But the pickings are pretty slim, unfortunately. That’s why we recommend reconsidering secured credit cards, which tend to be far cheaper in the long run. Short of that, try to avoid cards with one-time fees and focus on offers with just a small annual fee. That’s how our editors whittled down a list of 1,000+ credit card offers to their picks for the best credit cards for bad credit with no security deposit.
Best Unsecured Credit Cards for Bad Credit Comparison
No matter which credit card you end up getting, you can track your credit improvement for free on WalletHub. You will also benefit from personalized money-saving advice.
Easiest Unsecured Credit Cards for Bad Credit
All of these unsecured cards are meant for people with bad credit and have minimal approval requirements, per their terms and conditions. Plus, they all allow potential applicants to pre-qualify first, with no credit-score impact, so there’s little risk in trying.
For more options, check out WalletHub’s full list of the easiest credit cards to get.
Methodology for Selecting the Best Unsecured Credit Cards for Bad Credit
To identify the best unsecured credit cards for bad credit, WalletHub’s editors regularly compare 1,500+ credit card offers based on their approval requirements, fees, rewards, and interest rates. Final selections are then made based on the estimated two-year cost of using each card. It is important to minimize costs when rebuilding damaged credit because interest rates and fees can be high.
How Two-Year Cost Is Calculated
Two-year cost is used to approximate the monetary value of cards for better comparison and is calculated by combining annual and monthly membership fees over two years, adding any one-time fees or other fees (like balance transfer fees), adding any interest costs, and subtracting rewards. Negative amounts indicate savings. When fees or other terms are presented as a range, we use the midpoint for scoring purposes.
Rewards bonuses and credits have been taken into account for two-year cost calculations. However, bonuses applicable to only a very small portion of cardholders are not considered. For example, credits and bonuses awarded for spending or redeeming rewards through a company portal with non-co-branded cards have not been taken into account. Similarly, bonuses and credits related to spending with specific merchants using a non-co-branded card have not been taken into account (for example, if Card A offers credits with DoorDash, this feature would not be factored into calculations because it is hard to assess how many cardholders would use the benefit or exactly how much value they’d get from it).
Cardholder Spending Profiles
Given that different users have different goals and are likely to use their credit cards differently, we identified spending profiles that are representative of different users’ financial priorities and behaviors. For each cardholder type, we have assumed a specific amount of monthly spending by purchase type (e.g., groceries, gas, etc.), as well as an average balance, balance transfer amount, amount spent on large purchases and average monthly payment. Spending assumptions are based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Sources
WalletHub actively maintains a database of 1,500+ credit card offers, from which we select the best credit cards for bad credit for different applicants as well as derive market-wide takeaways and trends. The underlying data is compiled from credit card company websites or provided directly by the credit card issuers. We also leverage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to develop cardholder profiles, used to estimate cards’ potential savings.
About the Author
John S Kiernan
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