Credit Cards Cash-Back Credit Cards

NASCAR American Express Credit Card Review

overall rating
1.7

An unsecured credit card with 1% cash back on all purchases

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Unsecured cards with rewards are a rare find for those rebuilding credit. The NASCAR American Express Credit Card offers 1% cash back on all purchases. The card comes with an annual fee of $39 for those with average credit, or no annual fee for those with excellent credit. It also offers the opportunity to qualify for credit line increases over time.

NASCAR® American Express® Card

Overall Rating
1.7
NASCAR® American Express® Card
On Credit One Bank's Secured Site.
Recommended Credit
Score Our recommended ranges are based off of the FICO® Score 8 credit-scoring model. Credit score is one of the many factors lenders review in considering your application.
350 579
580 669
670 739
740 799
800 850
Good - Excellent
Regular APR (%) 24.24% variable
Annual Fee $39 - $99
Rewards Earning Rate Earn 1% cash back rewards on eligible gas and automotive purchases, earn 2% cash back rewards on purchases from the NASCAR Shop.
how this card stacks up
When compared among all rewards cards in our database:
Rewards
Benefits
Low Fees
Security/Customer Experience
Low Interest
worst best

The NASCAR® American Express® Card is not one of our top rated cash back credit cards. You can review our list of the best cash back credit cards for what we think are better options.

Full Review of NASCAR American Express Credit Card

Pros
  • No security deposit

  • Cash back on all purchases

Cons
  • Low credit limit

  • Poor customer satisfaction ranking

Pros Explained

  • No security deposit: If you have poor credit or no credit, you typically have to start with a secured credit card and put down hundreds of dollars as a security deposit to serve as your credit line. While the NASCAR American Express Credit Card is available to people rebuilding their credit, it doesn’t require a security deposit. You may qualify for this card even if you have a history of bad credit.
  • Cash back on all purchases: Most cards for people rebuilding credit don’t offer rewards. But with the NASCAR American Express Credit Card, you’ll earn 1% cash back on all net purchases. You'll receive an automatic rewards credit on each statement that has at least one net purchase.
  • No annual fee for excellent credit: If you have excellent credit, the NASCAR American Express Credit Card has no annual fee. For those with average credit, the annual fee is $39.

Cons Explained

  • High fees: The NASCAR American Express Credit Card has high fees typical of cards designed for people with poor credit. Some fees to keep in mind include authorized user fees, cash advance fees, foreign transaction fees, and annual fees (for those with average credit).
  • Low credit limit: The NASCAR American Express Credit Card has a very low minimum credit limit. Depending on your credit, you could be approved for a credit line of just $300 and your annual fee will further reduce this credit limit. Considering AAA estimates the average car repair costs $500 to $600, this card may not cover a single emergency, leaving you scrambling to find other financing. Another option if you have poor credit is the Blaze Mastercard. Depending on your creditworthiness, you could get approved for a credit limit between $350 and $1,500. But if you make your payments on time, you could qualify for a credit line increase in as little as six months. 
  • Poor customer satisfaction ranking: Credit One Bank isn’t known for its customer service. J.D. Power ranked Credit One Bank last out of 11 national credit card issuers in its 2020 U.S. Credit Card Customer Satisfaction Study. Why is it so bad? One reason may be limited customer service.

Who This Card Is Best For

The NASCAR American Express Credit Card is best for someone with poor credit who is looking to rebuild their credit history and doesn’t want a secured card. With this unsecured card, you don’t need to put down a security deposit. Plus, you’ll earn 1% cash back on all purchases. 

Rewards Earning Details

With the NASCAR American Express Credit Card, you’ll earn 1% cash back on every purchase. 

Credit One Bank also occasionally partners with retailers and merchants. When you make a qualifying purchase from one of those partners with this card, you could earn up to 10% cash back. 

There’s no limit to how much you can earn in cash back rewards. 

Rewards Redemption Details

Credit One Bank only offers one redemption method: You’re automatically issued a statement credit for every month you’ve made a qualifying purchase. This statement credit reduces your credit card balance but doesn’t count as a payment on your account. You’re still responsible for making the minimum required payment by the statement due date. 

How to Maximize Your Rewards

The NASCAR American Express Credit Card offers a flat 1% cash back on all purchases.

To show you how your rewards can add up, consider that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the average consumer spends $2,148 per year on gasoline and motor oil per year. If you use your card to just buy gas throughout the year, you’d earn 1% cash back, giving you $21.48 in rewards. 

Standard Benefits

You get free online access to your Experian credit score and there is a mobile app for constant access.

Cardholder Experience

As mentioned above, Credit One Bank has a poor reputation for customer service. Credit One Bank only has an automated phone line available around the clock; you can’t contact them online through secure email or chat. If you want to speak to a live representative, you have to call 1-877-825-3242.

If you have questions or issues outside of those hours or prefer not to use the phone, you may find Credit One Bank’s customer service experience to be frustrating. If that’s a major problem for you, look for another card issuer like Discover. Discover is consistently ranked as one of the best card issuers in regard to customer service. And while the Discover it Secured card does require a security deposit, it has no annual fee and offers rewards. 

Security Features

The NASCAR American Express Credit Card has standard security features that are typical for credit cards, including zero liability protection and fraud alerts. 

Fees to Watch Out For

Some fees to keep in mind include annual fees and foreign transaction fees. The annual fee is $0 only for those with excellent credit, otherwise it's $39. If you’re approved for a credit limit of $300 and your annual fee is $39, your credit limit will initially be reduced to $261. If you use this card outside of the United States, be prepared for foreign transaction fees. You’ll pay $1 or 3% of the transaction, whichever is greater. 

There are other unsecured credit cards available that charge fewer fees and offer rewards. For example, the Petal 2 card has no annual fee or foreign transaction fees. Plus, you can earn up to 1.5% cash back on purchases. 

Final Verdict

If you’re a NASCAR fan and need to build your credit after making mistakes in the past, the NASCAR American Express Credit Card can give you access to an unsecured credit card and allow you to earn rewards on every purchase. However, it can charges costly fees, has a low minimum credit limit, and offers few benefits.

You can shop around for other unsecured cards or apply for a highly-ranked secured credit card and put down a security deposit.

Next Steps
For NASCAR® American Express® Card
on Credit One Bank's Secured Site.
Compare This Card
See how this card compares to similar cards
CURRENT CARD
NASCAR® American Express® Card
overall rating
1.7
Recommended Credit
Score Our recommended ranges are based off of the FICO® Score 8 credit-scoring model. Credit score is one of the many factors lenders review in considering your application.
350 579
580 669
670 739
740 799
800 850
Good - Excellent
Regular APR (%) 24.24% variable
Annual Fee $39 - $99
Rewards Earning Rate Earn 1% cash back rewards on eligible gas and automotive purchases, earn 2% cash back rewards on purchases from the NASCAR Shop.
Investopedia Credit Card Rating Methodology
Investopedia is committed to delivering the best credit card recommendations in the industry. We’ll tell you when a card is good, we’ll tell you when a card is bad, and we’ll only call a card the best if we would recommend it to our friends or family members.
Overall Star Rating Explained
To rate credit cards we objectively assess, score and weight nearly 100 individual card features which roll up into five major feature sets: fees, interest, rewards, benefits and security/customer service. Here’s how we weighted those feature sets for the overall star rating of a card:
We have applied our proprietary rating methodology to every generally-accepted credit card in the U.S. domestic market to allow consumers to make fully informed choices. It’s important to note that for our overall score that we make a number of assumptions about how you would be using your credit card:
  1. While we make no assumption as to whether balances are carried on a given card we do assign varying weights to all credit cards’ introductory APR (if present) in addition to the regular, long term purchase and balance transfer interest rates.
  2. We utilize BLS (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) income and average category spending data to calculate annual earnings rates for rewards cards that offer cash back, points or miles rewards at a set rate on all spending or in consideration of bonus rewards for certain spending categories, like gasoline, groceries, restaurants or travel.
  3. We determine the maximum points value of rewards cards by dividing the points, cash back or miles required to exchange for the retail price of the most valuable redemption option (for example, in the case of a card that offers a domestic roundtrip airline ticket as a redemption option vs. another redemption option of lesser value that requires the same amount of points or miles to acquire, we would base the rewards value on the airline ticket).
  • Cards that are selected best overall in their respective categories generally feature most if not all of the following attributes:
  • Low or Reasonable Fees Credit card fees come in many forms but the primary ones involve those for annual card membership and balance transfer. There are a myriad of reward and non-reward card options that charge no annual fee but for the many that do assess an annual fee the cost is often justified by their lucrative ongoing rewards and initial signup bonuses. Balance transfer fees are occasionally waived during introductory periods with certain cards, a factor which is heavily and positively weighted in our scoring model for cards offering this benefit. When charged, balance transfer fees range between 3% - 5%, which we grade accordingly. Other standard fees can generally be avoided, such as those for paying late or taking cash advances but we rate those relative to other cards in the market for reference, though with less weight assigned
  • Competitive Interest Many cards offer 0% introductory APR on purchases and balance transfers for varying lengths and then revert to a permanent or regular APR (based on a variable rate tied to the prime rate) that applies to any balances not paid in full. We rate both introductory APR percentage and length (in months) along with the midpoint of the variable regular APR interest rate range.
  • Valuable Rewards Credit card reward programs can be based on cash back, points or travel rewards (which can be generic or travel partner-specific, as with airline and hotel co-brand card programs). For cards that offer rewards we determine the value per dollar spent along with average redemption values and assign more favorable ratings to cards that offer superior consumer value. We also assign value to sign-up bonus offers and their initial spending requirements, when present.
  • Excellent Benefits Credit card benefits cover a range of offerings like concierge service, TSA Pre-check, auto rental coverage, travel accident insurance, lost luggage assistance and free credit scores. We rate cards on the number and level of over a dozen standard and upscale benefits and provide extra weighting emphasis for those travel-related perks that apply to premium travel cards when present.
  • Solid Security/Customer Service Security and customer service features like lost or stolen card replacement, being able to lock one’s card from an issuer app and 24 hour customer support are becoming more standard across the card market and we provide a significant amount of weighting to features in this area.
  • You can also read the full version of our methodology for a more in-depth look at how we assess cards and award them the best in various categories.