Petal Reviews 92

They have a no annual fee card and now they are charging $8 per month. Close my account as soon as they sent me the notification.

I get a notice out of nowhere that states they are downgrading my Petal 2 card to a "Petal 1 Rise" card that charges a monthly fee of $8. Ridiculous! Then the email says "you can opt out by visiting your account now." Turns out, the way to opt out is to close your account entirely.
In the FAQ is says to refer to the Change in Terms document for why your account is being downgraded, but the document gives no such reason as far as I can tell.
I've been a loyal Petal customer for several years now. I got the card so I could build and maintain good credit. I have NEVER gotten near my credit limit or made a late payment. And now that I'm forced to close my account my credit score will go down.
People should avoid Petal at all costs.

Petal sent me an email saying how lucky I am to have their card, just so lucky I now have to pay 8 dollars a month for the right to use their card, and a higher than normal credit rate. This results in a $96.00 annual fee to utilize the card when all consumers had previously signed up for it because it didn't require an annual fee.

This is company greed and I strongly recommend to stay away from this company and they should go out of business for this greed.

Petal is a financial technology provider with consumer credit cards issued by WebBank. Petal has violated UDAAP and implemented an unfair practice that hurts its consumers en-masse. Petal, which markets itself to subprime borrowers with poor, limited, and no credit, recently implemented an $8.00 monthly membership fee. This results in a $96.00 annual fee to utilize the card when all consumers had previously signed up for it because it didn't require an annual fee. The only alternative to "opt out" of this fee is to close your Petal account. Closure of your account would result in the card being ineligible for use and for you to continue to make your monthly payments until your balance is paid in full.

UDAAP has three specific criteria for an implemented act/practice to be considered "unfair."

(1) It causes or is likely to cause substantial injury to consumers;
(2) The injury is not reasonably avoidable by consumers; and
(3) The injury is not outweighed by countervailing benefits to consumers or to competition.

This new act by Petal meets these requirements.

It causes or is likely to cause substantial injury to consumers;
As mentioned, Petal targets subprime borrowers and those with no, limited, or poor credit. The APRs charged by Petal are already extremely high because of this, ranging from 24.84%-34.24% -- one of the highest APRs in the industry. This change will cause account holders to either pay a $98 annual fee or lower their available credit utilization (by closing their account), which hurts their credit score. Petal targets users who struggle with traditional credit and approvals -- therefore when their account is closed and their available credit is lowered, it will hurt their credit scores, and they will be even less likely to be offered credit lines from other lenders. Additionally, the customer will need to continue making payments on a loan with an extremely high-interest rate without the benefit of the payments revolving.

The injury is not reasonably avoidable by consumers;
Current Petal users who would have otherwise not paid a membership fee cannot reasonably avoid monetary financial harm. They do not have the option to opt for a no-fee card alternative offered by Petal. They have one of two choices. 1) accept a $98 annual fee for the lifetime of our account (when it was marketed that the card is a no fees card) or 2) close the account, which will negatively impact credit scores and leave them paying on an extremely high-interest card while limiting the benefits and value of the tradeline they continue to pay for.

The injury is not outweighed by countervailing benefits to consumers or to competition.
Other credit cards with no annual fees offer the same or better benefits like 1-3% cash back on all purchases (not just on specific merchants), lower APR rates (Petal has some of the industry's highest), credit score monitoring, tap to pay, and mobile wallet. These features are already available on widely popular cards like Wells Fargo Active Cash, Citi Double Cash, and other financial technology companies targeting subprime borrowers like X1. Petal customers have no countervailing benefits for this $96 annual fee, and the card itself is not competitive in the market.

Because of the above-listed points, I strongly urge anyone affected by this to file a CFPB complaint. It is a cash grab by a company to make money off subprime borrowers. They either pay $96 a year for the life of their tradeline (a tradeline they marketed as a no-fee card) or continue to pay astronomically high interest, all while removing the benefits of their card service. It's a horrible customer experience and it is illegal under UDAAP.

Stay away from this company! There horrible!! Absolutely horrible!

I loved this card, but they obviously didn't like me!

Petal just sent me an email saying (see below) how lucky I am to have their card, just so lucky I now have to pay 8 dollars a month for the right to use their card, and a higher than normal credit rate.

Didn't pay that before. what a rip-off. Never late on payments. Oh, they used brilliant legal terminology, for example, "This is an "optional" change. [that will possibly negatively impact your credit score [didn't say that]."
So you can give up this older account on your credit, again a significant factor on your credit score, or give back the card. Go jump off a bridge!
I know what I'm going to do. COMPLAIN to every consumer agency, Congressperson, Senator, regulatory agency, etc. I can find and when that doesn't work, I'm going to post on every single freaking review site I can find to help people from becoming victims of predatory lending.
I SPECIFICALLY only apply for credit cards that have no fee unless they offer some significant points or something. Petal/YOU GET TO PAY OUR HIGH-interest rate. Will strategically end this relationship and complain to relevant governmental bodies.

Worst card I own.
Don't bother applying. No benefits of having this card.
They claim that this helps you build your credit but it doesn't.

On 12/28/2022, I made a $397 purchase.

I discovered the company had misinformed me, so I requested my account be closed and my credit card refunded. The company told me it could take up to 30 - 60 days.

On 01/03/2023, I called Petal and disputed the charge. On 01/04/23, I received a provisional credit for $397.

On 01/05/2023, the insurance company refunded me $397.

On 02/02/23, Petal debited back the credit of $397.

On 02/08/23, my card was charged by 00USA (a different company) for $397.

On 02/16/23, I called Petal to inform them that I didn't authorize this charge and wasn't aware of it.

I spoke with Denise, an account manager, who agreed that the debit of $397 that was charged to my account on 02/02/23 should've offset the credit from the insurance company. However, I was denied the ability to dispute this charge.
I informed Denise that this outstanding balance affected my credit rating and was subject to interest. Denise advised me that once their "internal team" researched the charge, they would take care of it if necessary. However, this is affecting my creditworthiness and utilization in the interim.

On 2/24/23, I went on the Petal app to pay for a recurring charge of $30. Unfortunately, I accidentally paid the disputed amount of $397 instead. I called Petal and spoke to Denise again. She stated that she was still waiting to hear back from their “internal investigation” department.

On 2/27/23, I called and spoke with Chris, an account manager. He informed me that the “internal team” were still investigating the charge, and he had no answers.

On 3/2/23, I called and spoke with Jarrett, an account manager. He informed me that the “internal team” were still investigating the charge, and he had no answers.

This is a $5k credit card. If it didn’t impact my credit, I would close it.

It’s now been 14 days that I’ve been waiting for a response from Petal on why I can’t dispute an unfamiliar and unauthorized charge on my account.
This has been a nightmare.

From other reviews, this appears to be a scam, and Petal is stealing card information from members, charging their cards, and not allowing them to dispute the charges.

***UPDATE*** 3/17/23
The CPFB informed me that Petal asked for an additional 90 days to review this. The CPFB is useless. I filed a complaint with Webbank & the FDIC. The FDIC regulates Petal & Webbank.
As of today, their "internal team" still hasn't provided an answer to customer service regarding this charge, nor have I been provided a provisional credit. Petal Card is a fraud. Beware. I'm contacting an attorney to discuss a class action lawsuit.

I have had an inquiry from petal card in each of the past two months. I have not applied for any credit from this company. I have tried to call them so they stop but only get voice mail.
I do not want this to be reflected inn my credit history.

Don't know what all the bad reviews are about. It's been flawless for me for almost a year :)

For the first 3 months everything seemed great. Then I was alerted about "fraudulent activity" on my card, but there were no purchases made on my card that I did not recognize. So I emailed customer service and told them, but got what must've been an automated response telling me I'd be updated when the investigation was done. Two weeks later still no update so I emailed again, only to get the "Welcome to Petal" email as a reply, which was pretty infuriating. After I calmed down I called customer service, hoping to get some actual help. I was told he "couldn't access the account" because it was suspended. He told me I would be updated via email when the investigation was done, even though I had attempted multiple times to tell them no investigation was needed because there were, in fact, no unauthorized purchases made with my card. It has been a month since I've been able to use my card and I have still not received any updates whatsoever. I decided to look up reviews for Petal to see if others had similar issues and lo and behold the ratings are abysmal. My card is now a useless piece of plastic. It's a huge shame because this was my first ever credit card and now my credit score, which was actually good, is going to drop because I'm going to have to close my account and find another company. Horrible customer service, if you can even call it that. Do not even bother with Petal.

I have a Petal 1 credit card. I had two transactions on my billing statement that were fraudulent transactions. I contacted Petal Credit Card Inc. They investigated and said it was not fraudulent transactions made on my account. I sent them a police report showing my phone was lost, and I had other issues with apps and fraudulent transactions orders. They denied my fraudulent dispute on two transactions. I requested this by email after receiving their denial letter. I noticed both transactions happened with a food app delivery company I never used because I am homeless, but I only received mail at that address. Petal credit card sent me the documents from that food app delivery company showing me an email address I never saw before that was used to make fraudulent transactions and other information was not mine. I requested a denial appeal and sent the police report and new questioning the information the food app delivery company documents. Patel's credit card denied it again. I did all I could do to work with Patel Credit Card, but they made me feel like I was guilty of fraudulent transactions from the beginning to the end and how they treated me through the process. They did give me temporary credit for the two amounts of their fraudulent transactions, but I never was able to use it; they had it on hold. I finally closed my account immediately because if fraudulent transactions happen again, I will be responsible for paying it back like I’m now making monthly payments. I strongly do not recommend this card to anyone. Many better credit cards out there to help build good credit. As a member of the American Consumer Council, if I can rate them a “0,” no stars I would have.

I lost both of my jobs due to the covid pandemic back when... I attended college for a year and a half with no income. I just recently returned to work and am currently getting caught up on all my credit cards besides PETAL CARD VISA. I have been making payments to get caught up, but they continue to charge me a late fee without paying the minimum due of 500 dollars. They offer NO payment arrangements of any kind and continue to charge a late fee. How does someone get caught up to their minimum payment if payments are being made but continuing to charge a late fee of 40$? I have contacted PETAL CARD collections and CUSTOMER SERVICE. They state there is no help until I pay the minimum which keeps getting higher each month even when I am attempting to make the payments. They refused to help me set up a hardship payment arrangement and will not stop charging me late fees. Is this even right for the consumer who wants to pay their bill?

They require Plaid to approve you. No thanks. 2FA does not work with Plaid, not going to do it.

not the best at all. would not recommend. signed up for this had an exceptional payment history and then when the pandemic hit they offered no kind of help or pay plans for those affected by the disaster. randomly closed the account instead and have largely refused all inquiries about payment arrangements since that time. would not advise at all if you take your credit seriously customer service is abhorrent and often does not listen at all.

Liars and thieves. I was preapproved. Having good credit I assumed it wasn't fir the minimum.
Hard pull later, yep minimum ampunt.
BUT WAIT! Link your bank account for 100 more credit. 500 is bs so I say since y'all lied and I'm basically stuck, ok!
Today they said they are a lying fraudulent company and the 100 credit isn't there but my card is on thr way.
I called.thek and said cancel their fraudulent card and am about to contact the DTC and attorney generals office

Petal, and their customer service is crap. Stay away from them.

I just got this card and I love it so far hope to take it to higher limit’s lol credit limit’s. Ok so today make the 6 month for me they ask me if I want a credit limit increase well the increase is only 50.00 dollars that is it and ever other credit credit cards I have given you like 350 to 450 what the hell petal you are a joke I do not want this joke any more apt is 29.9 way to hight

Underhanded. Unlike literally every other card I've had, they intentionally wait 3 months to reward you so that they can collect as much interest as possible--and now that the 3rd month's statement has arrived... NO REWARD! I will have to call the subpar Customer Service tomorrow. It's not a seamless experience, be prepared for trouble. Customer Service only available weekdays, website is not user-friendly. Do not recommend on any level. Seriously considering closing account asap.