Whats the best secured credit card with a low deposit?

The best secured credit card with a low deposit is the Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card. You may be able to put down $49, $99 or $200 in return for a credit line of at least $200, which could make the card only partially secured. The higher your credit score is, the more likely you are to be assigned one of the lower deposit amounts. Capital One Platinum Secured also has a $0 annual fee.

Most other secured cards don’t have the potential to be quite as cheap, but there are a few really good options with a $100-$200 minimum deposit. That’s still pretty low compared to other secured cards that ask for $300-$500+.  

Notable Secured Credit Cards With a Low Deposit

(see details, rates & fees)

Minimum deposit: $49, $99 or $200

Ongoing rewards: None

Annual fee: $0

Credit requirement: Available to applicants with bad credit

Minimum deposit: There is no minimum security deposit required. However, when you sign up for a Chime Credit Card, Chime also opens a Checking Account and a Secured Deposit Account. You’ll first add money to your Checking Account, and those funds are automatically transferred to the Secured Deposit Account, which determines your spending limit.

Ongoing rewards: None

Annual fee: $0

Credit requirement: Accepts applicants with bad credit

Minimum deposit: $100

Ongoing rewards: 2% back at Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market purchases for Prime members

Annual fee: $0

Credit requirement: Accepts applicants with bad credit

Minimum deposit: $300

Ongoing rewards: up to 10% cash back on purchases made with your opensky card at 40,000+ retailers

Annual fee: $0

Credit requirement: Accepts applicants with bad credit

Note: The opensky® Launch Secured Visa® Credit Card is an option, too. Although it has a lower deposit requirement, it also has a monthly fee that makes it more expensive in the long run.

(see details, rates & fees)

Minimum deposit: $200

Ongoing rewards: 5% cash back on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, and 1.5% cash back on all other purchases

Annual fee: $0

Credit requirement: Available to applicants with bad credit

Minimum deposit: $100

Ongoing rewards: None

Annual fee: $0

Credit requirement: Accepts applicants with bad credit

It’s also worth noting that all major secured credit cards will report your account information to the credit bureaus each month. So, if you use your credit card responsibly, it will allow you to improve your credit score and eventually qualify for some of the best credit cards on the market.

How to Improve Your Credit Score With a Secured Credit Card

1. Always pay on time: A good payment history is essential for improving your credit. In order to never miss a due date, you can set up automatic monthly bill payments from a bank account.
2. Pay in full whenever possible: Paying the minimum amount required by your credit card will keep your account in good standing, but you will have to pay interest. If you pay your full balance by the due date every month, you can avoid interest charges.
3. Keep your credit utilization low: Using more than 30% of your credit limit might damage your credit score. Credit utilization of 1% - 10% is best for your credit score.
4. Check your credit score regularly: You can use WalletHub to check your credit score for free and ensure you’re staying on the right path. Additionally, with WalletHub’s free credit monitoring tool, you can catch errors or possible signs of fraud on your credit report as they occur. This will help you dispute issues promptly and protect your credit score.

To learn more, you can read WalletHub’s guide on how to rebuild credit. You can also get personalized tips on how to build credit with WalletHub’s free credit analysis.

Yup, Cap 1 Platinum Secured/Chime Secured are best. Just remember that you’re costing yourself rewards by focusing on a low deposit.

Chime doesn’t have a specific minimum, so that’s an option.

Capital One and Chime seem like the best to me. Very low deposit requirements and no annual fees. 

But isn’t it weird how some secured cards nowadays (like Chime) say no minimum deposit? That might be technically true, but you can’t actually use the card without making a deposit, so...grinds my gears.

I don't have time for complicated cards, so Capital One Platinum Secured works just fine for me… I see others agree with me, too, which is nice… No rewards, but it's painless and reports to all three bureaus. Perfect for getting started or starting over.

They don’t have the absolute lowest deposits, but Discover and US Bank’s secured cards have good rewards and reasonable deposit requirements. $200 isn’t all that high.

Most of them have the same security deposit tactics: the amount you pay is what your credit limit will be. The Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card is slightly different, as it's partially secured. What that means is you might only have to pay $49 for at least a $200 limit. At the end of the day though, you can't know what you'll be approved for until you apply.

The DCU Visa® Platinum Secured Credit Card has a minimum deposit of See Terms, but I'd say just go for a major one: Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card, Citi® Secured Mastercard®, Discover it® Secured Credit Card... All of these have a min deposit of $200.

Most of them start with a $200 deposit. But if you try your luck with credit unions, I'm sure they have even lower limits available.