Capital One Platinum Mastercard vs Mission Lane Visa

2 cards targeting the same segment

Both the Capital One Platinum and the Mission Lane Visa are two subprime credit cards that also approve folks who have just been discharged from bankruptcy. Unlike many subprime credit cards, both these cards tend to give consumers slightly higher credit limits that a typical subprime credit card and have reasonable annual fees. They both also offer perks that one tends to get from a prime card like mobile apps and free FICO scores. In this comparison, we will put these two cards side by side and determine which is the better card.

The Basics

Mission Lane Visa Basics

Mission Lane Visa is a credit card targeting at rebuilders, people with fair credit and also those who have just been discharged from bankruptcy. The annual fee ranges from $0 to $59 and the starting credit limit ranges from $300 to $1,000. Mission will increase your credit limit if you pay your first six bills on time. They also have a great track record of increasing your limits subsequently after the initial increase if you keep using your card and pay on time. Mission Lane has a slick mobile app and provides card members with a free FICO score.

Capital One Platinum Mastercard Basics

The Capital One Platinum Mastercard is a card that is long known as a go to card for rebuilders, those with fair credit and they have been known to approve people who have been discharged from bankruptcy. This card does not have any annual fee or foreign transaction fee. The card does not have a fixed starting credit limit, but will consider holders for a credit limit increase after six months. Capital One also has a mobile app and provides a free Vantage 3.0 score from TransUnion through a program called CreditWise.

Similarities

• Credit Limit Increase after 6 months - Both cards will potentially increase your credit limit after 6 months. Mission Lane assures you of a credit limit increase as long as you pay the first six bills on time. In contrast, Capital One will consider you for a credit limit increase though they will not guarantee it.


• Mobile App - Both cards have mobile apps.


• Free Credit Score - Both Mission Lane and Capital One give you access to a free credit score.


• Accepts BK applicants - Both cards accepts applicants who have been recently discharged from bankruptcy.


• Different networks - The CapOne Platinum is a Mastercard while Mission Lane is a Visa.

Differences

• Annual Fee - The Capital One Platinum Mastercard does not have any annual fee while the annual fee for Mission Lane ranges from $0 to $59.


• Foreign Transaction Fee - Like all Capital One credit cards, the CapOne Platinum does not have any foreign transaction fee. The Mission Lane Visa, on the other hand, has the standard 3% foreign transaction fee. So the CapOne is definitely the better card to use if you travel abroad outside the US.

Which is better?

Both the Capital One Platinum and Mission Lane Visa are good rebuilder cards for those of you who are looking to ditch your high fee unsecured credit cards or to move on from a secured credit card to an unsecured rebuilder card with reasonable fee and decent credit limits. Both these cards are also ideal for those of you who have just been discharged from bankruptcy and have mobile apps and provide free credit scores as well.

Ways which Capital One Platinum is better

The Capital One Platinum is slightly better in the area of annual fee and foreign transaction fee. It has no annual fee while Mission Lane has annual fee that ranges between $0 and $59. Following the traditions of all CapOne cards, the Platinum Mastercard also charges no foreign transaction fee.

Ways which Mission Lane is better

While CapOne is better in the area of annual fee and foreign transaction fee, Mission Lane has a much better than CapOne in the area of credit limit increases. While CapOne Platinum only say they will "review your account for credit limit increase after 6 months", Mission Lane will actually increase your limit after 6 months if you pay your first 6 monthly bills on time. Furthermore, they have a much better track record of subsequent credit limit increase after the initial one. Many cardholders have reported that their limits have reached $3,000 to $4,000 as soon as 24 months. In contrast, you hear more complaints about CapOne not increasing limits at all.

Verdict: 2 good cards - get both?

Both the CapOne and Mission Lane are very good rebuilder cards. CapOne has the slight edge because they do not charge any annual or foreign transaction fee. However, Mission Lane has a much better track record of increasing your credit limit and if this is important to you, then you should get this card.

Both cards allow you to get pre-approved first before applying. And the pre-approval process consist of a soft inquiry which will not affect your credit score. You should try to get pre-approved for both, see if you get pre-approved and if you do, see what offer do you get (annual fee and starting limits). If you get pre-approved for both, it is fine to get both cards to rebuld.