Petal 2 Visa Card Review

Written by Dayana Yochim
Edited by Carolyn Kimball
Fact-checked by Andrea Coombes

May 05, 2023

The road to approval for a better rewards card starts somewhere — specifically with a 1% cashback, low-credit-line/few-perks card.

Say you’ve struggled to be approved for a rewards credit card (or any card) in the past. Here’s your in. The more forgiving approval process for the Petal 2 card from WeBank gets you in the door with a no-fee cashback card. Sure, the 1% default rewards rate is super basic. But pay your bill on time and eventually it’ll inch up to 1.5%.

The basics: Get 1% cash back on all qualified purchases right away; earn 1.25% after six on-time payments and 1.5% after 12. Cardholders can earn 2% to 10% cash back at select local merchants.

Petal 2 Visa Card pros and cons

Petal 2 Visa Card cashback rewards spending categories

The following table shows the cashback rewards rate per $1 spent in the six most common spending categories. The “Bonus Rate” refers to the amount you can earn in excess of the card’s standard rewards rate.

Some cashback cards limit the spending amount eligible for the bonus rate (a.k.a. the “Spend Cap”). Once you hit that cap (e.g. $1,500 spending in a particular category during a defined time period), the rewards rate on future purchases in that category reverts to the lower “Default Rate.”

Note: Petal2 Visa cardholders will earn 1%-1.5% cashback on purchases, based on the number of on-time payments made during the life of your account. Upon card activation, you will earn 1% (which is cashback rate we use in our calculator and the table above). After six on-time payments, you will earn 1.25% cashback. After 12 on-time payments you will earn 1.5% cashback.

What we like

Petal card approval is based on your banking history (your income, spending and savings) and not just your credit score.

You can see if you’re preapproved without impacting your credit score. Preapproval, however, does not guarantee actual approval, and your official application will likely show up in your credit file.

When the Petal 2 marketers say “no fees,” they mean it. There are no annual fees, foreign transaction fees, late-payment or returned-payment fees.

Although you start with a bare-minimum 1% cashback rate, your on-time payments over the next six to 12 months will unlock higher rewards rates and look flattering in your credit file. Six on-time payments bumps up your rewards rate to 1.25%; 12 timely payments and you score a 1.5% cashback rate.

Petal notifies you of local businesses where your spending can snag 2% to 10% cashback. Win (for the merchant)-win (more cashback for you)!

What we don't like

A 1% cashback default rate is — quite literally — the least you can earn from a rewards card. And that’s all you’ll get for your spending on this card for at least the first six months after activation.

Move along if you’re looking for a sign-up bonus, balance-transfer deal or 0% introductory APR on new purchases.

The $500 - $10,000 credit limit may be limiting to some who are approved for amounts at the lower end of the spectrum.

The bottom line

Is the Petal 2 Visa Card the best rewards card for your wallet? The answer depends entirely on your spending patterns. Let the numbers speak for themselves: Use the investor.com Cashback Credit Card Calculator to see which credit card pays back the highest rewards based on how much you spend each month.

Petal 2 Visa Card fine print

Practice your diction by referring to the petite print pursuant to the Petal Perks Program and pressing pecuniary particulars for Petal 2 card participants. That was fun. For us.

Does the Petal 2 Visa Card charge an annual fee?

No, there is no annual fee for the Petal 2 Visa Card.

Does the Petal 2 Visa Card offer a welcome bonus?

No, the Petal 2 Visa Card card does not currently offer a welcome bonus.

How much cashback can I earn with the Petal 2 Visa Card?

The average American that spends $1000 per month will earn $120.00 in cash back per year using the Petal 2 Visa Card. For comparison, the average annual rewards payout from the cashback credit cards in the investor.com database is $191.26, and $180 is the median.

These calculations are based on average consumer spending data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the reward payout rates from the providers we track. Of course, you’re so much more than an average data point (aka “consumer unit,” in BLS parlance). The amount you can earn in cashback rewards using the Petal 2 Visa Card depends entirely on your unique spending habits.

Find out exactly how much you’ll rake in with the Petal 2 Visa Card by tailoring the spending inputs in the calculator above.

Methodology

The results of the investor.com Credit Card Rewards Calculator are based on the monthly spending amounts you enter and the annual dollar value of the rewards each credit card program pays per $1 spent. Credit card companies often express this payout amount as a percentage (e.g., 1.5% of every dollar spent) or on a points basis (e.g. ,1.5 points for every dollar spent). We converted all of them to a dollar amount (“Cash Back Per Year”) to make comparing offers easier.

To calculate the amount of cash back you could earn per year, we factored in:

• Spend category inputs: The default dollar values for each “Spend Category” in the Best Cashback Credit Cards tool — gas, groceries, travel, restaurant, entertainment, pharmacy, other — are based on average American spending data from the Consumer Expenditure Surveys from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. We also include additional spend categories (such as streaming services, online shopping, utilities, transit, Amazon and more) to help you see which rewards cards are most closely aligned with your actual spending patterns. We encourage you to customize the monthly spend inputs for the most accurate results.
• Tiered rewards rates: If a rewards credit card pays higher cashback rates on certain spending categories (also called “Bonus Rewards”), that difference is reflected in the total “Cash Back Per Year” tally.
• Rewards spending caps: Some cards impose category- or time-based limits (monthly, quarterly, annually) that affect the amount of rewards you can earn. For example, a card may pay 3% cash back on groceries on up to $1,000 of spending each quarter, then revert to the base/default rewards rate until the following quarter. We accounted for bonus spending caps and timeframe in the calculations.
• Default rewards rates: Purchases that exceed a spending cap are usually subject to a lower default rewards rate (e.g., 1% or 1.5%). We mathed that out too.
• Annual fees: If a rewards card charges an annual fee, we deducted that amount from the “Cash Back Per Year” total to provide a true accounting of a card’s annual rewards payout.

What’s not included in the “Cash Back Per Year” total is the cash value of any sign-up/introductory bonus. We highlight any Welcome Bonus separately. While sign-up bonuses can be the most lucrative part of getting a new cashback rewards credit card, not everyone will want or be able to do what it takes to earn the extra cash. (It usually requires spending a certain amount in a specified time period after the card is activated.)

Read next

• Best Cashback Credit Cards
• Best Business Cashback Credit Cards
• What Is Credit? (And Why It Matters)
• Best High-Yield Savings Accounts
• Find a Financial Advisor
• Our Complete Coverage of Credit Cards

About the Editorial Team

Dayana Yochim

Dayana Yochim has been writing (articles, books, podcasts, stirring speeches) about personal finance and investing for more than two decades, focusing on bringing clarity and the occasional comedic aside to what is often a murky, humorless topic. She’s written for NerdWallet, The Motley Fool, HerMoney.com, Woman’s Day, Forbes, Newsweek and others, and been a guest expert on "Today," "Good Morning America," CNN, NPR and wherever they’ll hand her a mic.

Carolyn Kimball

Carolyn Kimball is Managing Editor for Reink Media Group and the lead editor for content on investor.com. Carolyn has more than 20 years of writing and editing experience at major media outlets including NerdWallet, the Los Angeles Times and the San Jose Mercury News. She specializes in coverage of personal financial products and services, wielding her editing skills to clarify complex (some might say befuddling) topics to help consumers make informed decisions about their money

Andrea Coombes

Andrea Coombes has 20+ years of experience helping people reach their financial goals. Her personal finance articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, MarketWatch, Forbes, and other publications, and she's shared her expertise on CBS, NPR, "Marketplace," and more. She's been a financial coach and certified consumer credit counselor, and is working on becoming a Certified Financial Planner. She knows that owning pets isn't necessarily the best financial decision; her dog and two cats would argue this point.