Best Rated Credit Cards for Bad Credit in 2024
Having bad credit can make it challenging to get approved for a new credit card. Luckily, there are credit cards specifically designed for consumers looking to rebuild their credit and improve their financial situation.
Who Has Credit Card & Bad Credit? Here Are Bad Credit Examples
According to Experian, a bad credit score is 579 or lower on the FICO scale. Poor credit scores can make it difficult for financial institutions and credit unions to offer you competitive interest rates on loans, mortgages, and credit cards. You can order free annual reports from each of the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and Transunion. Some bad credit examples include:
Defaulting on loans, mortgages, and credit cards
Too many late payments
Filing for bankruptcy
Mortgage foreclosure
Repossession of a financed property like a car, furniture, etc.
Best Way to Start Building Credit
Let’s go over the best way to start building credit besides the credit card recommendations below.
1) Connect to Your Debit Card - move money from your Spending Account (Debit Cards) into the Credit Builder secured account to set your own credit limit. The following cards are connected to your debit card. Once you make a purchase through the card, it will automatically take the payment from your debit card and pay the balance. You also earn points for each purchase.
2) Are you Renting - RentReporters improves your credit by reporting your on-time rent payment history to all three credit bureaus. Rent has to be paid regardless, this is a perfect way to benefit from that.
3) If you have a lot of monthly subscriptions? If you have a lot of monthly subscriptions then Experian could be beneficial. An Experian boost will connect your bank account to detect monthly payments and start reporting them to your Experian account.
4) No credit Age? Credit age is one thing we can’t control if you are just starting to build your credit. The only way around this is by having a trusted person add you as an authorized user to their OLDEST credit card. This person does not necessarily need to have good credit, but the account they are adding you on must not have any late payments or have a high balance. This account will then report on your credit report as if you’ve had that account for as long as the main account holder has. If this account holder ever misses a payment, then it will also affect your score, at that point you can request them to remove you as an authorized user.
5) Apply for any of the credit cards listed below…
Best Credit Cards for Bad Credit
The best credit cards for little to no credit cards. These credit cards are connected to your bank account and will lend you a specific amount then pay it back while creating a credit history.
Best After Bankruptcy Credit Cards
You are less likely to qualify for credit cards or loans after bankruptcy because it significantly damages your credit scores. However, there are credit cards designed to help you gain credit after bankruptcy. In contrast to using prepaid and debit cards, credit cards allow you to establish a positive credit history again after bankruptcy. Among the best after bankruptcy credit cards are:
Best Unsecured Credit Cards with Bad Credit
An unsecured credit card lets you borrow money against the credit limit provided by the issuer. Credit cards of this type can help you improve your credit score and effectively rebuild your bad credit history. Some of the best-unsecured credit cards for bad credit include:
Best Guaranteed Approval Credit Cards
Certainty of approval is the unique feature that attracts people towards credit cards. This benefit allows you to access a credit line without any pre-qualification. This makes it an excellent card for rebuilding your bad credit track record. I recommend you try to get a SECURE card with your current bank. The best-guaranteed approval credit cards include:
Secure card at your local bank.
Best Bad Credit No Annual Fee Credit Cards
Many credit card providers require an annual payment to continue using their cards. Fortunately, that isn’t the case for all credit cards. Here are the best credit cards for those with bad credit that also offer no annual fee:
Credit Cards I Do NOT Recommend
These are some credit cards my clients and I have had bad experiences with.
First Progress Platinum Select Mastercard® Secured Credit Card
The reason being is that it’s really hard to contact this company to make a payment. Very old school and they don’t have any online platform or automatic payments.