The advantage of using secured credit cards to rebuild credit over the unsecured card alternative is that these cards come with much more favorable terms than the alternative. Unsecured offers usually come with very unfavorable terms for the consumer. A number of companies extract userous fees and charges from consumers for these and the interest rates are also generally inordinately high.
We have commented on the above in our article on Credit Cards for Poor Credit. Unsecured subprime cards are generally a bad idea while secured cards are the conservative and recommended option for gradually rebuilding your credit history and establishing a track record of responsible behavior that is reported to credit bureaus regularly.
The relative inconvenience of this option is that the available amounts you can charge on the cards is limited to a percentage of the amount deposited into the card account. Usually, this is 100% of the deposit amount -which acts as collateral with the issuing company- but occassionally, it can be slightly higher. It is necessary to be clear in these instances that one is using secured credit cards to rebuild credit history, not to rack up unsecured debt with significant charges to plastic.
It must be pointed out that another highly promoted niche in the subprime market, prepaid cards, are of no use at all for credit rebuilding. Use of these are not reported to credit bureaus and they -as well- usually come with high fees and charges, relative to the amounts paid into the accounts. We have commented more on this in our article secured vs prepaid cards.
Below, we feature a number offers from reputable major issuers. Compare interest rates and annual fees to find the best offer for your needs.
New Millennium Bank Secured Platinum Visa® or MasterCard®
Intro APR
N/A
Intro Period
N/A
Regular APR
19.5%*
Annual Fee
$59
Reports to ALL 3 Bureaus
No Credit Check
Be Approved Regardless of Credit History
Special High Introductory Savings Rate
Bonus $3,000 credit line with My Computer Club
*Terms and conditions apply
New Millennium Bank Secured Gold Visa® or MasterCard®
Intro APR
N/A
Intro Period
N/A
Regular APR
19.5%*
Annual Fee
$59
Approved regardless of credit history
Credit limits up to $10,000*
Reports to all 3 bureaus
Get cash at over 740,000 ATMs
No credit check
*Terms and conditions apply
New Millennium Bank Secured Black Diamond Visa® or MasterCard®
Intro APR
N/A
Intro Period
N/A
Regular APR
19.5%*
Annual Fee
$59
Approved regardless of credit history
Credit limits up to $10,000*
Reports to all 3 bureaus
Get cash at over 740,000 ATMs
No credit check
*Terms and conditions apply
Platinum Zero(TM) Secured Visa® Credit Card from Applied Bank®
Intro APR
N/A
Intro Period
N/A
Regular APR
0.00%*
Monthly Maintenance Fee
$9.95 ($119.40 Annually)
ZERO - 0% FIXED APR on Purchases - No Intro Rates!
ZERO - 0% Rate Won’t Change - Even If You’re Late!
ZERO Application Fees
ZERO Worries - FREE Personal ID Theft Protection
ZERO Delays - Timely CREDIT Bureau Reporting!
Next Millennium Visa®
Intro APR
N/A
Intro Period
N/A
Regular APR
19.5%*
Annual Fee
$59
No credit check*
Approved regardless of credit history
Secured credit limit of up to $5000.00
Get cash at over 740,000 ATMs
Accepted wherever MasterCard® is accepted
*Minimum $200 deposit required. Your credit limit will be equal to the amount of your deposit.
