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Petal Visa Credit Card
REVIEW

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By : Mr Credit Card

Most folks with no credit, bad credit or fair credit can only get credit cards with fees, low limits or secured credit cards which require a security deposit. The Petal Visa Credit Card intends to change all that with a no annual fee (in fact no fees at all) and a decent credit limit. How are they able to do this? Find out more in our review.
 

Introduction
Introduction

What is the Petal Visa Card

Petal is a Fintech Startup located in NYC and in 2018, they launched their credit card called Petal with Web Bank. This credit card is meant to target folks who have no credit, very little credit history, or used to have bad credit but are recovering and those with fair credit but do not have a "thick enough file" to get a good credit card.

For folks whose credit profile fall under this category, they are usually confined to having to applying for secured credit cards or credit cards for bad credit, both of which are not really ideal. Secured credit cards require a security deposit, while subprime credit cards can come with high fees and low limits. Many folks who have bad credit are already cash strapped and these cards can make their situation worse.

What Petal is offering these folks is potentially a credit card that has no annual fees and for that matter, no other fees (we'll get to that in a bit) and a decent credit line. You might be asking how is Petal able to offer such good terms when other issuers won't? We'll get to that later. But first, here are the details of the card.
 
Card Details
Card Details

Petal Card Details

Petal prides itself for having no fees (literally).

Annual Fee: $0

Foreign Transaction Fee: None

Cash Advance Fee: None

Late Fee: None

Over The Limit Fee: None

APR: 14.49% to 25.49%

Credit Limit: $500 to $10,000.
 
How Do They Offer Such A Card?
How Do They Offer Such A Card?

How Are They Able to Offer Such A Card?

One of the questions you might have is "How do they offer a card with no fees and credit limits that are higher?" The reason is that Petal looks beyond your credit score and according to their website, they look at things like whether you can paid your utility and other bills on time. This gives them a better sense of your real financial situation that may not be reflected in your credit score. According to their website, their algorithms also use machine learning to better understand one's full digital financial records.
 

Peer Comparison
Peer Comparison

Petal Peer Comparison

On Petal's website, they took the average of other subprime cards and compared their average fees to Petals. I won't repeat it here. But here is the scoop. Petal has no fees, no annual fee or any other fees. The cards targeting those with no credit, bad credit or fair credit with no annual fees are store cards like Fingerhut. But they can only be used to buy Fingerhut products. Some secured credit cards have no annual fee. But you have to put down a security deposit.

The better subprime cards have annual fees ranging from $0 to $99. There are many others that also charge a one-time application fee and a monthly maintenance fee on top of an annual fee.

Petal also beats all of these cards in terms of credit limit. Most cards start you off at $300 to $500 max. And even if you get credit line increases, at best your credit limit will approach over $1000 after a few increases. Petal gives you a limit anywhere from $500 to $10,000 (a much better initial credit limit than most other cards).
 
Our Take
Our Take

Our Take: Is The Petal Card Good?

If you have no credit, fair credit or bad credit, there are many credit cards looking for your business. But there is a price to getting approved for these cards. And you know what they. High annual fees and rates, low initial credit limits. And you put up with it because you know that is the price to rebuild your credit.

But Petal intends to change that with this card. And I think they have succeeded. I would recommend this card for those of you with either no credit or less than perfect credit.