Quick Review
The Capital One® Platinum Secured is one of the leading credit cards for building or rebuilding credit. We recommend it to borrowers with bad credit or limited credit who need to quickly improve their scores. Here’s what you need to know about the card:
- Pay less for more: The Capital One® Platinum Secured is a unique secured card, as the security deposit you pay doesn’t necessarily equal your initial credit limit (as is the norm among secured credit cards). You can put down $49, $99, or $200 as a deposit and get a credit limit of $200. How much you’ll need to pay will depend on your creditworthiness. Along with the low deposit, the card doesn’t charge an annual fee, making it an inexpensive credit-building resource.
- Build credit then upgrade: The card is geared toward building credit, offering three-bureau reporting and free credit tracking. Capital One even lets you graduate to an unsecured Platinum card and get your deposit refunded once you’ve improved your credit with responsible borrowing.
- Increase your limit: One of the downsides of this card is its low initial credit limit of $200. However, you can get automatic credit limit increases in as few as 6 months if you keep up on your card’s monthly payments. Additionally, you can increase your initial credit limit up to $1,000 if you put down additional deposit money.
Pros & Cons
Who Is the Capital One® Platinum Secured Best For?
The Capital One® Platinum Secured credit card is a good credit card option for the following types of borrowers:
- Credit builders: Whether you haven’t established a borrowing history or you’re trying to rebuild a poor credit score, this card is a great way to build credit and prove you’re a responsible borrower. The low deposit and no annual fee makes it a low-cost solution, and Capital One helps you track your credit-building progress with CreditWise.
- International travelers: Capital One credit cards don’t charge foreign transaction fees, making this a good credit card to take abroad or to use when shopping with non-US vendors online.
- Reluctant secured card applicants: If your credit disqualifies you from most credit cards, you probably know a secured card is your best bet. If you’re hesitant to put down the money required for a secured credit card, this is a great choice, considering you can pay as little as $49 to open a card with a $200 limit.
What the Crowd Says
Credit card experts and cardholders alike recommend the Capital One® Platinum Secured card. Professional reviewers tend to emphasize the card’s unique affordability. User reviews are less clear cut, conveying a mix of general satisfaction and disappointment with how difficult it is to get a card upgrade.
| Publication | Rating |
|---|---|
| Credit Karma (user ratings) | 4.1/5 |
| NerdWallet | 4.8/5 |
| Bankrate | 4.2/5 |
| WalletHub | 5/5 |
| WalletHub (user ratings) | 3.6/5 |
| Investopedia | 3.1/5 |
| MoneyGeek | Positive |
| Experian (user ratings) | 4.7/5 |
| CreditCards.com | 4.2/5 |
| U.S. News | 2.5/5 |
| Forbes Advisor | Positive |
| Select | Positive |
| The Ascent | 4.5/5 |
| FinanceBuzz | Positive |
| Upgraded Points | 4/5 |
| Business Insider | 2.8/5 |
| Aggregate rating: 4.0 |
What Major Publications Say
Professional reviewers highly recommend the Capital One® Platinum Secured credit card, particularly for people looking to build credit on a budget.
All agree that even though there are other secured credit cards that offer rewards and lower interest rates, this card’s flexible and forgiving deposit and lack of fees make it an affordable option that stands out from the competition.
What Cardholders Say
User reviews for the Capital One® Platinum Secured card are positive overall, with many confirming that it’s a decent card for establishing or repairing your credit. Nevertheless, some cardholders voice concerns of false advertising, claiming that it’s not as easy as it seems to get a card upgrade after managing your account responsibly.
Hard to Get Upgrades or Deposit Refunds
The main complaints that actual cardholders have are that it’s very difficult to upgrade to an unsecured credit card, get a credit limit increase, or get your deposit back without closing the account—it’s not enough to just pay all your bills on time and keep your balance low. This is a major drawback for people looking for substantial or long-term credit growth.
Rates & Fees
Fees
- Annual fee: $0
- Cash advance fee: $10 or 3% (whichever is greater)
- Balance transfer fee: 3% at the promotional balance transfer APR; none at the regular balance transfer APR
- Late payment fee: Up to $40
Interest Rates
- Purchase APR: 26.49% (variable)
- Cash advance APR: 26.49% (variable)
- Balance transfer APR: 26.49% (variable)
If you don’t pay your credit card balance in full each month, your remaining amount will be charged interest. Your APR (annual percentage rate) determines the cost of interest. While the APR on this card isn’t awful, especially compared to other credit cards for bad credit, it still could amount to costly interest charges if you leave a balance from month to month.
Rewards
Rewards aren’t common among credit cards for bad credit and limited credit, as most cashback, points, or miles cards are only accessible to holders of good and excellent credit. However, there are some exceptions out there, especially if you’re in the market for a secured card. If rewards are important to you, keep shopping around.
Credit Limit
The Capital One® Platinum Secured offers initial credit limits between $200–$1,000. No matter what, you’ll get an initial credit limit of $200, even if you only put down a $49 deposit. After your initial deposit is paid, you’ll have the chance to increase your limit up to $1,000 by adding additional deposit money.
Credit Limit Increases
The Capital One® Platinum Secured offers automatic credit limit increases after 6 months of card ownership. To qualify for a credit limit increase, you need to prove a responsible borrower by keeping up with your monthly payments.
If you qualify for an automatic credit limit increase, you will not need to pay any additional deposit money.
Benefits
The Capital One® Platinum Secured offers the standard selection of protections and account management benefits, but adds in a few helpful services. One of the most important benefits offered by the card is the ability to upgrade to an unsecured credit card.
Services
| Service | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Capital One app | Manage your account from your phone and access helpful resources, like monthly transaction tracking. |
| Eno | Eno acts as a personal credit card assistant. Get 24/7 help with questions, track your accounts, and get immediately notified of suspicious activity. |
| CreditWise | Get free credit score updates and tracking, with tailored information about your score’s progress. |
| Autopay | Set up automatic payments through your mobile app or online account to ensure you never miss a payment. |
CreditWise is an especially useful tool if you’re establishing credit for the first time or building back a damaged score, as you can track your progress and understand what aspects of your credit report need attention.
Protections
| Protection | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Account alerts | Get immediately notified of any suspicious activity registered on your account. |
| Zero fraud liability | You won’t be held responsible for any unauthorized activity on your card. |
| Card lock | Lock your card instantly if you fear it’s been lost or stolen. |
| Emergency card replacement | Get an emergency replacement card if yours is lost or stolen. |
| Digital card numbers | Access digital card numbers to pay for online purchases, so your actual card numbers aren’t submitted online. |
Card Graduation
Capital One gives you the opportunity to graduate your Capital One® Platinum Secured to an unsecured Capital One® Platinum card.
The advantage of graduating cards is that you’ll get your deposit refunded and your card will be unsecured. However, the non-secured Platinum card also doesn’t come with rewards, so it shouldn’t be your be-all-end-all credit card. Instead, use it to continue building credit until you can qualify for better credit cards, ideally with rewards.
To qualify for card graduation, you’ll need to prove responsible borrowing by keeping up with your monthly payments.
How to Get a Capital One® Platinum Secured
Credit Score Required
The Capital One® Platinum Secured is advertised as a credit card for “rebuilding credit.” Capital One specifies that this range includes borrowers who have:
- Defaulted on a loan more than once
- Been rejected for 3 credit cards in the past 3 months
Because of the card’s wide accessibility, you may still qualify even if your credit score is in the “bad” range of 300–580.
How to Apply
To apply for the Capital One® Platinum Secured credit card, first go through the pre-approval process on the Capital One website. The pre-approval process won’t affect your credit score, but will help you determine whether you’re likely to qualify for the card and what deposit amount you’ll be asked to pay.
Once you submit an official application for the card, Capital One will conduct a hard inquiry, which may knock a few points off your credit score.
Building Credit
Security Deposit
To get a credit limit of $200, you’ll need to put down a security deposit of $49, $99, or $200. The amount you’ll be asked to pay will be determined by your creditworthiness. Once you’ve paid your initial deposit, you can add security deposit funds to your card to get an initial credit limit up to $1,000.
Whether or not you should add money to your deposit to get a credit limit above $200 depends on your spending habits. It’s important to only borrow 30% or less of your credit at a time to improve your credit score. If $200 is too low of a limit to accommodate your spending needs, we recommend adding deposit funds to get a higher limit.
Credit Reporting
Capital One reports your credit card activity every month within 3 days of your card’s statement closing date. This means you should try to have a low balance by your statement closing date in order to have a healthy billing cycle reported to the credit bureaus.
Tips for Building Credit
Follow these tips to establish or improve your credit:
- Always pay on time: The most important step in maintaining a good credit score is to never miss a monthly payment. Set up autopay to ensure your bills are always paid on time.
- Don’t borrow too much: How much you borrow at a time is a big factor in your credit score. Try to borrow 30% or less of your total credit limit at any time.
- Pay often: Make small frequent payments to your card account to keep your balance low and your available credit high.
FAQs
Can you use a Capital One® Platinum Secured credit card for a cash advance?
You can use a Capital One® Platinum Secured credit card to take out a cash advance (getting cash or cash equivalent, for example, from an ATM). However, cash advances are expensive due to the fee of 3% or $10 (whichever is greater) and the cash advance APR of 26.49% (variable).
Can you perform a balance transfer on a Capital One® Platinum Secured card?
Yes, you can transfer a balance to a Capital One® Platinum Secured credit card to consolidate debt. However, you need a credit limit high enough to accommodate the balance, which may be difficult on this card.
Balance transfers won’t be charged a fee if they’re subject to the normal balance transfer APR of 26.49% (variable). However, if you’re offered a promotional reduced APR, your balance transfer will be charged a fee of 3% of the transfer amount.
Can you use a Capital One® Platinum Secured card abroad?
You can use your Capital One® Platinum Secured card abroad or with non-US online vendors. Best of all, Capital One won’t charge any foreign transaction fees.
Can you add an authorized user to a Capital One® Platinum Secured credit card?
You can add authorized users to your Capital One® Platinum Secured credit card. There are no authorized user fees, and you can separately track authorized user spending in your Capital One app. However, only the primary cardholder is responsible for paying the credit card’s bills, so add authorized users with caution.
