Credit Card Options for People with Bad Credit
Contributed by Deb Powers
Credit Card Options for People with Bad Credit
For people with a spotty credit history or bad credit, getting approved for a standard credit card can be difficult, if not impossible. There are a number of credit card options that are aimed specifically at people who have bad credit, and are trying to repair or rebuild it. There are also, unfortunately, a lot of schemes to take advantage of the desperation to get a credit card when no one else will issue one. How do you tell which options are valid ones, and which are just taking advantage of a bad situation?
Catalog clubs disguised as ' credit cards ' for people with bad credit
Some supposed credit cards offer to help people rebuild a bad credit history by making purchases from their catalogs. Products in the catalog are often overpriced, and you can't use the 'credit card' anywhere else. While they will make reports to credit companies with your balance and payment history, which will help to repair bad credit, it can be a very expensive way to acquire goods and clear up your credit history.
Prepaid ' credit cards ' to help people repair bad credit
Technically, prepaid ' credit cards ' are not credit cards, though they may bear a Visa or MasterCard logo. They're more like a debit card, without a bank account. The purchaser 'loads' the card with a deposit, usually with a minimum deposit of $20, and a maximum limit of $500 to $5000. When you use the credit card to make a purchase, the amount of the purchase is deducted from your balance. When the balance reaches $0, you can't use the card until it is reloaded.
Generally, you can reload the card at any time, though there is usually an upper limit to the amount of cash that the card can carry at any one time.
