Capital One Platinum

28.99% variable, quoted as a single rate rather than a range. Every other card in this catalog publishes a spread and assigns you a position in it based on your credit profile; this one doesn't, because it's designed for applicants who would land at the top of any range anyway.

Stating it as one number is more honest than a range whose floor you'd never see. It's also the highest single rate here — above PNC Core's 30.24% ceiling only in the sense that PNC's is a ceiling most applicants won't hit, while this is what everyone pays.

The practical implication is unambiguous: this card must be paid in full every month. At 28.99% a carried balance grows fast enough that the card stops being a credit-building tool and becomes the problem it was meant to help you out of.

There are no rewards, and that's correct for the purpose. A credit-building card exists to generate a record of on-time payments on a small revolving line, and rewards would only encourage spending on the exact card where spending is riskiest.

Our data records that it holds J.D. Power's number one ranking for customer satisfaction in its category, which is worth something in a segment where the alternatives include secured cards requiring a deposit and subprime cards charging annual fees on top of high rates. This one charges no annual fee, which in its category is a meaningful advantage.

Used properly — small recurring charge, autopay in full, left open for years — it does the job it exists for and the 28.99% never applies.

28.99% is quoted as a single figure rather than a band. Almost every other card in this catalog publishes a range and decides where you land after you apply; here the number is the number. It is high - only PNC Core's 30.24% ceiling is higher - but you know it before you apply rather than after.

For a card aimed at building credit, that predictability is worth something real. The people this card is for are the people most likely to be quoted the top of somebody else's range, and a 28.99% you can see beats an 18.49% to 28.49% that turns out to mean 28.49%.

There is no rewards programme, so nothing here offsets interest. At 28.99% a balance carried for a year costs nearly a third of itself, and no amount of careful use makes that arithmetic work.

Used as intended - small purchases, cleared in full every month, on time - the APR never applies and the card does its job of putting a payment history on your file. The moment a balance starts rolling, this becomes the most expensive way to borrow in this catalog.

28.99% is quoted as a single figure rather than a band. Almost every other card in this catalog publishes a range and decides where you land after you apply; here the number is the number. It is high - only PNC Core's 30.24% ceiling is higher - but you know it before you apply rather than after.

For a card aimed at building credit, that predictability is worth something real. The people this card is for are the people most likely to be quoted the top of somebody else's range, and a 28.99% you can see beats an 18.49% to 28.49% that turns out to mean 28.49%.

There is no rewards programme, so nothing here offsets interest. At 28.99% a balance carried for a year costs nearly a third of itself, and no amount of careful use makes that arithmetic work.

Used as intended - small purchases, cleared in full every month, on time - the APR never applies and the card does its job of putting a payment history on your file. The moment a balance starts rolling, this becomes the most expensive way to borrow in this catalog.