Reflex Platinum Mastercard review: Is it worth it?
With a credit limit up to $2,000, the Reflex® Platinum Mastercard® can be a tempting option if your credit score is too low for you to qualify for a more traditional, lower-APR card. But there are pitfalls galore, and if you’re not careful, you could end up in a worse spot than where you started.
The biggest concerns are the high APR and mandatory monthly maintenance fees. An interest rate of 29.99% is well above the national average, though you’ll be hard-pressed to find anything much lower until your credit improves.
The big catch, though, is that maintenance fee. A standard charge of $120, delivered at $10 per month, means you can spend absolutely nothing and still end up with a balance at the end of each cycle. You’ll need to pay that off or face mounting interest charges.
The bottom line is that this credit card can be useful if you’re not eligible for much else and need a credit card to build credit.
To get the full picture, check out these pros and cons.
Learn more about the Reflex® Platinum Mastercard®
Reflex Platinum Mastercard benefits
The biggest benefit of the Reflex card is that you’ll have an opportunity to rebuild or establish your credit. Many credit cards with stellar terms, shiny perks and bountiful reward programs are only truly available to people who already have great credit. Sure, you’d like to pay nothing for the card and have interest rates in the single digits just like everyone else. But that’s not realistic for those with poor or fair credit scores, which according to The Ascent, is 25% of Americans.
With this Reflex card, you can spend and pay off small amounts every month to prove that you’re creditworthy. Because Reflex reports to all three major credit bureaus, those on-time payments will form a paper trail. If you avoid other sources of debt and keep your spending under control, over time you should see your credit score rise. Ultimately, that will make you eligible for more cards — including those shiny rewards deals that help you score free trips and visits to those swanky airport lounges.
Other key benefits include:
Reflex Platinum Mastercard rewards
As a credit-building credit card, the Reflex Platinum Mastercard is pretty bare-bones in the rewards department. You won’t get any points for booking travel or buying dinner. In fact, there are no points at all, and there’s no welcome bonus either. Instead, your reward is building up your credit — assuming you spend correctly and pay on time, of course.
Reflex Platinum Mastercard fees, rates & limit
The most important aspects of a low-credit credit card are the fee table, rate schedule and credit limits. These factors are how you’ll determine whether the card fits into your overall financial picture and how the Reflex Mastercard stacks up against similar credit-building credit cards.
Reflex credit card fees
| Fee type |
Fee amount |
| Annual fee |
$75-$125 for the first year; $99-$125 thereafter |
| Monthly maintenance fee |
Up to $120 annually, billed at $10/month |
| Additional card fee |
$30 |
| Foreign transaction fee |
3% per transaction (charged in U.S. dollars) |
| Cash advance fee |
3% of the transaction, or a minimum of $10 |
| Balance transfer |
N/A (card does not allow balance transfers) |
| Penalty APR |
N/A |
Reflex credit card interest rates
The Reflex Platinum Mastercard comes with an ongoing interest rate of 29.99% variable APR. This rate also applies to cash advances.
According to the Federal Reserve, the average interest rate for credit cards in the United States is 22.75% variable APR as of Novemeber 2023. The Reflex rate of nearly 30% is much higher than the national average, but that’s par for the course when you’re talking about a credit card intended for those with low credit. The better your credit score becomes, the easier it will be to access credit cards with more attractive interest rates.
Here’s a quick snapshot of Reflex Platinum Mastercard interest rates:
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Regular interest rate: 29.99% variable APR
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Purchase intro APR: None
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Balance transfer APR: Not applicable
Reflex credit card limit
The Reflex card’s status as a potential credit-building tool for people just establishing or looking to repair their finances means you won’t get sky-high limits. Instead, Reflex offers an initial credit limit of $300 to $1,000. The limit you’re offered upon application approval depends on several factors, including your credit score and existing income-to-debt ratio.
The good news is that you do have the opportunity to increase your credit limit. If you make your first six monthly minimum payments on time — no skipping, no paying less than the minimum amount required — the upper limit of credit availability could double. That translates to a possible credit limit of $2,000.
How the Reflex Platinum Mastercard compares
Credit cards don’t exist in a vacuum. Before you decide to apply for a Reflex card and put all your textbooks for this semester on your shiny new Mastercard, you must understand how this source of credit stacks up against similar offerings from other institutions.
In general, Reflex has a higher APR than other cards — even cards for bad credit. It also has a relatively low max credit limit, as well as monthly maintenance fees and an annual fee that can add up quickly.
Here’s how it stacks up against a couple of other popular cards in the same category.
Reflex Platinum Mastercard vs. OpenSky Secured Visa
The OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card offers credit equal to the deposit you make when you open the account. If you fund the account with a $500 transfer, you can make purchases up to that $500 limit. If you make your payments on time, you may eventually be eligible for an unsecured card, and you can build your credit in the meantime.
The OpenSky Secured Visa has an annual fee of $35 and a regular interest rate of 25.64% variable APR, which is more than four points lower than the APR you get with the Reflex card. Unlike the Reflex card, you do not have to have a checking account to apply for an OpenSky Visa, and there’s no credit check, either.
Read our OpenSky Secured Visa review
Reflex Platinum Mastercard vs. Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card
Capital One also has a secured card option. You can open a Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card account with a minimum deposit of $49, $99 or $200, any of which will net you a $200 card limit — provided you qualify for the lower deposit amount, of course. Once you’re approved for the card, you can up your deposit to as much as $1,000 to increase your spending limit.
Even better, Capital One extends an extra-special perk to the financially strapped by allowing installment payments of your initial deposit. You have 35 days to pay your full deposit and you can pony up just $20 at a time. Pay all your balances on time, and you’ll get another incentive for good behavior in the form of a higher credit limit — and no, you won’t need to deposit any more money.
Unlike the Reflex Mastercard, this card has no annual fee. However, you could get dinged when it comes to interest, as the Capital One card has a 30.74% variable APR.
Read our Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card review
Is the Reflex Platinum Mastercard right for me?
The Reflex Platinum Mastercard could be a good fit for you if you have no credit history or a bad credit score and want to work on improving those stats. In most cases, the people who get these cards aren’t eligible for cards that have more favorable terms. That makes the high APR and stacked fees more palatable.
But this card is only truly worth the fees if you commit to limited spending, always pay your balance on time and can’t get another card with better terms. Otherwise, you could end up damaging your credit more than helping it.
If you have bad credit and aren’t completely convinced the Reflex card is the best credit card for you, there are other options.
Check out these reviews to see if one of these cards better suits your needs.
How to apply for the Reflex Platinum Mastercard
It’s always nice when additional credit is available at your fingertips, and that’s the case (at least potentially) with the Reflex Mastercard.
You can learn more and apply online for the Reflex Platinum Mastercard in less than a minute using the preapproval form. To make things go even faster, assemble the necessary paperwork and personal information before opening the Reflex credit card application.
You’ll likely need to provide your:
- Full legal name
- Date of birth
- Residential address
- Current rental or homeownership status
- Phone number
- Email address
- Social Security Number
- Employment information
- Income disclosure
You are also required to have a checking account.
If you’re approved, you should receive your new card in as little as three business days. You’ll still need to activate the card, but that just requires a telephone call and quick navigation of Reflex’s automated activation system.
