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Best Credit Cards of December 2024 for Limited / No Credit

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1. Compare our recommended credit card offers for limited to no credit from our partners
2. Save money on interest & earn valuable rewards
3. Immediate and secure online application

Petal® 2 “Cash Back, No Fees” Visa® Credit Card

On WebBank's secure site
Rewards Rate
Up to 1.5% cash back on eligible purchases after making 12 on-time monthly payments, 1% cash back on eligible purchases right away, 2% - 10% cash back at select merchants
Easy Approval Process
Easily see if you're pre-approved within minutes without impacting your credit score
No Fees
No late fee, international fee, annual fee, or other suprise fees
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OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card

On Capital Bank N.A.'s secure site
Build Credit
OpenSky reports to all 3 major credit bureaus monthly
Credit Line
$200-$3000 Credit Line at time of application
Regular Purchase APR
25.14% (variable)
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First Progress Platinum Prestige Mastercard® Secured Credit Card

On Synovus Bank's secure site
Establish Credit
Monthly reporting to all three major credit bureaus (TransUnion, Experian, Equifax)
$2000 Credit Line
Get up to a $2000 credit line secured by a fully-refundable deposit
Regular APR
15.24% (V)
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First Progress Platinum Select Mastercard® Secured Credit Card

On Synovus Bank's secure site
Establish Credit
Monthly Reporting to all 3 Major Credit Bureaus to Establish Credit History
Credit Line
Credit Line Secured by Your Fully-Refundable Deposit of $200 -- $2,000 Submitted with Application
Regular APR
19.24% (V)
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First Progress Platinum Elite Mastercard® Secured Credit Card

On Synovus Bank's secure site
Build Credit
Monthly Reporting to all 3 Major Credit Bureaus to Establish Credit History
Credit Line
Get up to a $2000 credit line secured by a fully-refundable deposit
Regular APR
25.24% (V)
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Merrick Bank Secured Credit Card

On Merrick Bank's secure site
Build Credit
Get your FICO® Credit Score for free each month.
Credit Line
Once approved, you’ll have an initial credit line based on your deposit - $200 - $3,000 - you can choose the amount!
Fraud Protection
Fraud coverage if your card is lost or stolen. Access your account 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Get help staying on track with available Auto Pay and account alerts.
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Applied Bank® Secured Visa® Gold Preferred® Credit Card

On Applied Bank's secure site
Build Credit
Automatic Reporting to All Three National Credit Bureaus
Credit Line
Once approved, your initial credit line is based on your security deposit - $200 - $1,000. You can increase your limit to $5,000 at any time by making additional deposits
Regular APR
9.99% Fixed
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Getting a Credit Card with Limited or No Credit History

Almost 20% of Americans don’t have a credit score. This can be for a variety of reasons like not having a bank account or newly arriving in the United States. Whatever your reason for having limited credit history, it no longer needs to prevent you from getting a great credit card.

For this particular category, we did our research to pull the cards together that offer the best chance of approval for new creditors. Many of the credit cards in this list don’t entirely rely on credit scores to approve new cardholders.

Multiple cards here use an underwriting method called cash-flow underwriting which looks at data beyond your credit score such as income, bank balances, and spending habits to approve you for their card. Accordingly, you can be confident that amongst these cards there is a great option for you. After you compare these top credit cards for limited or no credit, simply click ‘APPLY NOW’ to complete your application.

Rewards Credit Cards for Limited or No Credit

Can you earn rewards even with no credit history? Yes. Never having credit before won’t stop you from earning rewards. Some of these offers don’t even charge an annual fee to get you started with no out of pocket expenses.

How to Establish New Credit

The traditional catch-22 of credit cards was to get a credit card you needed credit history. To build credit history, you needed to demonstrate timely payments of your existing credit products. This outdated practice has been addressed with credit cards that are specifically designed for Americans with no credit history. The easiest first step to establish your credit is to open a credit card. Credit cards are unique in that they are often considered the starting point for your financial journey. It’s unlikely to be approved for a larger loan until you have a reputable history paying your creditors back.

Notable benefits of credit cards for limited credit are features that dynamically respond to your credit behavior. For example, your credit limit and rewards rate could increase after you make multiple payments on time. Additionally, you may have your interest rate lowered as the bank becomes more comfortable with you as a creditor.

Benefits to Look For

In addition to offering you access to credit, these cards go above and beyond to make it easy to manage your card. Important features consist of:

1. Online bill pay
2. Digital card & mobile wallet integration
3. Credit score monitoring
4. Daily transaction reporting
5. Straightforward rewards redemption

Using your credit card responsibly is key to unlocking the best credit card offers. The best way to do this is to use a card that has software (or an app) built around it to make your life easier. Some apps even come in with budgeting and autopay features to keep you on track with your payments.

Student Credit Cards vs Cards for Limited Credit

There is some overlap between student cards and credit cards for no credit history since both are meant to begin your personal financial journey. A key difference between these cards is student credit cards sometimes require a guarantor - like your parents - to be approved for a card. If that isn’t an option you a card for limited credit history is likely the best option for you.

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General Disclaimer
The card offers that appear on this site are from companies from which BestCreditCard receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). BestCreditCard does not include all card companies or all card offers available in the marketplace.
Editorial Disclaimer
All content is written by editorial staff or writers engaged by the site, not by marketers/sales staff. Editors responsible for producing the content are not in contact or affiliated with any advertiser and are not compensated based on success of the affiliate links. All decisions regarding recommendations are determined separately from advertising relationships. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed are those of the author's alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer.
Approval Odds
BestCreditCard calculates your approval odds by comparing your credit profile to other BestCreditCard members who were approved for this product. These approval odds are estimates only and do not guarantee approval. Credit card issuers use a variety of different types of credit scores and criteria to make credit decisions. The TransUnion credit score we provide is based on the VantageScore 3.0 model and may not be the credit scoring model used by financial institutions presenting offers on our website.