Can I get a credit card with bad credit?

Yes. Secured cards and unsecured cards designed for lower scores are built for exactly this situation and have higher approval odds than standard cards. No card can promise guaranteed approval, but many applicants with bad or limited credit are approved, particularly for secured cards backed by a deposit.

Are secured or unsecured cards better for bad credit?

Both can rebuild your credit because both report to the bureaus. Secured cards usually have higher approval odds and lower fees but require a refundable deposit. Unsecured cards skip the deposit but tend to charge higher rates and more fees. Choose based on whether you can spare a deposit and which option has the lower total cost.

How fast will a card improve my credit score?

There is no fixed timeline, but consistent on-time payments and low balances typically produce visible improvement over several months. The older your negative marks and the steadier your new positive history, the more your score climbs. Rebuilding rewards patience and consistency rather than any single action.

Why do these cards have such high interest rates?

Higher rates offset the greater risk lenders take on applicants with damaged credit. The rate only costs you money if you carry a balance, though. If you charge small amounts and pay your statement in full each month, you avoid interest entirely and the high APR becomes irrelevant to your cost.

Will applying hurt my credit score?

A formal application triggers a hard inquiry that can lower your score by a small amount temporarily. To limit the impact, use issuers' prequalification tools, which use a soft inquiry that does not affect your score, and apply only for cards where you have a realistic chance of approval rather than several at once.

What fees should make me walk away from a card?

Be cautious of large upfront processing or program fees charged before the account opens, ongoing monthly maintenance fees, and steep annual fees with no real benefit. When several of these stack together, they can consume much of your credit limit. Compare the total first-year cost and favor cards that keep it low.

Bad credit

Credit Cards for Bad Credit: How to Get Approved and Rebuild

If your score is low, there are cards designed for you — secured and starter cards that report to the credit bureaus so on-time use rebuilds your history over time.

Updated for 2026 · Page 1 of 4

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A low credit score can make applying for a credit card feel like a wall, but it is really a starting line. Cards designed for people with bad or limited credit exist precisely because millions of Americans are in the process of rebuilding, recovering from a rough financial stretch, or establishing credit for the first time. Used correctly, one of these cards becomes a tool that steadily raises your score rather than a trap that keeps it low.

The most important thing to understand up front is that no legitimate card can promise you guaranteed approval. Any advertisement that uses that language should make you cautious. What responsible cards for bad credit actually offer is higher approval odds for applicants with damaged or thin credit files, along with a straightforward path to rebuilding. The difference in wording matters, because it separates honest products from ones that prey on people who feel they have no options.

This guide explains how these cards work, the difference between secured and unsecured options, what actually rebuilds your score, and the fees you should refuse to pay. The goal is to help you choose a card that moves your credit forward while costing you as little as possible along the way.

What Counts as Bad Credit

Credit scores generally range from the low 300s to 850, and lenders group them into broad tiers. Scores toward the lower end of the range are usually described as poor or bad, and they signal to lenders that past payments were missed, balances ran high, or the credit file is too thin to judge. A low score is not a character judgment; it is a snapshot of risk based on the data in your credit reports at a single moment in time.

Because that snapshot changes as your behavior changes, bad credit is temporary by nature. The reason cards for bad credit exist is that issuers can manage their risk in other ways, such as requiring a deposit or charging higher rates, which lets them approve applicants a standard card would decline. Your job is to use one of these cards to replace the old negative data with a fresh record of on-time payments and low balances.

Secured Versus Unsecured Cards

The two main paths for someone with bad credit are secured cards and unsecured cards built for lower scores. A secured card requires a refundable security deposit that usually sets your credit limit; the deposit lowers the issuer's risk, which is why these cards have the highest approval odds and often the most reasonable terms. You get the deposit back when you close the account in good standing or graduate to an unsecured card.

An unsecured card for bad credit requires no deposit, which sounds more convenient, but issuers offset their risk with higher interest rates and, frequently, more fees. Both types can rebuild your credit equally well because they report to the same credit bureaus. The real decision usually comes down to whether you can spare a deposit and how much you are willing to pay in fees, a comparison covered in more detail below.

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Advertiser disclosure: general information only, not financial advice. Confirm current terms on the issuer's official site before applying.