Do you not have the best credit score but you still want to be able to swipe and earn rewards on a charming credit card?  Welcome to the X1 Card.

What is the X1 Credit Card?

The X1 Credit Card is a card redone from the bottom up. The physical card is made out of 100% stainless steel. Plus, you have the option of creating virtual cards to use online or for one-time use (great to use for signing up for free membership trials and then canceling the card so that they can’t charge you after the free trial), and more.  

But the biggest change with the X1 Card is that approval and credit limits are not based on your credit score. Rather, it’s based on your income and expenses. As per X1, the approval process works as follows “By looking at current and future income instead of credit score, the X1 Card can responsibly set smart credit limits up to 5 times higher than traditional credit cards and have limits rise automatically as cardholders advance in their careers. The higher limit also gives cardholders the opportunity to have a lower utilization rate, allowing them to increase their credit score faster.” 

To verify your income, X1 will ask for access to your bank accounts and will review the transactions, including your incoming and outgoing funds. Based on that they will decide if they want to approve you or not and what credit limit they are willing to approve for you.  

The X1 Card fees

The X1 Card has no fees, no foreign transaction fees, no late fees, and no annual fee.

The X1 Card rewards

The X1 Card earns 2 points on all purchases.

Plus. you earn a mega 3 points on all purchases if you spend $1,000 or more per month. You will earn the 3 points on the next $6,500 you spend in that month (so basically $1 -$1,000 earns 2 points, $1001 – $7,500 earns 3 points, and $7,501 and up earns 2 points).

You need to spend $1,000 to get to the 3x threshold so if you are able to max out each month the full $7,500 then your overall reward rate is 2.87, but if you don’t max out the $7,500, your overall rewards rate will drop to far less than 3%.

A few quick examples would be

• If you spend $4,000 a month then your overall rewards rate is 2.6%
• If you spend $2,000 a month then your overall rewards rate is 2.5%

Refer a friend and earn extra rewards

You earn 4-10 points on all purchases for 30 days for each friend you refer. X1 will randomly choose how many additional points you get. As per X1, at least 85% of participants will receive a multiplier of 4x points; at least 5% of participants will receive a multiplier of 5x points; and at least 2% of participants will receive a multiplier of 10x points.

How can the points be redeemed?

Rewards can be redeemed to erase charges of eligible merchants. Eligible merchants include Amazon, Apple, Delta, Airbnb, and over 100 other merchants. Each point is worth 1 cent towards these charges.

You can also choose to redeem your rewards as a statement credit but only for a very poor value of 0.7 cents per point. 

X1 benefits

Benefits include the ability to create virtual cards, lower interest rates, instant notifications on refunds, and attach receipts to purchases.

The X1 Card is a Visa Signature Card so benefits also include the standard Visa signature benefits, including auto rental insurance, cell phone protection, return protection, extended warranty protection, and more.

So is it a dream come true card?

If you don’t have good credit then I believe this is a solid card for you. 

But if you have good credit then this can be a great card if you spend more than $1,000 a month up until $7,500. You will be earning 3% back on the purchases from $1,001 – $7,500.

Just keep in mind that the rewards can only be redeemed for 0.7 cents as cashback. To gain a 1 cent per point value you will need to use the rewards to erase eligible purchases at only select merchants. The merchants include some popular ones including Amazon, BestBuy, and more. But just make sure you shop enough at these merchants to be able to redeem your cashback at a decent value. 

You can check out other 2% cashback credit cards here.