If you’re one of the 1 in 10 Americans with no credit score, it can be hard to figure out how to build up from zero.
Having no credit can make it hard to rent a car, get a good deal on a house, or even buy a plane ticket. You may have avoided credit because you heard bad stories about people who ended up paying their cards off for an eternity.
You won’t have this problem if you continue to manage your credit as well as you’d manage any other budget. Don’t think of it as free money, but trust that you’re building for when you need a serious loan, like for your first home.
For people without a credit history, here are the top 10 credit cards for no credit or bad credit historied individuals.
1. Capital One Secured Mastercard
For rebuilding or establishing your credit without having to pay an arm and a leg up front, this is a great card. The Capital One Secured MasterCard has no annual fee and requires as low of an opening balance as $49 to get a $200 line of credit.
The key to using this card is to be responsible, never miss a payment, and you might get your deposit back. Continue paying it off on time and you’ll end up with a higher credit line in no time.
For a lot of students with no credit history, this can be a perfect card.
While the annual fee of 24.99% APR is steep, so long as you act responsibly, you won’t have any issues.
2. Indigo Platinum Mastercard
If you’ve ever filed bankruptcy, this is one card with open enough guidelines to help you reestablish your credit. Indigo Platinum Mastercard is the rare card that won’t disqualify you for a previous bankruptcy that you had.
Before you request online, you can see if you qualify through their website. Your opening fee could be $0 or as little as $99. With 23.9% APR, the rates here are slightly better than the Capital One card mentioned above.
As long as you stay on top of your monthly balance, you’ll be able to build up your credit score. Once you’ve got a strong credit score, switch to a card with some rewards. This is still one of the better credit cards for no credit individuals.
3. Credit One Bank Unsecured Platinum Visa
This is a great card for people with bad credit. It offers better APR fees than the other cards above and even comes with rewards.
It’s rare that an unsecured card will offer a rewards program, but this one gives you 1% cash back on all of your purchases. When you pay off your account balance, you’ll see the credit in your account.
After your first billing period, you can even customize your billing day. If you’re trying to get a little closer to payday, you can move it 6 days in either direction. This is the rare card that wants you to succeed financially. For some people, having bills scheduled close to payday helps pay them on time.
Prequalification won’t affect your credit score and build your score fast with one of these credit cards for no credit individuals.
4. Milestone Gold Mastercard
This Mastercard requires only a small fee to open your account and has a fairly average APR. This is another card for people with previous bankruptcy.
After they measure your creditworthiness through your pre-qualification, you could have an annual fee as low as $35. The lack of a hard inquiry will leave you without damage to your credit score.
Keep your eye on your monthly payments and you can quickly graduate to a card with better rewards after a few months.
5. Total VISA Unsecured Credit Card
If you’re worried about bad credit, this is a card to help you retrain yourself to having good credit. You’ll only be allowed $300 per month, so you don’t overspend beyond your means.
Stay using and paying off about $100 per month so that you can build your score up. This card might have a high processing fee of $89, but it’s worth it if you really need to rebuild your credit.
Once your score improves, you can move to a card with better options. Otherwise, this is one of the best credit cards for no credit or bad credit history people.
6. Discover it Secured Card
If you’re looking for one of the best credit cards for no credit or bad credit histories, this might be the one for you. It offers the perks that higher credit scores come with even if you have a spotty history.
This Discover card has 2% cash back at any restaurant and gas station, meaning you can make practical use of it from day to day. You can qualify for an additional 1% on every other purchase.
If that’s not enough, you’ll get a dollar for dollar match of any cash back you earn after your first year.
With fees that are about the same as every other card on our list, this one stands a head above the competition. So long as you stay on top of your credit card repayments, you’ll see your credit score start to climb quickly.
You’ll also see some nice rewards at the end of your first year.
7. USAA Secured Card American Express Card
If you or anyone you know has been in the military, this is the card they should have. It has a supremely low annual fee and APR as low as 10.90%. During deployments, the account shifts to a super-low 4% APR
For servicewomen and men and their families, this card can be a godsend as they wait for a service check to come in.
If you can, make as big of an initial deposit as possible. You can go as high as $5,000. This will set your credit limit.
Leaving your security deposit in will help to avoid withdrawal fees.
So long as this card is used responsibly and sparingly, there should be no problem building credit up. All of the special considerations included makes this one of the best credit cards for no credit military members and their family.
8. First Progress Platinum Elite MasterCard Secured Credit Card
This card can be opened up with a tax refund check. It includes expedited processing, making it one of the simplest credit cards for no credit people who need to get a card quickly.
They will report to the major credit agencies monthly, which will help your credit score grow rapidly.
You can be eligible for a credit line as large as $2,000 if you can deposit that much. It’s even refundable after you prove your creditworthiness. Keep paying your balance and they’ll release your deposit quickly.
9. AmaZing Launch Credit Card
This is one of the rare credit cards for no credit consumers that starts with 0% APR on purchases. Then it only goes as high as 18.24% or stays as low as 11.24%.
This card offers lots of bonuses and incentives, including cash back on purchases from a wide variety of merchants. You can even do cash transfers with this card.
If security is an issue, there is a strong fraud alert service that will text you when there’s any suspicious activity on your cards. As an added security measure, these cards also come with the option to add your photo, to ensure that no one can run off with your card.
Keep on top of your payments and be a responsible consumer and this card could quickly raise your credit score.
10. The Secured Visa(R) from Merrick Bank
This is one of those credit cards for no credit consumers who want to keep a close eye on their credit score.
After your first year, the company will continually review your card to see if you’re eligible for credit line increases. You won’t even need to increase your security deposit to see those increases. You can also get regular FICO updates.
Open your card with as much as $3,000 for a serious credit line if you’ve got a major purchase coming up. With the variety of funding options they offer, you can fund your security deposit through multiple channels.
And because it’s a Visa, you’ll be able to use it anywhere.
Stay ahead of your payments and you won’t be hit with any serious charges. After about a year, your credit score should start climbing rapidly, leaving you open to switching to another card with more reward options.
Finding Credit Cards For No Credit Consumers Is Easy
If you’re still wondering if you can find a good card for your lack of a credit history, then you didn’t read closely enough. Every financial firm on the planet seems to have an option to help people build credit for the first time.
If you’re ready to open up and account but still have questions, contact us for more tips and information.