Credit One Bank® Unsecured Visa® Credit Card

10-second breakdown:

Devised as a powerful tool to help you rebuild your credit quickly, Credit One Bank’s Unsecured Visa Credit Card comes with plenty of help to get you back to greener pastures. If you have bad credit and you want to turn it around, this is a great credit card to get you where you want to be.

Key benefits:

• Free monthly credit score tracking to see how much your score is improving.
• Flexible payment dates to keep you current to avoid fees.
• No security deposit required, a rarity in cards for bad credit.

Who it’s for:

When you have bad credit it can sometimes feel like your head is underwater, and you can barely make it. It’s a bit like a catch-22, you need at least decent credit to get credit cards without APRs that will bleed you dry. If you can’t, you’re stuck to bottom of the barrel cards that are going to be more trouble than they’re worth and might not even help boost your score.This is where Credit One steps up to the plate. They offer a whole slew of credit cards focused on low credit score consumers who want to step back in the driver’s seat and fix their credit. The one that they offer that really stands out from the crowd is their Unsecured Visa credit card.

This card is for individuals with bad credit (below 599).

The details:

The Credit One Unsecured Visa has a variable rate of 15.65% to 24.15%. While that’s not astounding on its own, it’s actually a really good rate if you consider the fact that the card is unsecured. It even beats a few of the rewards cards that require darn near perfect scores.

If finances are really rough, this might be the perfect card to repair your credit. Most credit-repair cards require a refundable security deposit if you get accepted. Although it’s not as consumer friendly, it removes the risk for the issuing banks so the barrier to entry is lowered. In theory that’s great, but not everyone has $500, $1000 or more just sitting in the bank.

It’s nice to see Credit One offer a card that doesn’t need the security deposit, and it’s a real surprise that the rate they offer is lower than the secured cards competitors offer. Even if you do have the savings account to put away for a security deposit, you might still want to give this card a look for its interest rates.

There is an annual fee for the card though. It’s a small price to pay for not requiring the refundable deposit. The fee varies based on your individual situation and credit score, but the first year costs between $0 and $75 and is paid as one lump sum. In your second year and beyond, it’ll cost you between $0 and $99, and it’s split into 12 and billed out monthly.

With credit cards that are intended to repair your credit, it’s generally a bad idea to have a monthly running total. The high APR means you’ll literally be paying for the poor decision. Credit One is a little harder than most of the competition, they require 5% of your balance each month as a minimum payment. If your balance is $1,000, the very minimum required is going to be $50.

The main downside with Credit One’s Unsecured Visa is that it doesn’t have a grace period. Normally with a credit card if you pay off the balance each month you don’t pay interest, right? With this card, throw everything you know out the window. Interest is accrued starting on the day you make the purchase. So if you purchased a $100 item on the first day of the month, then did nothing else for the rest of the month, your bill next month is going to be more than $100 because interest started building the moment you swiped the card. It’s a lot like playing with fire, this is not a card to rely on for everyday purchases. Yes if you use it wisely your credit score will soar, but if you make a large purchase and forget about it the interest can start to eat you alive startlingly fast.

If you play within Credit One’s rules, it won’t be long before your credit score shoots up and you qualify for better offerings. Credit One does the best it can to help you get there too, the card is reported to all three credit bureaus each month and your account is automatically scanned for potential credit increases – without negatively affecting your credit score. They also include free credit score tracking, with handy reports each month. As a tool to help your credit score increase, it’s very handy and you can even watch as your credit score climbs back up to where it should be.

Although Credit One is going to try to nickel-and-dime you, their Unsecured Visa credit card is an extremely powerful tool you can use to get your credit score back on track fast – or at least raise it high enough to pick another card with less fine print. If you have bad credit and need to get out of a rut, look no further.

For complete rankings of all personal credit cards, go here.

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