What are the best unsecured credit cards for no credit?

Question

The easiest unsecured card to get is the Fingerhut Credit Account. But it won’t suit everyone’s needs. Fingerhut is an online marketplace, and its card can only be used to make purchases on the site. So while it will give you an unsecured line of credit, it won’t really help you cover emergency expenses.… read full answer

If you’re looking for a card that can be used for anything, the Credit One Bank® Visa® Credit Card is your best bet. You can get approved for it with bad credit. It offers a $300 starting spending limit. And you can use it wherever Visa is accepted.

Those aren’t your only options, though. WalletHub’s editors compared all of the unsecured credit cards in our database of 1,000+ offers. And we selected our favorite easy-to-get offers.

Easiest Unsecured Credit Card to Get Approved For

Fingerhut Credit Account: Overall

Credit One Bank® Visa® Credit Card: Rewards

Capital One® Spark® Classic for Business: Small Business

Petal® 2 Visa® Credit Card: Limited Credit

Deserve® EDU Mastercard for Students: Students

The easiest unsecured credit cards to get generally work best for minor emergencies. You will only receive a small amount of spending power, after all.

Unsecured credit cards for people with bad credit also tend to be very expensive, charging lots of fees and high interest rates. So if you don’t need a small emergency loan, the best course of action is to improve your credit inexpensively with a secured card. Secured cards are cheaper than unsecured cards, build credit just as effectively, and offer the closest thing you’ll find to guaranteed approval.

To learn more, check out WalletHub's complete list of the year’s easiest credit cards to get approved for.

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Answer 1 · 2021-02-09 09:27:55

John S Kiernan, Managing Editor

@John 02/09/21 This answer was first published on 01/21/21 and it was last updated on 02/09/21.For the most current information about a financial product, you should always check and confirm accuracy with the offering financial institution. Editorial and user-generated content is not provided, reviewed or endorsed by any company.

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The best unsecured credit card for no credit is the Capital One Platinum Credit Card because it has a $0 annual fee and a $0 foreign fee. Capital One Platinum does not have rewards, but no annual fee is more important when you’re first starting out with credit. If you’re willing to pay for better perks, consider the Capital One QuicksilverOne Card, which has a $39 annual fee and gives 1.5% cash back on all purchases.

If you’re in college, you can get a student credit card. Student cards are unsecured credit cards for no credit that are available only to college students. They tend to give better terms than non-student unsecured credit cards for no credit because issuers predict college graduates will have larger incomes. One of the best options is Discover it® Student chrome. It gives 2% cash back on the first $1,000 you spend each quarter at gas stations and restaurants combined, plus 1% on everything else. On top of that, Discover matches all the cash back you earn during your first year. And they give you a $20 statement credit for every year you earn a 3.0 or higher GPA, for up to 5 years.

Best Unsecured Credit Cards for No Credit

Best for no annual fee: Capital One Platinum Credit Card. $0 annual fee. $0 foreign transaction fee. 26.99% (V) regular APR.
Best for cash back: Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card. $39 annual fee. $0 foreign transaction fee. 1.5% cash back on all purchases. 26.99% (V) regular APR.
Best for business: Capital One® Spark® Classic for Business. $0 annual fee. $0 foreign transaction fee. 1% cash back on all purchases. 26.99% (V) regular APR.
Best for student cash back: Discover it® Student chrome. $0 annual fee. 0% foreign transaction fee. 2% cash back on the first $1,000 at gas stations and restaurants per quarter. 1% cash back on all other purchases. First year’s cash back matched. 0% intro APR for 6 months on purchases. 12.99% - 21.99% Variable APR after that.
Best for student travel: Bank of America® Travel Rewards Credit Card for Students. $0 annual fee. 0% foreign transaction fee. 25,000 bonus points when you spend $1,000 in the first 90 days. 3 points / $1 at the BofA Travel Center and 1.5 points / $1 on all other purchases. 0% APR for 12 months on purchases. 14.99% - 22.99% (V) regular APR.
Easiest approval: Credit One Bank® Visa® Credit Card. $0 - $99 annual fee, depending on creditworthiness. 3% foreign transaction fee. 1% cash back on eligible purchases. 17.99% - 23.99% (V) regular APR.

It’s pretty easy to qualify for unsecured credit cards for no credit, provided that you have a steady income. But if you want the absolute highest chances of approval, you may want to consider secured cards. They help you build credit just as well as unsecured cards, but you have to put down a security deposit to open them.

What are the best unsecured credit cards for no credit?

John S Kiernan, Managing Editor

Best Unsecured Credit Cards for No Credit

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