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5 Credit Cards to Explore When Building Credit With a Low Score
Top Picks for Low Score
Explore credit card options that fit different credit situations, financial goals, and everyday spending needs.
A Better Look at 5 Credit Cards for Building Credit
Credit-building cards can vary significantly in how they work and what they cost. Some ask for a refundable deposit, while others do not, and differences in fees, rewards, credit limits and approval standards can be substantial. Here is what helps distinguish each option.
Destiny Mastercard®
If putting down a deposit is something you would rather avoid, the Destiny Mastercard takes the unsecured route. It is designed for people who are still building credit or trying to recover from past credit problems, and it reports account activity every month to Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. The Bank of Missouri issues the card, while Concora Credit handles servicing. One detail worth watching: the credit limit and overall account costs are not identical for everyone, so the offer you receive should be reviewed carefully before you apply.
Credit One Bank Platinum Visa® for Rebuilding Credit
This Credit One Bank card puts a little more emphasis on everyday use than many credit-building products. Eligible gas, grocery and select recurring-service purchases earn 1% cash back, while accounts are reviewed from time to time for possible credit line increases. Before formally applying, consumers can also see whether they pre-qualify. The trade-off is the annual fee, which means the rewards are only part of the equation—the full cost of keeping the card should matter just as much.
OpenSky® Secured Visa®
OpenSky approaches credit building from a more straightforward angle. Instead of checking your credit, the Secured Visa asks for a refundable deposit starting at $200, and that amount generally sets your credit limit. You can choose a larger deposit for a higher limit, up to $3,000 under the card’s current terms. Issued by Capital Bank, N.A., it may appeal to people who like knowing exactly how their starting credit line is determined and want more control over the amount available to spend.
FIT™ Platinum Mastercard®
The FIT Mastercard may catch the eye of someone who wants to rebuild credit without putting down a security deposit. Issued by The Bank of Missouri and serviced by Continental Finance, it currently comes with an advertised $400 starting credit limit and reports monthly payment activity to all three major credit bureaus. It is marketed to applicants with less-than-perfect credit, but there is an important cost to factor in: approved applicants must pay a processing fee before the account can be activated.
Avant® Cashback Rewards Mastercard®
The Avant® Cashback Rewards Mastercard® adds a simple rewards angle to the credit-building conversation. It is an unsecured card that can earn 1% cash back on eligible purchases, while Avant reports account activity each month to Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. The card is issued by WebBank, and the exact credit limit, annual fee and APR can differ from one offer to another. That makes the fine print especially important: the value of the card depends heavily on the terms you actually receive.
How Credit Cards Can Fit Into a Credit-Rebuilding Strategy
Think of a credit card as access to a pool of money you can use, repay and use again. Unlike a traditional loan, where you receive one fixed amount, a credit card lets you spend up to your available limit and restore that available credit as you pay the balance down.
Each billing cycle, the issuer sends a statement summarizing what happened on the account, including purchases, payments, fees, the statement balance and the minimum amount due.
How you handle the card can matter beyond the monthly bill. Issuers may report account activity to Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, the three major nationwide credit bureaus. That information becomes part of your credit reports and may influence how future lenders evaluate you.
Bad Credit, Fair Credit and Limited Credit Are Not the Same Thing
A credit score tells only part of the story.
Someone with limited credit may simply be new to borrowing and have too little history for lenders to evaluate. A lower credit profile, on the other hand, may reflect missed payments, collections, high balances or other negative marks accumulated over time.
That difference can shape which card is more appropriate. A person recovering from past payment problems may be looking for something very different from someone opening one of their first credit accounts.
And one point is worth keeping in mind: a card marketed for credit rebuilding may be more accessible, but approval is still never automatic.
Secured vs. Unsecured Credit Cards
The five cards covered above fall into two main categories, and the difference between them can affect both how you qualify and how much money you need upfront.
Secured credit cards
With a secured card, you put down a refundable security deposit before using the account. In many cases, that deposit also determines how much credit you start with.
Take the OpenSky Secured Visa as an example. A $200 deposit gives you a $200 credit line. That money is not there to cover your purchases, though—you still receive a bill and need to pay what you charge to the card.
For people who have trouble qualifying for a traditional unsecured card, this setup can offer a more predictable way to start building credit.
Unsecured credit cards
Unsecured cards skip the upfront deposit entirely.
Destiny and FIT, for instance, do not require collateral. That convenience can come with a trade-off, however. Cards designed for consumers with weaker credit may include annual fees, monthly charges, processing fees or other costs.
So while avoiding a deposit may sound cheaper, that is not always how the numbers work out.
How to Apply for a Credit Card Online
Most credit card applications are fairly quick. The real challenge is choosing where to apply rather than clicking every attractive button you come across.
A typical application may request:
Your full legal name and date of birth.
A U.S. residential address.
Your Social Security number or another accepted form of identification.
Employment and income details.
Information about housing costs or other monthly financial obligations.
Once submitted, the issuer reviews your information using its own approval standards.
Destiny, for example, says applicants must pass credit qualification and identity-verification requirements, while factors such as income and existing debt may also be considered.
Credit Card Pre Approval: What Does It Really Mean?
Pre approval or prequalification can give you an early indication of whether you may fit an issuer's requirements before completing a full application.
It is not a promise that you will be approved.
A soft credit inquiry does not affect your credit score. A hard inquiry, which commonly occurs after a formal credit application, may affect it.
That is why prequalification tools can be useful when available. They may help you narrow the field before submitting multiple full applications.
What to Check Before Choosing a Card
A familiar logo and a large “Apply Now” button tell you almost nothing about whether a card is a good fit.
The details that matter are usually buried in the cardholder agreement. Compare:
Annual fee
Monthly maintenance charges
Processing or program fees
Purchase APR
Cash advance fees
Foreign transaction fees
Starting credit limit
Security deposit requirements
Credit bureau reporting
Rewards
Eligibility rules
Opportunities for future credit limit increases
The CFPB points out that the cardholder agreement contains key information such as fees, APR and other account conditions.
A no-annual-fee card can certainly be attractive, especially if your main goal is simply establishing credit history. But “no annual fee” does not automatically make one card better than another.
What matters is the total cost and whether the card's features are genuinely useful to you.
What About APR and Carrying a Balance?
APR deserves much more attention when you expect to carry a balance from one month to the next.
Cash back and other rewards can look appealing, but earning a small percentage back while paying substantial interest usually defeats the purpose.
That is why someone rebuilding credit may be better off worrying less about finding the richest rewards program and more about one basic question:
“Can I afford to use this card without creating more debt?”
If the answer is yes, then rewards become worth considering.
Statement Balance vs. Minimum Payment
These three figures often cause confusion:
Current balance: everything you owe right now, including newer transactions.
Statement balance: the amount you owed when your latest billing cycle ended.
Minimum payment: the smallest payment required by the due date.
Paying the minimum on time can keep the account from becoming delinquent, but it may also leave much of your balance generating interest.
When your budget allows, paying the full statement balance by the due date is generally the stronger goal.
Building Credit: Two Habits Matter a Lot
Credit building tends to be less dramatic than the internet makes it sound. Two simple habits do most of the work.
1. Pay on time
Payment history plays an important role in credit scoring. Repeatedly paying by the due date can help establish a more positive record over time.
2. Don't max out the card
Credit utilization looks at how much of your revolving credit you are using compared with what is available.
Imagine a card with a $400 limit. If your reported balance is $380, you are using nearly all of it. That presents a very different picture from keeping the balance much lower.
The CFPB recommends maintaining low balances relative to your available credit and notes that experts often suggest keeping utilization below 30%. Carrying debt or paying interest is not required to build credit.
What About 0% Credit Card Offers?
Searches for 0% interest cards, zero APR offers and balance-transfer deals usually come from consumers trying to reduce interest for a limited period.
These products are generally different from the credit-building cards discussed here.
A balance transfer card may offer a temporary low or 0% promotional APR on transferred debt. The catch is that the promotional period ends eventually, and a transfer fee may still apply.
Before using a balance transfer strategy, make sure you understand:
How long the promotional rate lasts
The cost of the transfer fee
The APR that applies afterward
Whether new purchases receive the same offer
How quickly you can realistically repay the debt
A 0% purchase offer is different. It may apply only to new purchases rather than balances moved from another card.
The two promotions should not be treated as interchangeable.
Credit Card Debt Consolidation Is a Different Decision
If several credit card balances are already piling up, adding another ordinary credit-building card may not solve the real problem.
Debt consolidation is about reorganizing multiple debts into a different repayment structure.
That could mean using a balance-transfer card or taking out a consolidation loan. The term credit card refinancing is also sometimes used more broadly for replacing expensive revolving debt with financing that follows different repayment terms.
The CFPB warns that consolidation does not erase debt. A lower monthly payment can simply stretch repayment over a longer period, and some companies advertising debt relief may actually be offering debt-settlement services that carry significant risks.
The better comparison is total repayment cost—not just how small the new monthly payment looks.
Rewards, Travel and Foreign Transaction Fees
Once you are paying balances in full and moving beyond basic credit rebuilding, secondary features can start to matter more.
Someone who travels internationally, for example, may care about having no foreign transaction fee. Someone who rarely leaves the United States may barely notice that benefit.
Cash back works the same way. Rewards only add value when they are worth more than what the card costs you.
The Avant Cashback Rewards Mastercard fits into this conversation because certain offers provide unlimited cash back on qualifying purchases. Credit One also offers cash back in selected eligible spending categories.
Still, rewards should come after the fundamentals. A card that is expensive or difficult to manage does not suddenly become a good deal because it earns cash back.
Don't Confuse Personal Credit Cards With Business Payment Tools
Credit-related searches can sometimes send you in a completely different direction.
Credit card processing, for example, usually refers to how businesses accept card payments from customers. A credit card machine for a small business is a payment-processing tool—not a personal credit card designed to help the owner build or rebuild credit.
The same goes for searches involving Bank of America cards, Home Depot cards or other issuer- and retailer-specific products.
Those cards may serve entirely different purposes and should be evaluated on their own terms rather than grouped together with rebuilding-credit products.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Rebuilding Credit
A new credit card can help you create a stronger payment history, but it can just as easily become another expensive obligation if used poorly.
Watch out for mistakes such as:
Applying for several cards within a short period.
Choosing a card based only on the starting limit.
Overlooking annual, monthly or processing fees.
Using nearly all of a small credit limit.
Missing payment due dates.
Carrying debt because you think it improves your credit score.
Chasing rewards while paying high interest.
Treating prequalification as guaranteed approval.
Taking a cash advance without checking the fees.
Applying without reading the latest terms.
The CFPB specifically recommends applying only for credit you actually need, paying bills on time and keeping balances comfortably below your available credit.
Which Type of Credit Card Could Make More Sense?
There is no card that automatically fits everyone.
OpenSky may appeal to someone who is comfortable putting down a refundable deposit in exchange for a simple, predictable secured-card structure.
Destiny or FIT may suit someone who prefers not to provide collateral, although the fees attached to those cards deserve careful attention.
Credit One adds rewards on selected everyday purchases while still targeting consumers rebuilding credit.
Avant's Cashback Rewards Mastercard may appeal to someone looking for an unsecured card with straightforward cash-back potential, as long as the fees, APR and other terms in the individual offer make sense.
The most useful question is not, “Which card approves everybody?”
No legitimate issuer can guarantee that.
A better checklist is:
Does this card match my current credit situation?
Are the fees affordable for me?
Is the starting limit practical?
Does the issuer report activity to the credit bureaus?
Can I pay on time every month?
Am I opening the account because it serves a real purpose?
A credit card can support the process of building credit, but simply having one does not improve your credit history.
The results depend on how you use it.
