What are the best secured cards that graduate to unsecured?

The Capital One Platinum Secured card may graduate to an unsecured card automatically after a cardholder has demonstrated a history of responsible use. In that case, Capital One will refund the security deposit, which will effectively turn the Cap 1 Platinum Secured card into an unsecured card with a regular credit limit. The timeline to graduate to unsecured varies depending on the cardholder’s payment history.… read full answer

There’s no guarantee when, or if, Capital One will graduate the Secured card to unsecured. But you don’t have to wait for an automatic graduation to unsecured to find out. Call customer service at 1 (800) 227-4825 to see if you’re eligible. At a minimum, you should have made your first five monthly payments on time. The longer your track record of timely payments, the better your chances of graduation from secured to unsecured.

When theCapital One Platinum Secured card graduates to an unsecured card, it’s not considered a new account. That means no hard pull is required and there’s no effect on your credit score. Keep in mind also that upon graduation to a secured card, your security deposit refund will be applied as a statement credit on the unsecured account.

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.