Bad Credit Credit Cards: What You Need To Know
Many people like me get into trouble in their college years. During their first taste of real freedom, they also get inundated with free credit card offers. They enjoy spending however and whenever they want, then find themselves unable to make the necessary payments and mired in debt.
My credit rating was trashed before I had completed university. Nonetheless, I survived, got a decent career, and realized more and more the need for credit cards and re-establishing my credit history. It was a slow process, but poor credit ratings can be improved. One of the first steps can be to get poor credit cards. I now have very good credit and obtaining a great mortgage rate was a piece of cake.
Be honest with yourself and make a sincere assessment of your situation. You’ll need to get a copy of your credit score and find out what your numerical value is. It may seem hopeless now, but there are concrete steps you can take to get back on your feet and have a new credit beginning.
The next thing you should do is decide between a credit card guaranteed through a bank or financial institution or an unsecured card with a very high interest rate. After you have started the process to obtain your credit report, check with your bank and analyze you usage of the account. Is bouncing checks in your history? Do you keep an up to date log? If the answer is yes to either, you should consider the “bad credit credit card” options.
You’ve decided to try to get bad credit credit cards. The first thing you need to do is examine the options that are available to you. Do you want a card secured with some of your own money, or an unsecured card that charges more interest? What fee is charged each year? Will they reduce the interest rate after a few months? Can you choose the day on which your monthly payment is due? Are there any bonus programs or minimum requirements for your income?
Don’t just be grateful to get the card, you have rights and choices. Be most careful with the interest rates. Some can go as high at 22% – run, don’t walk from that card. Anything under 20% is a decent find for an unsecured credit card for someone with bad credit history.
Make sure to obtain a credit report every so often to make sure your new credit card company is reporting your good payments. If they aren’t, call and ask them to do that. It can help more than you know! By the time you are asking what is my credit score again, you’ll see it start to climb up.
When I finished college, my credit was already bad. Once I got a good job, not only did I need to rebuild my credit history, but I wanted credit cards as well. You’ll need to obtain credit report and ask, what is my credit score. Choose between an unsecured credit card that carries an astronomical interest rate or a bank-sponsored secure debit card. If you have a shaky history in respect to either question, take a closer look at bad credit credit cards options. For someone with poor credit, a card with interest under 20% is a good find.
- Daniel Lesser