • Discover helps remove your personal information from select people-search websites. Activate by mobile app for free.
  • Get an alert if we find your Social Security number on any of thousands of Dark Web sites.* Activate for free.
  • Click "Apply Now" to see terms and conditions.
Apply Now for Petal® 1 "No Annual Fee" Visa® Credit Card

On Petal's Secure Website.

Apply Now for Petal® 2 "Cash Back, No Fees" Visa® Credit Card

On Petal's Secure Website.

Apply Now for Discover it® Secured Credit Card

On Discover's Secure Website.

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What could be improved

Rewards on everyday spending

The Petal® 1 "No Annual Fee" Visa® Credit Card doesn’t earn cash back anywhere except participating merchants. That limits the value you'll get from it, especially compared to other cash back credit cards.

It's also disappointing when you consider that the Petal® 2 "Cash Back, No Fees" Visa® Credit Card offers cash back on purchases and up to 2% to 10% back with its merchant offers. The Petal® 1 "No Annual Fee" Visa® Credit Card likely doesn't have those same perks because it's an option for consumers who are rebuilding credit, whereas Petal's original card isn't.

Find the best credit card for your needs

Compare credit card rewards, fees, APRs, and more using our side-by-side comparison tool.

Compare Cards

The Petal® 1 "No Annual Fee" Visa® Credit Card is right for you if:

You're looking for your first credit card so you can start building credit, or you need to rebuild credit after missteps.

With its benefits, the Petal® 1 "No Annual Fee" Visa® Credit Card is one of the top credit cards for those with no credit, bad credit, or even fair credit. You don't need to pay a security deposit or an annual fee; you can get a high credit limit compared to other cards; and you'll earn impressive cash back rates at Petal's partner merchants.

Keep reading: Best Starter Credit Cards for No Credit

FAQs

Our Credit Cards Expert

Lyle Daly
By: Lyle Daly

Writer

Lyle Daly is a personal finance writer who specializes in credit cards, travel rewards programs, and banking. He writes for The Ascent and The Motley Fool, and his work has appeared in USA Today and Yahoo! Finance. He was born in California but currently lives as a digital nomad with a home base in Colombia.