Thousands of consumers in the US make a New Years resolution to improve their credit score. 2018 will be no different. He is the top 3 credit cards to help improve your credit score going into the new year! (this article contains no advertisements or affiliate links… just 100% real, honest information based on first hand knowledge and experience)
- Capital One Secured Mastercard
- Discover it Secured Card
- OpenSky Secured Visa Credit Card
In that exact order.
Capital One Secured Mastercard
The Good 🙂
- $0 annual fee
- Low security deposit ($49, $99, or $200 based on creditworthiness)
- $200 credit line
- Get a higher line of credit with no additional deposit if the first 5 months of payments are made on time
- Ideal for people with credit scores ranging between 350 to 630
The Bad 🙁
- Must have a bank account in order to be approved
Discover it Secured Card
The Good 🙂
- 0$ annual fee
- $200 credit line
- Offers a cash back reward program (earn 2% cash back at restaurants & gas stations on up to $1,000 in combined purchases each quarter PLUS 1% cash back on all your other purchases)
- Automatic credit review at 8 months
The Bad 🙁
- Requires a bank account in order to be approved
OpenSky Secured Visa Credit Card
The Good 🙂
- No credit check required
- Don’t need a bank account in order to be approved
The Bad 🙁
- $35 annual fee
- There’s no process to upgrade to an unsecured card
Bottom Line!
We like the Capital One Secured Mastercard best due to a higher credit limit after 5 months of on time payments. We feel the main goal here is to improve your bad credit as quick as possible… the Capital One Secured MasterCard edges the Discover it Secured Card by a hair. The Discover card offers a nice reward program but only reviews the customer’s credit at 8 months.
The OpenSky Secured Visa credit card places third by default for consumers without bank accounts.