Cred.ai Unicorn Card review

Who is Credit.ai best for?

Given the fintech’s flashy, pro-tech marketing copy and its mobile-only approach, Cred.ai is heavily targeted toward younger consumers who prefer mobile banking.

There’s no hard credit pull to apply for the Cred.ai Unicorn Card, so it’s best for someone looking to either get their first credit card or use a secured card to build a credit history. It’s also a good fit for someone who wants to avoid credit card debt.

The Unicorn Card doesn’t charge any interest if you have autopay on, because your owed balance is paid off each month.

How the Cred.ai Unicorn Card works

Cred.ai is a fintech company, and the Visa Unicorn Card is issued by Wilmington Savings Fund Society (WSFS), so your deposited money is insured up to $250,000. The Unicorn Card is a cross between a credit-debit card and a secured credit card.

The Unicorn Card requires a linked bank account. You’ll either need to link an external bank account to the Cred.ai app through Plaid or link it to your Cred.ai deposit account, which has no fees or opening deposit requirements. If you’re approved for the Unicorn Card, you’ll have a credit limit of $500, regardless of how much money is in your deposit account. So, if you only have $20 of spending money in your account, a minimum of $500 is what’s reported to the credit bureaus to help with your credit utilization ratio.

With autopay enabled, every time you use the Unicorn Card, Cred.ai will automatically pay down your owed balance so that you won’t pay any interest charges or fees. The payments are reported to all three credit bureaus, so you can build a credit history and use the card without worrying about accumulating high-interest debt. With the autopay feature, you can only spend up to what you have in your linked deposit account so the autopayments can clear.

If you don’t enable autopay and don’t pay off your balance by the end of the billing cycle, these APR charges will apply: 17.76% purchase APR and 24.99% cash advance APR.

What we like about Cred.ai

No interest charges, annual fees or hard credit checks, and its many modern features all make this fintech’s card a very tempting offer for people who want to build credit without debt.

Light on fees

The Unicorn Card has no annual fee or foreign transaction fees. There are also no extra fees for cash advances at an ATM. And if you open a Cred.ai deposit account to link to the Unicorn Card, that account also has no monthly fees, opening deposit or balance requirements.

Use the card at over 55,000 free in-network ATMs nationwide, which you can find using the ATM finder in the Cred.ai app.

0% APR with autopay

The Unicorn Card has an APR, but with the “Cred.ai Guaranty,” you won’t pay any interest. This guarantee stipulates that Cred.ai can never charge you interest or fees on your owed balance if you have autopay enabled — it’s very clear in the card’s agreement.

Autopay enabled means there’s no balance to carry into the next billing cycle, which is how you would normally get charged APR on any other credit card. Cred.ai takes it a step further by stipulating that if your automated payment fails for any reason and you’re charged interest or fees as a result, Cred.ai will pay those fees on your behalf.

You get a free metal card

The Unicorn Card is a metal card you get for free. Cred.ai claims it weighs more than “other fancy black cards,” and it has a geometric unicorn printed on its front. It’s a Visa, so you’re covered under the Visa Zero Liability Policy, which means you’re not liable for unauthorized fraudulent charges.

Many security features

It took work to decipher all of Cred.ai’s marketing copy, but after a quick read, we found the features straightforward and solid.

• Flux Capacitor — Has multiple facets, but unfortunately, it doesn’t enable time travel. Flux Capacitor lets you get direct deposit up to two days early, anticipates spending power based on past deposits and budgets for future charges.
• Friend & Foe List — Craft a custom list of “approved” and “disapproved” merchants. Disapproved merchants are blocked from transactions.
• Check Please — One we haven’t seen before, Check Please is for restaurant transactions. It lets you pre-authorize your payment to make sure it isn’t mistakenly declined due to fraud suspicions.
• Stealth Card — Create a temporary virtual card for what Cred.ai calls “sketch transactions,” like shopping online, signing up for free trials or when you’re just worried about security shopping at an unfamiliar merchant.
• High Security Mode — This feature can help eliminate fraud attempts. You can create small self-expiring authorization windows on your physical card or stealth card. Once that window is closed, the card is locked.

Where it falls short

You can only manage your Cred.ai deposit account and Unicorn Card with the Cred.ai app. And as an online fintech, you won’t have access to physical branches.

If you decide to get the Cred.ai deposit account to link to the Unicorn Card, that deposit account doesn’t accept cash or check deposits.

Also, while Cred.ai states it doesn’t perform a hard credit check, it likely does a soft credit pull to determine your eligibility for the Unicorn Card. Customers point out that Cred.ai takes a look at your credit score during the application process, and some users on Reddit reported they were denied due to a poor credit rating. We reviewed the card’s agreements and confirmed that eligibility can be based on your creditworthiness. So, while there’s no hard credit check that can harm your credit score, your creditworthiness can play a factor in approval.

No upgrade options or rewards

While a lot of secured credit cards don’t offer cashback rewards, what most of them do have is some type of upgrade offering down the line with responsible repayments. For example, the Discover It Secured card offers the ability to upgrade to an unsecured credit line and earn your deposit back after seven months. With the Unicorn Card, there’s currently no way to upgrade to an unsecured credit line with a higher credit limit or get a better card with rewards.

Cred.ai Unicorn Card fees and access

Customer experience

Feedback for Cred.ai is mostly on the positive side. Cred.ai launched in 2016 and holds a decent B rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). It doesn’t have many complaints, most of which describe issues with getting refunds from fraudulent charges or accounts getting locked due to fraudulent activity, but overall, nothing egregious.

There is only one review for Cred.ai on Trustpilot, and it’s a happy customer. The review says they’ve used the app and card for years with no issues. On Reddit, users are claiming the Unicorn Card helped with their credit history by improving their credit utilization ratio and payment history. Others talked about the simple application process, and many called out the slick metal card. A lot of users praise the Stealth Card for its immediate usage and ability to add it to mobile wallets.

Cred.ai has 4.7 stars on the Apple App Store and 3.3 stars on Google Play, with thousands of ratings altogether. The actual reviews are mixed, with some users calling out issues with fraud and getting refunds for unauthorized charges, but happy customers state they’re glad to have a credit card that helps them avoid debt and build credit history. A few warn future users that you need a Plaid-compatible deposit account to link to the app. Android users were reporting a buggy app late last year, but Cred.ai responded to bug complaints, stating they released an update in January to address the issues.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Unicorn Card legit?

The Cred.ai Unicorn Card is a legitimate credit card issued by WSFS Bank, Member FDIC. It’s not a true secured credit card that requires a security deposit, but it requires a linked deposit account or the Cred.ai deposit account. The Unicorn Card has a 17.76% purchase APR and a 24.99% cash advance APR, but you won’t pay interest if you’re under the Cred.ai Guaranty.

Can I withdraw cash with the Unicorn Card?

Yes, in a sense. The Unicorn Card is a credit card, so withdrawing cash from an ATM with it is considered a credit card cash advance, which means you’ll have to repay the amount you withdrew.