StellarFi Smart Card Review: Cards to Build Credit History
StellarFi isn't available on Finder right now.
- Fee
- From $0 per year
- Minimum deposit to open
- $0
Our verdict
Virtual credit cards that can be secured, semi-secured or unsecured, designed to build credit history.
StellarFi offers three credit cards that are designed to build credit history: Silver, Gold and Stellarite. The annual fee ranges from $0 to $99/year, there's a points reward system, deposits on secured cards are refundable, and it reports to all three major credit bureaus. If you're just starting out in building credit history, this might be a decent option since there's no hard credit check and eligibility is primarily based on income, but experienced credit card users can look elsewhere.
Best for: People who want to build credit or need a starter credit card.
Pros
-
Annual fee starts at $0 for Silver
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No hard credit check
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Rewards for all three card options
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Reports to all three major bureaus
Cons
-
Rewards not redeemable for cash
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No physical card
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No in-person support
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$99 annual fee for Stellarite
Who is StellarFi best for?
StellarFi offers credit-building virtual credit cards, with no set credit score requirements and no hard credit check. If you’re looking to improve or start a credit history, and don’t mind a digital card to do so, then this product could be a decent fit for you. While StellarFi doesn’t have any set credit requirements, you will need a regular income to qualify, have a bank account and meet other basic KYC requirements.
If you already have a good credit score, and want robust rewards, then we wouldn’t recommend StellarFi’s cards.
Hot tip: StellarFi has completely changed its offerings
StellarFi was an app designed to help you build a credit history with its StellarFi Virtual Bill Pay Card that paid your regular expenses, and then your repayments to StellarFi were reported to two of the major credit bureaus. There was no credit check, interest charges or deposit required. It also used to cost $4.99/mo for Lite or $9.99/mo for Prime. This product model has been kicked to the side, with StellarFi officially transitioning to its Smart Card product offerings. Additionally, StellarFi now reports to all three major credit bureaus.
StellarFi Smart Card plans and cost
StellarFi has three card options. Silver is secured, Gold is semi-secured and Stellarite is fully unsecured. All cards have a fixed APR of 29.99%, ATM cash advances are not offered, and balance transfers are not supported.
| Card option | Annual fee | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Silver | $0/yr |
|
| Gold | $49/yr |
|
| Stellarite | $99/yr |
|
How StellarFi works
StellarFi offers a credit-building virtual card. Depending on what you qualify for, you could get a secured card, semi-secured card, or unsecured card.
StellarFi states your credit limit and card eligibility options are primarily determined using “cash-flow–based underwriting,” which basically means its income-based.
So for example, let’s say you apply for StellarFi and are approved for the base Silver secured card. This card doesn’t charge an annual fee, but it does require a deposit that sets your credit limit. This means that you open the card and deposit $200, your Silver card’s credit limit is $200.
When you use the StellarFi Smart Card, it works like other credit cards. You charge the card, owe a balance, and your balance isn’t charged interest if you repay your balance by your due date (which is 21 days after the statement closing date). In a nutshell, if you repay your balance each month, you won’t be charged interest like any other credit card.
After a while, with good repayment history with your StellarFi card, you may qualify to upgrade to Gold or Stellarite for better rewards and a higher credit limit.
And again, remember that these cards are all virtual — you will not get a physical card in the mail.
How StellarFi upgardes work
Like other credit card companies with credit card upgrade options, your eligibility to upgrade is usually determined by your card usage and payment history.
In other words, if you repay your owed balance on time frequently, don’t miss payments, keep your credit utilization low, and so on, you might unlock an upgrade for a higher credit limit or better rewards.
StellarFi states that if you start at Silver or Gold, it will tell you what to do in the app to earn an upgrade, which usually involves a mix of using the card responsibly and paying on time every month.
Once you reach the Stellarite tier, any deposits you made with Silver or Gold are refunded.
What we like about StellarFi
StellarFi is a legitimate company, backed by Transportation Alliance Bank, Inc. dba TAB Bank, Member FDIC.
Rewards for all three cards
All three Smart Card options earn rewards, which are “points.” StellarFi states that each time you use your card, you’ll earn points, and you can get more points with Gold and Stellarite.
Interestingly, you can use your StellarFi points to increase your credit limit — the points can be redeemed and added to your deposit amount.
Or you can use your StellarFi points to “help pay your monthly bills.”
However, we don’t see an option to redeem the points for cash, and StellarFi’s agreement states that points can expire after five years.
Reports to major credit bureaus
Not too long ago, StellarFi’s old product didn’t report to TransUnion. But now, it’s credit cards report to all three major credit bureaus.
This is ideal, since you’ll want all-around reporting when you’re trying to build credit history. Why?
Because if a lender were to generate your credit score using your TransUnion credit file, your reporting history wouldn’t have shown up using StellarFi’s old product. So whenever you’re looking for a credit-building service, check that they report to all three major bureaus.
Base card ain’t bad
If you’re brand new to credit building, or have never had a credit card before, then the StellarFi base Silver card isn’t a bad first credit card.
There’s no annual fee, and there’s no set credit score requirement. And while the APR is high (29.99%), it’s in line with other starter cards. It also earns rewards that you can redeem to pay bills or increase your credit limit, which isn’t standard, but rewards aren’t typically offered with secured cards at all.
What could be better
While we’re happy with StellarFi now reporting to all major bureaus, there are some pain points to call out.
Sneaky Trustpilot ratings
On its site, StellarFi is showing a 4.3-star rating with Trustpilot. At the time of writing, its claimed Trustpilot profile has a 3.7-star rating. Last year, we reported a 4.0-star rating with Trustpilot. Either the site is very out of date, or they are making a choice to show the old and higher star rating. Either way, meh.
Take that as you will.
Whiplash from offering changes
In just one year, StellarFi has completely changed its offerings. This isn’t really a con, since businesses are obviously allowed to change and adjust their offerings, but it’s a stark change in a short amount of time.
StellarFi used to be a unique product, with a virtual card that paid your recurring expenses to help build credit history with no APR. Now, it just offers pretty run-of-the-mill card secured and unsecured card offerings — and now charges APR.
StellarFi’s fees and access
| Type of fee | Fee details |
|---|---|
| Annual fee |
|
| Minimum deposit | No minimum deposit listed, but deposit required for Silver and Gold cards |
| Credit score | Not required |
| APR | 29.99% fixed APR |
| ATMs | Not available, virtual card |
| Foreign transaction fee | 3% |
Compare StellarFi to other services that build credit
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How we picked these
What is the Finder Score?
The Finder Score crunches over 30 credit-building cards and products from dozens of financial institutions and fintech companies. It takes into account the product's monthly fees, reporting practices, eligibility requirements, rewards programs, APR and features — this gives you a simple score out of 10. To provide a Score, Finder’s banking experts only consider credit-building cards that report to the major credit bureaus as “credit-building cards.” If a card that claims it can build credit does not have any reporting practices, it is not considered a credit-building card and isn’t scored.
How to open a StellarFi Smart Card
No credit score is required, but you’ll need a bank account, regular income, and you must verify your identity during StellarFi’s account setup.
Customer reviews and ratings
| BBB accredited | No |
|---|---|
| BBB rating | F |
| BBB customer reviews | 1 out of 5 stars, based on 10 customer reviews |
| Trustpilot score | 3.7 out of 5 stars, based on 176 customer reviews |
| Customer reviews verified as of | 19 May 2026 |
StellarFi is a relatively new app, so there isn’t much customer feedback to date. The reviews that are posted, though, are mixed.
It has an F rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB), which is the lowest rating you can get. Many report issues contacting customer service, but that isn’t uncommon among fintechs. A few state their accounts were canceled out of the blue, which harmed their credit scores.
On Trustpilot, StellarFi used to have a good rating, but it now sits in the middle of the road. Happy customers frequently praised the app for seeing a real increase in their credit scores in a short time, the ease of setup and linking bills, the educational resources and no hidden fees. However, these reviews are for its old model.
A lot of the negative reviews are from people saying they applied, but weren’t approved, and others leave very detailed reviews on their experience. One customer left a lengthy review saying that when StellarFi works, it works well, but it has some issues, like slow support responses, a lag in reporting times and issues with connecting their bank account to MX for reporting purposes.
Credit building card ratings
★★★★★ — Excellent
★★★★★ — Good
★★★★★ — Average
★★★★★ — Subpar
★★★★★ — Poor
Read the full methodology of how we rate credit building cards.
Your reviews
Bethany Finder
Banking editor
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