Question: I’ve been looking for any past blog posts on secured credit cards. Do you have a list or a web site where I can select some secured CC options? Thank you, Miguel, San Jose, CA
Answer: We’ve written a fair amount on secured credit cards. Here’s a recent and representative post.
First, a brief definition of secured credit cards: A secured credit card is more expensive than a traditional, unsecured credit card. With the typical secured credit card you open up a special savings account.
Your credit limit is equal to or a bit less than the amount on deposit. (It’s secured or backed by the savings deposit. An unsecured credit card is backed by a promise to pay the bill.) You’ll make some interest off the security deposit, but much in today’s low interest rate environment. It’s critical to shop around with secured credit cards since fees tend to be high and terms vary a lot.
I would check out bankrate.com. It lists the terms of a number of secured credit cards.
Another resource for you to check is Lowcards.com. I clicked on the section for those with “fair credit.” But it also has a list of cards and an analysis of them for those with “bad credit” and “no-credit/new credit.”
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