How much are secured credit card fees?

Secured credit card fees are a lot lower than those charged by unsecured credit cards for people with bad credit. There are several secured credit cards with no annual fee, and many others won’t cost you much more than the average credit card, which charges about $16 per year. In contrast, unsecured cards for bad credit usually have a $75+ annual fee, plus a one-time fee near $90 for application processing. The tradeoff is that you have to place a refundable security deposit of at least $200 to enjoy low secured credit card fees. But unlike unsecured card fees, you’ll get your deposit back when you close your account.

Annual fees aren’t the only secured card costs you have to worry about, though. There are foreign transaction fees, late fees and cash advance fees, too. Plus, if you carry a balance from month to month, you’ll have to pay interest.

But avoiding secured credit card fees is pretty easy. You just have to choose your card wisely and then use it responsibly.

Here are some low secured credit card fees:

• No Annual Fee: Citi® Secured Mastercard® – $200+ deposit
• Low Deposit: Secured Mastercard® from Capital One – $49, $99 or $200 for a $200 limit
• No Foreign Transaction Fee: Discover it® Secured Credit Card – $0 abroad and no annual fee
• Low Late Fee: Commerce Bank Secured Credit Card – $15 max
• No Cash Advance Fee: Navy Federal Credit Union nRewards® Secured Credit Card – $0 at Navy Federal ATMs
• Low APR: Applied Bank® Secured Visa® Gold Preferred® Credit Card – 9.99%

The best approach is to choose whichever card has the lowest annual fee, regardless of branding or issuer. And either pay your bill in full every month or don’t use it to make purchases at all. Either way, your credit score will benefit from your account being in good standing, and you’ll avoid wasting money on interest.

Depending on the card, they can be anywhere between $0 and $50. For example, the Discover it Secured Card and the Capital One Secured Mastercard have no annual fees. On the other end, there are the Primor Secured Visa Gold Card and the First Progress Platinum Prestige Mastercard Secured Credit Card, that have a $49 annual fee.

It depends on what kind of fee you're talking about. If it's annual fees, they're usually lower (if at all). Security deposit aside, the other fees would be  penalty fees and cash advance fees, which are both standard, no better or worse than unsecured cards.