The best Mastercard for bad credit depends on whether your top priority is credit improvement or getting an emergency loan. If you simply want to rebuild your credit, a secured credit card is the way to go. In particular, the Capital One® Secured Mastercard® is a great option. But if you’re facing unexpected, unaffordable expenses, you’ll need an unsecured credit card for bad credit. And the Indigo® Mastercard® for Less than Perfect Credit is probably the best of the not-so-hot options in that category.
These picks are based on WalletHub’s review of 20+ Mastercard credit cards for people with bad credit. And there’s more where they came from. WalletHub’s editors also selected the top cards in a few other popular categories.
Here are the best Mastercards for bad credit:
| Best For… | Card Name | Annual Fee | Security Deposit | Card Network | Min. Credit Required |
| No Annual Fee | Capital One® Secured Mastercard® | $0 | $49, $99 or $200 | Mastercard | Limited History |
| Rewards | SunTrust Secured Credit Card | $32 | $300 | Mastercard | Bad |
| Unsecured | Indigo® Mastercard® for Less than Perfect Credit | $0 - $99 | Mastercard | Bad | |
| Business | Wells Fargo Business Secured Credit Card | $25 | $500 | Mastercard | Bad |
To see if these offers are the cream of the bad-credit crop, we recommend comparing them to the best Visa cards for bad credit, at the very least. You can also see which offers made the final cut for 2018’s best credit cards for people with bad credit.
