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Best Credit Cards for Students with Bad Credit
WalletHub makes it easy to find the best student credit card with bad credit.
Credit cards for students with bad credit make it possible to build positive credit history at a low cost. Very few student credit cards accept applicants with bad credit scores, usually requiring limited credit or better for approval. But there are other credit cards for students with bad credit to use instead – most notably, secured credit cards. Secured cards tend to have low fees, and the refundable security deposit you must place doubles as your credit limit, ensuring you won’t get in over your head (some cards are from WalletHub partners). Unsecured cards for bad credit tend to be far more expensive in the long run.
Best Credit Cards for Students with Bad Credit:
- Credit One Bank® Platinum Visa® for Rebuilding Credit
- Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card
- OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card
- Discover it® Secured Credit Card
- Milestone® Mastercard® - Less Than Perfect Credit Considered
- Fingerhut Credit Account
- First Progress Platinum Select Mastercard® Secured Credit Card… show more
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STUDENT CREDIT CARDS WITH BAD CREDIT
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Total Visa® Card Total Visa® Card
- Qualify with bad credit
- Does not require security deposit
- $89 one-time program fee
- $75 annual fee for the first year
- $123 in fees starting year two
- High APR
Destiny Mastercard® Destiny Mastercard®
- Qualify with bad credit
- Does not require security deposit
- Membership fees
- No rewards
- No rewards bonus
- No intro APR on purchases
OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card
- Reasonable $35 annual fee
- $200 minimum deposit
- 3% foreign transaction fee
First Access Visa® Card First Access Visa® Card
- Qualify with bad credit
- Does not require security deposit
- One-time fees
- No rewards
- No rewards bonus
- No intro APR on purchases
Credit One Bank® Platinum Visa® for Rebuilding Credit Credit One Bank® Platinum Visa® for Rebuilding Credit
- 1% cash back on eligible purchases
- Available to people with bad credit
- Automatic credit-line increase reviews
- Annual fee of $75 intro 1st yr, $99 after
- High APR
- Low credit limit
Applied Bank® Secured Visa® Gold Preferred® Credit Card Applied Bank® Secured Visa® Gold Preferred® Credit Card
- Low regular APR
- Qualify with bad credit
- Membership fees
- No rewards
- No rewards bonus
- Foreign fee
WalletHub's Best Credit Cards for Students with Bad Credit
The best credit card for students with bad credit is Discover it® Secured Credit Card because it has a $0 annual fee, a $0 foreign transaction fee and very nice rewards. The Discover it Secured Credit Card gives 2% cash back on a total of $1,000 spent each quarter at gas stations and restaurants – great for commuting and eating around campus. All other purchases earn 1% back. Discover also doubles all the rewards cardholders earn the first year.You don’t have to be a student to get the Discover it Secured Credit Card. But “student” credit cards do not accept applicants with poor credit. So you have to consider other options. With that in mind, WalletHub’s editors compared 1,000+ credit card offers in search of the best cards for students with bad credit, and you can find their selections below.
Best Credit Cards for Students with Bad Credit Compared
| Credit Card | Best For | Annual Fee | Minimum Deposit |
| Discover it® Secured Credit Card | Best Overall | $0 | $200 |
| OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card | No Credit Check | $35 | $200 |
| Fingerhut Credit Account | Store Card | $0 | None |
| Milestone® Mastercard® - Less Than Perfect Credit Considered | No Deposit | $35 - $99* | None |
| Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card | International Travel | $0 | $200 |
| Credit One Bank® Platinum Visa® for Rebuilding Credit | No Security Deposit | $75 intro 1st yr, $99 after | None |
If you happen to have bad credit as a student because of mistakes made with a credit card you were an authorized user on, things actually aren’t so bad. Authorized users aren’t responsible for making payments, so they can’t really be punished for mistakes made by the main accountholder. As a result, you can simply ask the major credit bureaus to remove any authorized-user accounts that have negative information associated with them. Doing so could immediately improve your credit standing and expand your credit-card options.
About the author
John Kiernan has covered the credit card industry for more than 10 years as a writer and editor for WalletHub. His work has been featured by major media outlets such as The Washington Post and The New York Times and has been cited by industry regulators such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Read Full Author Bio
Questions & Answers
Comparing student credit cards with bad credit can be tough. But you’ve got the knowledgeable WalletHub community on your side. We encourage everyone to share their knowledge while respecting our content guidelines. Please keep in mind that editorial and user-generated content on this page is not reviewed or otherwise endorsed by any financial institution. In addition, it is not the financial institution’s responsibility to ensure all posts and questions are answered.show more
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Ask the Experts
Ask the Experts: Credit Card Tips for Students with Bad Credit
• What advice do you have for students who find themselves with a bad credit score?
• What should students with bad credit look for in a credit card, and how should they use it?
• Would you recommend that a student with poor credit open a secured credit card account?
• Is there any benefit to having bad credit as a student versus later in life?
Assistant Professor of Finance, Business Management, Farmingdale State College - School of Business
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Ph.D. CRC®, Associate Dean, Woodbury School of Business, Utah Valley University
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Executive Director of the Financial Hope Collaborative at Creighton University
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Instructor of Accountancy, University of Illinois, Gies College of Business
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Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Northern Illinois University, College of Business
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Professor, Wayne State University Law School
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† Approval Odds are WalletHub estimates intended to gauge your likelihood of approval for a particular product. Approval Odds are based on WalletHub data and are not provided or endorsed by the lender. Approval Odds are not meant to imply or guarantee that you will be approved by the lender or that credit will be extended. WalletHub may share your information with third-parties in order to show personalized offers, as well as enable you to interact more easily with pre-fill forms or applications. You can opt-out of sharing your personal info here.
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