What are the best secured cards that graduate to unsecured?

Yes, the Capital One Platinum Secured card can graduate to unsecured. Capital One will periodically review your account for possible graduation. If your account is eligible, you will be notified by email.

How to increase your chances of graduating with the Capital One Platinum Secured Card:

• Make on-time payments. This is probably the most important part of the process. If you don’t pay your Capital One Platinum Secured bills by the … read full answerdue date, you won’t even be considered for graduation.
• Use your card responsibly. Maintaining low credit utilization will indicate to Capital One that you can handle an unsecured card. So, aim to use only 30% or less of your Capital One Platinum Secured’s credit limit.
• Improve your other finances. Adding to your income and paying down debt will improve your creditworthiness as a whole, making you a better candidate for an unsecured card.

It’s worth noting that graduating to an unsecured credit card is not considered a new account. That means no hard pull is required and your credit score will not be affected. Plus, you’ll get to keep the good credit history you’ve earned with your Capital One Platinum Secured.

In addition, when your Capital One Platinum Secured graduates to an unsecured card, your credit limit no longer needs to be secured with collateral. So, when you graduate, the security deposit you made to open the Capital One Platinum Secured card will be refunded.

It usually takes 12 to 18 months for a secured card to become an unsecured card, if used responsibly. Exactly how long it takes for a secured card to become unsecured depends on the card issuer, how the account is managed, and whether or not the card even has the capability of graduating in the first place.… read full answer

Credit card graduation is when a secured card’s security deposit is returned to the cardholder and the card, in turn, becomes unsecured. Graduation to an unsecured card could occur in as little as 6 months, but it could also take several years. In addition, some secured credit cards won’t graduate no matter how long you have them or how good your account history is. You can always call the card issuer’s customer service line to see if your secured card is eligible for graduation, though.

Secured card issuers may also review your account once or twice a year to evaluate it for automatic graduation. To maximize your chances of automatic secured card graduation, pay on time each month and keep your credit utilization low. But remember: Graduation is never a guarantee.