SavorOne Rewards for Students Review

Capital One began its start as a company in 1994 with a focus on building credit cards for the typical American household. After establishing a foothold in the credit card space, Capital One set its sights on growing its business to include other popular financial products like banking, auto loans and investing.

Capital One has been growing and hasn't looked back since. In 2021, the company added the power-house Venture X credit card to its credit card line up to compete with the most luxurious credit cards on the market. They also focused on improving card options for the new-to-credit market with two new student reward credit cards. 

With Capital One's eye towards building great customer experiences, and the heavy focus on technology (they've scooped up companies like WikiBuy, Paribus and Lola to integrate travel and shopping tools into their digital experience), we're not surprised to see that Capital One has been named the best bank for customer satisfaction by J.D. Power in 2021. We're excited to see what else Capital One brings to the table in the years to come. 

SavorOne Student takes a slot on our Best Credit Cards for Students list, and for good reason. The card is stacked with benefits and has only one major con worth noting. 

SavorOne Rewards for Students Rewards

The SavorOne for Students offers an unlimited 3% cash back on dining, entertainment, popular streaming services and at grocery stores. All other purchases earn 1% back. The uncapped spending categories are relevant to, well, anyone that has to eat. The ongoing 1% rate is also industry standard, so the additional 2% in eligible categories is a welcome perk. 

SavorOne Rewards for Students Fees

We will lead with the negative here.  The card has an unusually high interest rate. With an APR over 25%, you'd be hard-pressed to find a mainstream student card with a higher APR. For those that expect to carry a balance, you'd be better served finding a card that forgoes the high rewards earning rates in exchange for a lower APR. If you're carrying a balance, any windfall from earning rewards will quickly be erased by interest charges. 

Now, on to the good. There is no annual fee on this card, which is common among student cards. We would only recommend paying an annual fee on your first credit card if you're in a bind because of past credit mistakes and having a hard time finding a product to help you build credit.  If you're considering studying abroad, or just taking a trip with family or friends over break, the lack of a foreign transaction fee is a plus. This fee typically tacks on an additional 3% of your purchase price. The other fees levied by the card are all inline with industry standards.

SavorOne Rewards for Students Additional Benefits 

If you're looking for additional perks outside of being able to swipe your card and earn rewards, Capital One does not disappoint.  In addition to nice-to-have benefits like extended warranty coverage for eligible purchases, 24 hour travel assistance services and the ability to lock your card from the mobile app, SavorOne cardholders can also make use of Capital One shopping, which helps you find coupons and low prices on items you're shopping for, added security when shopping online thanks to virtual card numbers from Eno and peace of mind with real time purchase notifications.

Capital One recommends having fair credit when applying for this card, rather than specifying a specific credit range. Fair credit is generally a 600 or more, but also covers those that are new to credit. Remember that there are different scoring models for credit scores. This means that a score you might see in a credit score tracking app you use may be displaying a Vantage Score, while Capital One may use your FICO score. Different scoring models may vary in how they weight the variables in your report. 

Don't feel lost, though. Capital One does provide some guidance on how it defines fair credit. It covers those with limited credit history - meaning those that have less than 3 years of experience with credit. It also means that your credit history should be free of late payments or defaults. If your credit history has some delinquencies, a secured credit card might be worth considering.

Can I get prequalified for the SavorOne Rewards for Students?

There is an option on Capital One's website to check to see if you are prequalified for a product. We encourage students to use this feature before submitting an application, as it helps protect your credit profile against applications that are ultimately declined.  A preapproval process allows potential applicants to see what cards might be a good fit for their credit profile using a soft credit inquiry. A hard credit inquiry is only done if you decide to submit an application from there. 

Capital One's student credit cards are all pretty solid options, as long as you are not planning to carry a balance. The SavorOne Student card is our second favorite of the three options, losing out to the Quicksilver Student Rewards card's easy rewards structure. With that being said, if you plan to spend heavily in the 3% categories, this is a good option. 

As we mentioned, if you're still trying to figure out your abilities to budget and not charge more than you can pay in full each month, we'd recommend considering a card that will help you build good credit habits without the risk of accruing a ton of interest charges if you have a slip up.