Navy federal credit union platinum credit card limit

Navy Federal Credit Union Platinum Credit Card* vs. Citi® Double Cash Card

If you’re looking for a balance transfer card that has staying power long after a balance transfer, look to a card like the Citi® Double Cash Card. It earns 2% cash back on all purchases—1% when purchases are made and another 1% when they’re paid off.

The card has an annual fee of $0 and comes with an introductory APR offer: 0% intro APR on balance transfers for 18 months. After that, the standard variable APR will be 16.99% - 26.99%, based on creditworthiness. There is also an intro balance transfer fee of either $5 or 3% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater, completed within the first 4 months of account opening. After that, the fee will be 5% of each transfer (minimum $5).

However, you should be aware that if your credit isn’t strong, you may not be approved for the card.

Navy Federal Credit Union Platinum Credit Card* vs. U.S. Bank Visa® Platinum Card*

If you’re looking for a longer runway to pay off a big purchase or shed existing debt, the U.S. Bank Visa® Platinum Card* could be a top-notch choice. This no-annual fee card has one of the longest balance transfer offers you’ll find: 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 18 billing cycles, followed by a variable APR of 17.49% -27.49%. A balance transfer fee of either 3% or $5 applies, whichever is greater.

Beyond that extra-lengthy intro offer, the card doesn’t have much else to offer. Although it does offer supplemental cell phone protection if you pay your bill with the card, there are no rewards, welcome bonus or other lucrative perks to make this card a wallet staple beyond the introductory period.

Full Review of Navy Federal Platinum

Pros

• Low APR if you qualify

• Zero balance transfer APR for first 12 months

• Light on fees

Cons

• No guarantee of a low APR

• Not available to everyone

• You can only earn rewards on Navy Federal Deals purchases

Pros Explained

• Low APR if You Qualify: The card has a variable APR as low as 8.24%, which can save you a lot of interest if you expect to carry a balance on your card. In contrast, the average rate on cards that assess interest is 14.51%, according to Federal Reserve data for November 2021. Even at its highest point of 18%, its interest rate is lower than what you’d expect from a card that’s available to people with average credit. 
• Zero Balance Transfer APR for First 12 Months: If you transfer a balance from another credit card within 30 days of opening your account, you’ll get a 0% APR for 12 months. Many cards also offer 0%, and some have longer promotional periods. But this card can still be valuable if you want a low balance transfer APR combined with a low ongoing APR.
• Light on Fees: This card doesn’t charge annual fees, foreign transaction fees, or cash advance fees on advances received at a Navy Federal branch or ATM. Plus, other cash advances charge only $0.50 in the U.S. and $1 abroad, which is extremely low. Most cards charge at least balance transfer and cash advance fees, so if you plan to use those features, you can save money with this card. Just keep in mind that cash advances carry an APR that is 2% higher than your regular purchase APR, and they start accruing interest immediately.

Cons Explained

• No Guarantee of a Low APR: While it’s possible to get an APR in the single digits, you’ll likely need excellent credit to qualify for it (think a FICO score in the upper 700s). If your credit isn’t in near-perfect shape, you may end up with a higher rate, so keep that in mind if that’s the reason you’re considering the card.
• Not Available to Everyone: You have to be a member of the Navy Federal Credit Union to be eligible for this card. To qualify for membership, you’ll need to belong to at least one of the below groups. If you don’t meet these requirements, you’ll need to look elsewhere, such as your local credit unions, for a similar credit card. 
• Active-duty service members, reservists, veterans, retirees, and annuitants of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, or Coast Guard.
• Delayed Entry Program personnel
• Department of Defense civilians
• U.S. government employees assigned to DoD installations
• Contractors assigned to DoD installations
• Family members of one of the above
• You Can Only Earn Rewards on Navy Federal Member Deals Purchases: The card doesn’t offer rewards on everyday purchases, so consider it only if you want the low interest rate feature. You can earn up to 15% cash back on online purchases at select major retailers if you go through the credit union’s Member Deals platform, but that’s it. If you’re looking for a card with more widely accessible rewards, consider one of Navy Federal’s other credit cards or a top rewards card from a different issuer.

The Navy Federal Platinum card is primarily designed for people who want to take advantage of its low interest rate. If you tend to carry a balance from month to month or need a backup to your emergency savings, this card can be great for that.

It can also be useful for balance transfers when you first get the card. 

If you want a card for regular use, however, and typically pay your balance in full each month, it may make sense to get a credit card that offers rewards. 

Platinum Card’s Outstanding Benefits

• Cell phone protection: If you use your card to pay your monthly cell phone bill, you’ll receive up to $250 in coverage if your phone is stolen or damaged. That’s up to $250 per claim and up to $500 per year in total.

Standard Benefits

• Rental car insurance (secondary coverage)
• Travel and emergency assistance
• Identity theft detection powered by NortonLifeLock

Cardholder Experience

Navy Federal Credit Union received the highest score among midsize card issuers in the J.D. Power 2021 U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study. The credit union earned 866 points out of 1,000. The average score was 796. With the highest score, it would have been first, but J.D. Power does not officially include it in the rankings.

Navy Federal offers 24/7 customer service, as is standard for major credit card issuers. You’ll also get access to your FICO credit score, which is a valuable feature to help you monitor your credit. Some other national card issuers offer this benefit, but not all. 

Security Features

You can lock and unlock your card from the Navy Federal mobile app, which can help you prevent fraud if you lose your card or someone steals it. Other security features are standard for the industry.

Fees to Watch Out For

The Navy Federal Platinum card’s fees are lower than what you can generally expect from a credit card. It waives the cash advance fee for advances requested at one of its branches or ATMs. You also won’t pay a fee on foreign transactions. The card’s fees for late and returned payments are also relatively low, with a $20 cap.

Our Verdict

Consider the Navy Federal Platinum card only if you want to use it for its potentially low interest rate, depending on your creditworthiness. The card’s other features don’t provide a lot of value, considering that you can get them with many other credit cards. Also, there’s a very limited rewards program, which can mean leaving money on the table if you regularly pay off your monthly bill in full. 

But if you typically carry a balance or want a card for emergencies (and you’re eligible for Navy Federal Credit Union membership), it could be a solid choice.

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.

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