X1 Visa® from Coastal Community Bank Review

X1 Visa® credit card Review

X1 Visa® credit card has top-tier rewards and can hardly find competitors on the market. No annual fee makes the X1 offer even more beneficial. A stylish-looking stainless steel credit card can replace most of your credit cards thanks to the generous rewards system and extra points earning possibilities. What makes it different is that you can apply for the credit card even with a poor credit score. The main thing X1 pays attention to is your current and predictable future income. So, you can not only get a great number of perks and benefits for a $0 annual fee but also build or rebuild your credit score if you have a solid income. However, you have to decide whether the redemption ways are appropriate for you.

X1 Visa®: pros and cons

X1 Visa®: rewards system in a nutshell

The credit card offers a very generous rewards system. You will get 2X points for every purchase you make. The offer doesn’t look so attractive yet? The thing is that when you spend $15,000 with your credit card in a year - you will earn 3X points on all purchases for this entire year. It doesn’t mean that only after $15,000 in purchases you will start getting increased rewards. No, you will earn an extra point on all purchases made before crossing the $15,000 line. It looks like a small sign-up bonus of $150 and partly covers the sign-up bonus absence.

However, there is still a chance to get 4X, 5X, and even 10X points for the entire month. To have it, you need to invite a friend using a referral code that you can find in your X1 banking app. Right after your friend is approved for the X1 Visa® credit card - you will get 4 points per dollar for up to 30 days. In some cases (randomly) - you will get a 5X or 10X points booster for the month on all purchases. Your friend will also be able to earn increased points for a month with your in-app invitation. This promotion won’t last forever but as of November 2022, the X1 credit card in-app invite codes are beneficially working both for you and the person you invite.

Boosts can be applied not only by inviting friends. You can activate points boosts in the X1 mobile app on your everyday spending. Shopping in the X1 App will also bring you up to 10X points at leading online stores.

At first sight, the X1 Visa® credit card is excellent in terms of rewards. It is hard to find a credit card with a $0 annual fee and such mindblowing rewards. But there is one huge drawback - redemption. The only thing you can redeem your points for 1 penny a piece is to spend them with X1 partner brands. There is still a chance of redeeming cash back habitually as a statement credit but the value is less than 1 cent per point - only 0.7 cents. But you still can’t have a check or a direct deposit.

Despite the fact you may find it very uncomfortable to spend the cash back only at particular stores and merchants, these are world-known brands. Here is a list of these brands:

• Tech: Apple, Beats, Sony, Playstation, etc.
• Fitness and clothing: Adidas, Cannondale, Lululemon, Nike, etc.
• Retail: Supreme, Amazon, IKEA, Asos, Uniqlo, etc.
• Travel: Airbnb, Uber, United, American Airlines, Delta, etc.

The full list of partners can be found on the X1 official website.

Who can benefit from getting the X1 Visa® credit card?

If you are spending a lot of money at the X1 partner stores and have a solid income - the X1 Visa® credit card is one of the best options for you. With its ability to earn an astonishing 3X points for every dollar spent (after $15,000 made in purchases) - the credit card has almost no competitors. In addition, you can get extra points boosts, bonus points for the invited friends, and increased points for purchases made directly from the X1 mobile app. And all these you can get with a $0 annual fee and a reasonable purchase APR of 20.24% - 29.99% based on creditworthiness.

Redemption is the main issue here. Redeeming points as a statement credit is only 0.7 cents per point. And you can’t receive a check or a direct deposit. So, if you prefer to have more flexibility - the X1 credit card is not for you. You can consider cash back credit cards like Citi Double Cash Card. Here, you can earn 2% cash back on all purchases and redeem it using a statement credit, a direct deposit, or a check.

Apart from this, the X1 credit card can improve and complement your credit card collection thanks to the numerous perks, high rewards, and lack of fees. If you are a traveler - you can redeem your points with one of the 6 airline companies, and book a place on Airbnb with 0% foreign transaction fees. If you want to update the furniture - you can spend your rewards at IKEA, for example. It goes the same with any rewards partner on their list. So despite you being limited with X1 partners, the redemption ways are still pretty varied.

What are the X1 Visa® credit card requirements?

X1 Visa® credit card doesn’t require you to have a good or excellent credit score. The approval is based on your current and potential future income. So, if your credit history is not excellent but you have a solid income - you can be approved for the X1 credit card. X1 company says that this approach can also let the customer get a higher credit limit and lower credit utilization which, in its turn, can help to increase the credit score.

It is hard to say what the exact income requirements are (the X1 company doesn’t reveal them) but you can apply online and see if you are going to be approved without impacting your credit score.

Keep in mind that accepting an X1 credit card after your application is approved will result in a hard credit pull, which may impact your credit score.

Are there any other benefits?

The number of extra benefits can impress even an avid credit cardholder, especially considering its $0 annual fee. Here, you can find all the additional perks that the X1 credit card offers:

• Cell Phone Protection. If you pay your phone bill with the X1 Visa® credit card - your device will be covered from damage or theft.
• Trip interruption or cancellation reimbursement. You can reimburse the non-refundable cost of your trip if it is interrupted or canceled (if you pay for it with your X1 credit card).
• Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver. If you rent a car with the X1 credit card and get into an accident - you will be waived from the collision damage compensation and receive coverage.
• Extended warranty, return and zero liability protection. X1 Visa® credit card also offers free protections if you pay with it: extended warranty protection (double your eligible U.S. manufacturer’s warranty of up to 1 additional year), return protection (return a purchase even if the retailer doesn't allow returns), and $0 fraud liability (you are not responsible for unauthorized purchases).
• Concierge Service. Visa Signature provides a Concierge Service for its customers. With its help, you can book a hotel, make a restaurant reservation, or get other types of personal assistance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Travel and Emergency Assistance. That is an extremely useful feature for those who are traveling a lot. If any kind of travel or medical issues appear - you can always call an X1 center to get help (like ticket replacement, transportation assistance, or medical assistance).
• Innovative X1 banking app. The sleek designed mobile application provides numerous helpful features and functions like: notifications about your purchases, points redemption, shopping with increased rewards, money transfers, balance check, daily points boost activation, and many other perks.
• Start using the X1 credit card before it’s arrived. You can start using your X1 Visa® credit card as soon as your application will be approved as a digital card.
• Up to 5 cardholders accepted. You can add up to 5 authorized users for free without age restrictions. Thus, you can easily check family expenses and even your minor children can start building their credit and develop spending habits under your supervision. You can set personal limits for each cardholder to avoid overspending.
• Made from stainless steel. The high-tech credit card differs from the majority of credit cards not only with its smooth design but also with weight and tactile sensation. The credit card is made from stainless steel and weighs 17g (usually, plastic credit cards are only 5g).
• Create disposable card numbers to keep it even safer. The X1 company found an interesting solution to keep your credit card information and money safe - you can create disposable card numbers for any type of payment or subscription which makes it harder for scammers to steal your main credit card information.

Conclusion

We think that the X1 Visa® credit card is an excellent credit card for almost anyone. You don’t have to care about the categories you spend money on. Every purchase earns 2X points per dollar spent (after $15,000 is made in purchases, the rate is going up to 3X points per dollar spent). Invite friends, activate boosts, and make purchases through the X1 mobile app to get even more points.

An enormous number of X1 credit card perks like cell phone protection, $0 fraud liability, concierge service, trip interruption or cancellation reimbursement, and others are looking great considering its $0 annual fee. The only thing you need to determine yourself is if the X1 redemption ways are appropriate for you or not. If you are fine with spending your rewards only with select merchants - nothing can stop you from applying for the X1 Visa® credit card. If you would like to have more freedom and flexibility - consider other options among cash back credit cards.