What are the best easy approval secured credit cards?

Secured credit card approval is pretty easy to come by, no matter which card you apply for. A secured card is the easiest type of credit card to get simply because you have to place a refundable security deposit, the amount of which usually becomes your spending limit. As a result, secured cards prevent you from spending more than you put down, making it less risky for credit card companies to approve people with damaged credit. And since you pretty much pre-pay for your purchases with a secured card, past payment problems should not keep you from getting approved.

Given their safeguards, you might assume that secured credit cards offer guaranteed approval. But that’s not the case. There are certain requirements that anyone must satisfy to get a credit card.

Here are the basic secured credit card approval requirements:

• 18+ years old
• $200+ for a refundable security deposit
• Enough income for monthly bill payments
• U.S. mailing address
• Social Security number (ITIN or passport accepted in some cases)

Some secured credit cards are harder to get than others, though. Requirements vary by credit card company. And some issuers won’t approve anyone with a non-discharged bankruptcy, a tax lien or certain other types of negative records on their credit report. 

But there’s a flip side to that, too. Secured credit card approval is very easy to get if you choose the right offer. A handful of cards don’t even do a credit check when you apply.

Here are the best easy approval secured credit cards:

• First Progress Platinum Select Secured Credit Card: No credit check. $200 minimum deposit. $39 annual fee. Reports to all 3 bureaus.
• OpenSky Secured Visa Credit Card: No credit check. $200 minimum deposit. $35 annual fee. Reports to all 3 bureaus.
• Applied Bank Secured Visa Gold Preferred Card: No credit check. $48 annual fee. Reports to all 3 bureaus.
• First Progress Platinum Prestige Secured Credit Card: No credit check. $49 annual fee. $200 minimum deposit. Reports to all 3 bureaus.

If you’re less concerned with easy approval than getting the best terms, you should also consider the Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card and the Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card. Neither charges an annual fee, and both offer pretty good rewards.

Nah, there's no real minimum requirements for secured cards, at least not in the normal sense. Some cards do reject you if you've got a bankruptcy there, but that's rare. If you want some good examples to check out and apply, try the primor ones.

I think some of the best are: the Discover it Secured Card (it doesn’t have an annual fee and you get 1% or 2% cash back; the minimum deposit is $200), the Capital One Secured Mastercard (no annual fee, and the minimum deposit can be as low as $49), and the Harley-Davidson Secured Credit Card (no annual fee, $300 minimum deposit, and a rewards rate of 1 point per dollar spent). There are no minimum requirements to get approved, just having the security deposit available should be enough.