Petal Card Review – No Fee Card For Those Without A Credit Score

A few days ago Wallaby Financial tagged me in a post on Twitter asking my thoughts on the Petal Card. I’d never heard of the card before so I thought I’d have a look and do a quick review. Petal advertises itself as a no fee credit card that is available to people without a credit score. They claim to look at the money you make and the bills you already pay to qualify you for the card.

Card Basics

  • No annual fee
  • No rewards program
  • No fees of any kind (e.g no late fees, foreign transaction fees etc)
  • Variable APR of 17.99%-24.99%.
  • Minimum interest charge of $0.50
  • Credit limit of $500-$10,000

Our Verdict

Credit cards targeted towards people with bad credit are notorious for having a lot of fees, it’s something I’ve tried to educate people with bad credit on a lot. I like seeing new cards with no/low fees targeted towards this market segment. I can see some limited use for petal for people with poor/no credit history (but these starter cards might be better). The downside to this card is that there is no rewards program or sign up bonus. I think this is less of an issue for people with poor/no credit history but there are cards that do have a rewards program and no/low fees.

For example the Discover it Secured has a pretty good rewards program, the downside to this card is that it’s a secured card. This means you need to put down a security deposit that matches your credit limit (e.g if you want a credit limit of $1,000 you need to deposit $1,000 as a security). I can definitely see the case for somebody wanting to get the Petal card over the Discover it Secured card for that reason, just keep in mind that the Discover it Secured can unsecure (e.g security deposit no longer required) after a period of only 7 months.

There are other cards in the market trying to offer credit cards without using traditional scoring models as well, SelfScore is another player targeting international students. What are your thoughts on the Petal card? Let us know in the comments below.

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11 Comments
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Denise
Denise (@guest_840199)
November 12, 2019 00:07

 William Charles or the other card like petal visa. Sorry the name escapes me at the moment.

Denise
Denise (@guest_840197)
November 12, 2019 00:04

 William Charles , Hi, I was wondering if you have any other/ current thoughts on the petal visa and if positive impact what is the recommended way or easiest to be approved? Also, I have Military affiliation and have questions on the Military Star card Mastercard. The research I have done has netted zero information. Although this message is long I have one more question, I am interested in how to pursue Walmart MasterCard. Shopping cart trick? I do have cap one regular @500. Quicksilver @300. Dr 630 and exceptional payment history @100%. Building credit for the 1st time 0 negs. Your technique recommendation netted me a starting credit limit of $1200. With Wayfair. Thank you.

Ed
Ed (@guest_655005)
October 9, 2018 21:48

They are a sham

JASON
JASON (@guest_478236)
September 16, 2017 23:59

my mom had no credit score a year ago, I helped her apply for discover secured CC and do an Alliant secured loan, a few months later add her to my card as AU, her current score is all over 700 in 3 bureaus.

parkdanil
parkdanil (@guest_477878)
September 16, 2017 03:02

I can see cards like this becoming a real resource for those getting started in this space. There is really a market for these types of cards.

Elena
Elena (@guest_477902)
September 16, 2017 06:53

That’s what I’m puzzled about.. When I moved to US and had no credit history many years ago i was still able to get a low CL CC from Capital One without any security deposit. Did banks change their rules some time ago?

Rad
Rad (@guest_478273)
September 17, 2017 01:30

For sure. Prior to the Great Recession, just about anyone could get a credit card. Even moreso prior to the housing bubble partially popping (I still think that we’re in for another big one, as the underlying problems that led to the last ‘pop’ have only become more entrenched). Nowadays, it’s pretty hard to get an easy start in this market. It’s often easier to get rolling with bad credit than it is with none at all.

Mike
Mike (@guest_477496)
September 15, 2017 14:01

Pretty nice that there are no foreign transaction fees. I think it’s also a plus that it’s a VISA card since it’s more widely accepted than Discover.

Mark
Mark (@guest_477495)
September 15, 2017 13:59

I have some low-income friends who haven’t built up any credit but could use an “emergency card” in case their debits are declined…This might be a good option for them.

PS I’ve done a lot of credit card, points, and miles research over the past year and I have recently started keeping up with your blog daily to be updated on all the latest deals. Thanks so much for all you do!

Charles
Charles (@guest_477451)
September 15, 2017 11:44

Interesting. I immediately presumed that it was a secured card without reading all the details.

My first thoughts were. “You’re gonna lose your money if it isn’t FDIC insured and the little company goes out of business!” Of course that isn’t applicable since you aren’t paying any deposit.

My thought is they are going to be targeting high incomes. How else could they give a free card to people with no incomes? Maybe also, College students (21 or over) and new college grads they think will have increasing income.