Credit One Bank

History

The bank was founded on July 30, 1984, as First National Bank of Marin in San Rafael, California. It received the designation of "credit card bank" in June 1996. In November 1998, the bank moved from San Rafael to Las Vegas, Nevada. At that time, the bank was owned by Kjell Qvale.

In 2005, the bank was acquired by Sherman Financial Group, a diversified investment services company founded by Ben Navarro which runs one of the largest buyers of consumer debt in the United States. On February 1, 2006, FNBM changed its name to Credit One Bank, N.A. In that same year, the bank continued its rebrand by changing its logo to have an arcing "swoosh" above the name of the bank. Capital One underwent a similar rebrand in 2008, displaying a "nearly identical" logo to Credit One, leading to confusion among consumers. Marketing by Capital One led to an increase in customers for both itself and Credit One, some of whom were unaware that the two were different companies.

The bank moved its headquarters to a new facility in 2018{{cite news | archive-date = December 9, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191209223636/https://www.enr.com/articles/45784-officeretailmixed-use-best-project-credit-one-bank-corporate-headquarters-and-campus | url-status = live | url-access = limited

Sponsorships

Credit One Bank has participated in local community initiatives, such as partnering with the Public Education Foundation to create a scholarship program for low to moderate income families in Nevada.

In the sports sector, the bank is the official credit card of NASCAR in the United States{{Cite press release | archive-date = December 9, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191209223527/https://www.espn.com/jayski/cup/2017/story/_/id/21599048/credit-one-bank-becomes-primary-sponsor-larson-42-chevy | url-status = live | archive-date = December 9, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191209223827/https://www.milb.com/las-vegas/news/credit-one-bank--the-howard-hughes-corporation174-announce-new-las-vegas-aviators174-multi-year-founding-level-partnership/c-301920258 | url-status = live | archive-date = December 9, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191209223530/https://www.nhl.com/goldenknights/news/credit-one-bank-announces-partnership-with-vegas-golden-knights/c-290559022 | url-status = live

Reception

In 2020, The Ascent (a service of The Motley Fool) gave a one star review to the Credit One Platinum credit card, praising the bank for making the card available to customers with poor credit and for offering cash-back incentives, while criticizing the card's complicated application process and high fees.{{cite news | access-date = June 7, 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20241119161142/https://www.fool.com/money/credit-cards/credit-one-bank/ | archive-date= November 19, 2024

As of a January 2022 performance review, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency rated Credit One Bank as "Outstanding" in its Community Reinvestment Act performance evaluation."

As of September 2024, the Better Business Bureau's (BBB) profile for Credit One Bank noted its accreditation by the BBB with a rating of A+, but the company held a customer review score of 1.1 out of 5 stars.{{Cite web | access-date = June 3, 2022 | archive-date = April 15, 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220415010145/https://www.bbb.org/us/nv/las-vegas/profile/credit-cards-and-plans/credit-one-bank-1086-48541 | url-status = live

In 2025, Forbes Advisor gave a five star review to the Credit One Wander card, praising its rewards on purchases and accessibility to borrowers with average credit scores.

Controversy

In 2001, to settle an investigation by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the bank repaid $4 million to customers who cancelled their cards after realizing that the credit limit that they received, after paying annual fees and security deposits, was too low to make any purchases. In 2004, the bank paid $10 million for allegedly encouraging people to charge security deposits to new cards, leaving them almost no available credit. In both cases, the bank did not admit wrongdoing.

In 2015, a lawsuit was filed after a customer received 465 robocalls from the bank, in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, for debt collection of $657 in debt. In 2020, plaintiff was awarded $232,000, or $500 per call.{{cite news

In January 2019, Riverside County, California district attorney Mike Hestrin attorney began an investigation of a third-party vendor of Credit One for making harassing debt collection calls in violation of California law. The bank sued the district attorney, claiming that this matter was in the jurisdiction of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

A lawsuit filed in 2020 alleged that Credit One Bank was in violation of the Truth in Lending Act, following a practice of frequently failing to post customer payments to their accounts within the required and or expected time frame unless the customer pays an "express payment" fee. In 2021, the case was referred to arbitration.

In June 2022, a bankruptcy judge found Credit One Bank liable to roughly 288,000 credit card customers for attempting to collect debts after such debts were discharged via bankruptcies.{{cite news | url-access = subscription

In 2023, the bank was sued for reporting disputed information to credit reporting agencies. Summary judgement was granted in favor of the bank, which was appealed.{{Cite press release

References

References

1. (April 14, 2025). "Credit One Bank Review". Bankrate.
2. (February 16, 2022). "Credit One vs Capital One: What are the differences?". [[Bankrate]].
3. (November 12, 1998). "Calif. Bank Moves Operations to Nevada To Capitalize on Its Card". [[American Banker]].
4. KAUR, ISHMEET. (January 19, 2024). "Is Emma Navarro's Father a Billionaire? All You Need to Know About the American Philanthropist Who Owns a Tennis Tournament". EssentiallySports.
5. (June 26, 2023). "Eleven Students Receive ‘One For The Community Scholarship’ From Credit One Bank and Public Education Foundation".
6. (April 13, 2020). "McDonald's, Credit One Bank, Clover terminate sponsorship of Kyle Larson".
7. (February 13, 2025). "Credit One Bank, Maxx Crosby donate $100k to support YMCA and foundation initiatives". News 3 Las Vegas.
8. (August 20, 2018). "Credit One Bank Unveils Official Vegas Golden Knights Credit Card".
9. "CRA Performance Evaluations: May 2022". Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
10. (August 27, 2025). "Credit One Bank Wander Card Review 2025". Forbes.
11. "UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH".
12. "Waldon et al. v. Credit One Bank, N.A. - 7:20-cv-10003".
13. "Waldon v. Credit One Bank 7:20-cv-10003-CS S.D.N.Y.".
14. (January 16, 2024). "Credit One Bank Wants Class Nixed In Consumer Bankruptcy". [[Law360]].