Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card Review: No Fees, Low Deposit 

If this is your situation, you may want to consider the Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card. It doesn’t charge an annual fee and has a small security deposit minimum.

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Overview of the Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card

The Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card is a secured credit card, which means you must put down a deposit to access funds on it. This is because you don't yet have a strong enough credit score to prove you're a reliable borrower. The deposit serves as collateral for the card issuer, in case you fail to pay them back.

Over time, if you use this card responsibly, you may be able to earn your deposit back and upgrade to an unsecured Capital One Platinum Credit Card. In as little as six months, Capital One can also consider you for a higher credit limit without you having to apply for it or pay an additional deposit.

A nice advantage is that you don’t have to worry about fees with the Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card. Alongside having no annual fee, there are also no foreign transaction fees or authorized user fees. And you won’t have to pay a replacement card fee if you lose the card.

While the absence of fees is a major benefit, a downside is that the Capital One Platinum Secured doesn’t offer any opportunities to earn rewards (like miles, points, or cashback). Like most secured credit cards, there is also no welcome offer. 

LEARN MORE: Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card

Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card Benefits

While you won’t earn rewards like cashback, points, or miles with the Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card, you can still enjoy valuable cardholder benefits, including:

• 24/7 customer support
• $0 fraud liability when the card is lost or stolen
• Account alerts from Eno about possible mistake charges
• CreditWise credit monitoring and alerts when your TransUnion or Experian credit report changes
• No foreign transaction fees
• Free emergency card replacement 

How the Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card Works

To open a Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card, you will need to make a refundable deposit of $49, $99, or $200. Your deposit amount can vary based on your eligibility (lower deposits are for those with higher scores), but your starting credit line will be $200.

Before your account opens, you can deposit additional funds to increase your credit limit up to a maximum of $1,000. You need to pay off your credit card balance each month to reset your credit limit.

It’s a good idea to only charge purchases you can afford to pay off at the end of the month if you want to improve your credit score. Capital One will report both positive and negative credit behavior to the three major credit bureaus (TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian). 

You can make purchases on this card up to your credit limit each month, although it’s best to keep your credit utilization below 30%, especially when working to build your credit score.

Who Should Get the Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card?

The Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card is a solid choice for anyone needing to build their credit profile.

It doesn't charge an annual fee, which is important, because secured credit cards don’t always come with the opportunity to earn rewards like cashback or airline miles — you don’t want to pay an annual fee to use one of these credit cards since you won't earn your money back in perks.

Who Shouldn’t Get the Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card?

You should not get the Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card if you can qualify for an unsecured credit card.

Again, secured credit cards don’t typically offer a chance to earn rewards. If you can qualify for an unsecured credit card that doesn’t charge an annual fee, you can essentially earn free money by making purchases (as long as you pay off your account balance in full each month).

Unsecured credit cards also tend to offer better cardholder perks like airport lounge access or travel insurance. 

Alternatives to the Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card

For earning cashback: Discover it® Secured Credit Card

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Like the Capital One Platinum Secured, the Discover it® Secured Credit Card doesn’t charge an annual fee.

But where the Discover it® Secured stands out is that it is one of the few secured credit cards to offer the chance to earn rewards. 

At the end of your first year as a cardholder, you can qualify for an unlimited dollar-for-dollar match for all the cashback you earned.

For a higher credit limit: U.S. Bank Cash+® Secured Visa® Card

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If you want a higher credit limit than the Capital One Platinum Secured can offer ($1,000 max), you may want to try the U.S. Bank Cash+® Secured Visa® Card. With this card, credit limits can range from $300 to $5,000 and the amount of your deposit determines your limit.

This card doesn’t charge an annual fee and even offers the chance to earn rewards. 

For unlimited cashback: Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card

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If you want to stick with Capital One as your credit card issuer, you can also consider the Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card, which is a secured card that offers the chance to earn rewards. 

Like the Platinum Secured, you won’t have to pay an annual fee or foreign transaction fees.

Just make sure you always pay off your balance in full each month so your rewards aren't eaten up by interest charges. 

LEARN MORE: Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card

The Bottom Line

If you're unable to qualify for a credit card due to a low credit score, a secured credit card like the Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card can help. It has no annual fee, no foreign transaction fees, free credit monitoring, and the chance to be considered for a higher limit in just six months.

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Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.