How to Compare Secured Credit Cards
- 1). Understand what secured credit cards are. Secure credit card is a credit card that has collateral. For instance, a $300 secured credit cards means that you put $300 and an accountant for which you are able to draw from via the credit card. The bank is not at risk sense you have pre-funded your credit card purchases.
- 2). Locate secured credit card issuers. Sites like bank rate.com and credit card.com offer listings of institutions that offer secured credit cards and no interest credit cards. If you're not satisfied with the listing the offered by such websites, contact your local bank or credit union. Not all banks and credit unions offer secured credit cards so you'll have to do a little research.
- 3). Understand fees and charges. Most secured credit cards charge an annual administrative fee. The fee varies from card issuer to card issuer. Shop around for the lowest annual fee. Some credit cards secure credit card issuers also charge an application fee. This is not common practice for all card issuers, so look around for one that does not charge an application fee.
- 4). Be wary of advertisement that charge for 'guaranteed' credit cards. Less than scrupulous companies attempt to exploit people with poor credit by charging a fee for guaranteed credit cards. In essence, they end up sending the unsuspecting card individual an application for a secured credit card. There is no need to go through such services. You can access the banking institutions directly. Don't fall prey to these unscrupulous organizations.
- 5). Confirm that the credit card issuer will report your information to the credit reporting agencies. The reason for getting a secured credit card is to build up and/or repair credit. If the issuer does not report you're good monthly payment history to the credit credit reporting agencies then you've just wasted time and energy. Before you sign up for secure credit card, make sure that the bank does report that a credit agency and that they do not report it as a secured credit card. Reporting it as a secured credit card does not do much to help your credit score.
Source...