Secured credit cards help build credit, with some caveats

Amazon is partnering with Synchrony Financial to issue secured credit cards for Prime members who don’t have sufficient credit. The idea is that those people would put some money down as collateral to get a credit card that gives them some Amazon rewards benefits and ultimately, with the use of that card, they would be able to “graduate” to unsecured credit cards — most likely with Amazon still. Research shows secured credit cards can help consumers build credit and raise their scores, but they can come with a higher cost due to annual fees and higher annual percentage rates.

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