Does this bank perform a credit check before issuing you a card? If so, what is the impact on my credit score?

Yes, all credit cards perform credit checks -- the short term hit to your credit score will be small. We have a very informative article on this topic here. If you have below average credit you should focus on improving your credit over the long-term and not get overly worried about the short-term. To keep yourself up to date with credit improvement tips and get your free credit report, you can sign up for WalletHub. You'll also benefit from free credit scores updated on a daily basis and free 24/7 credit monitoring. You can try it here​​​​​​​. Hope this helps.

@WalletHub – Please stop spreading misinformation, there are secured cards that do NOT perform hard inquiries. Considering hard inquiries are stuck on consumer credit reports for 2yrs, it's best to avoid ‘em like the plague whenever possible… as too many can/will negatively affect one’s credit scores!