Best Free Credit Cards

Secured credit cards are the easiest credit cards to get approved for when you have bad credit or no credit. These cards have annual fees as low as $0, report monthly to the 3 major credit bureaus, and often give rewards of 1% or more. To help people with no credit or bad credit maximize their odds of approval for a credit card, WalletHub’s editors compared the approval requirements for more than 1,500 credit card offers, along with their fees, rates and rewards.

Easiest Credit Cards to Get Approved For

This content is not provided or commissioned by any issuer. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of an issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by an issuer. Please keep in mind that while some offers may come from WalletHub advertising partners, sponsorship status played no role in card selection. 

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Building credit when you have no credit history brings to mind the old “chicken or the egg” conundrum.  After all, credit cards are the most cost-efficient, accessible credit building tools available to consumers, but your credit standing determines your ability to get one.  So, what is a credit newcomer to do?

Well, most banks offer starter credit cards – accounts targeted to students and other financially inexperienced consumer cohorts that enable such folks to prove their financial responsibility in a relatively low-risk environment.

The risk is low from the card issuer’s perspective because these cards usually offer spending limits around $300 - $500 and don’t come with rewards/financing deals attractive enough to cost the issuing banks too much money.  However, the stakes are high for consumers because while never missing a payment and maintaining a reasonable credit utilization ratio will ultimately translate into higher credit standing and eligibility for better credit cards, mistakes are a ticket to higher costs and increased difficulties across life.

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Yes, you can have a credit card for free. If you apply for a card with no annual fees, monthly fees, or one-time “processing” fees, and you avoid interest charges by paying the bill in full by the due date every month the regular APR is in effect, owning a credit card can be free. The best free credit cards also offer 0% intro APRs, $0 foreign transaction fees, and $0 balance transfer fees.

Popular Credit Cards You Can Own for Free

Watch Out for Interest Charges

It’s worth noting that if you have a “free” credit card, it may still cost you if you carry a balance to the next billing period. If you pay off your balance within the credit card’s grace period, interest charges do not apply. But if you don’t pay your balance in full every month, you will lose the grace period and you’ll owe interest on the balance, unless your card has an introductory 0% APR offer. Without the grace period, interest charges accumulate daily until the balance is paid in full.

Also, if you’re late in paying at least the minimum amount due, you may be charged a late fee and possibly a penalty APR.

Options for All Credit Levels

The best free credit cards are typically reserved for applicants with good credit or better, but people with bad credit or no credit can qualify for a free credit card, too. In some cases, you might have to place a refundable security deposit.

If you’re not sure which free credit card is the right fit for you, our editors’ picks for the best free credit cards can help you narrow your search.

Yes, there are some completely free balance transfer credit cards, at least for a pre-set period of time. The best among them is the Union Bank® Platinum™ Credit Card because it offers an introductory APR of 0% for 15 months on balance transfers and a $0 balance transfer fee for 60 days. On top of that, this card has a $0 annual fee. The card’s regular APR is 12.24% - 23.74% (V).

There are a few free balance transfer offers available right now. But it’s important to remember that no balance transfer is guaranteed to be free. If you get the right card and repay what you owe by the time regular rates take effect, you’ll have yourself a free transfer. But if you have a balance remaining at that point, or you miss a monthly minimum payment along the way, you’ll end up owing interest.

Best free balance transfer credit cards:

The Union Bank® Platinum™ Credit Card has an intro APR of 0% for 15 months on both balance transfers purchases. The card has a $0 balance transfer fee. The card’s regular APR is 12.24% - 23.74% (V). This card has a $0 annual fee.

The Navy Federal Platinum Credit Card has an intro APR of 0.99% for 12 months on balance transfers and a $0 balance transfer fee. The card’s regular APR is 10.24% - 18% (V). This card has a $0 annual fee.

The Wells Fargo Reflect has an intro APR of 0% for up to 21 months from account opening on qualifying balance transfers on both balance transfers and purchases. There’s a balance transfer fee of 3% intro for 120 days, then up to 5% (min $5). The card’s regular APR is 17.74% - 29.74% Variable. This card has a $0 annual fee.

The U.S. Bank Platinum has an intro APR of 0% for 18 billing cycles on both balance transfers and purchases. There’s a balance transfer fee of 3% (min $5). The card’s regular APR is 19.24% - 29.24% (V). This card has a $0 annual fee.

The Edward Jones Business Credit Card has an intro APR of 0% for 12 months on balance transfers and a $0 balance transfer fee. The card’s regular APR is 19.49% - 29.49% (V). This card has a $0 annual fee.

All in all, it’s difficult to find a balance transfer credit card that not only has a 0% intro APR but also charges no annual fee and balance transfer fee. Now, banks tend to offer either no balance transfer fee credit cards or 0% balance transfers, but not both.

If you’re a student or have at least good credit, though, you’ve got some good options.

The best free credit card for bad credit is the U.S. Bank Cash+® Visa® Secured Card because it accepts applicants with a credit score as low as 300 and charges $0 in annual fees. The U.S. Bank Cash+® Visa® Secured Card doesn’t have any monthly or one-time fees, either, and it offers 1 - 5% cash back on purchases.

If you pay your bill in full each month, thereby avoiding interest, you could make purchases, earn rewards, and build credit at no additional cost. Because the card is secured, you’ll have to put down an initial deposit of at least $300, but that is fully refundable. U.S. Bank will return your deposit if you close the account with a $0 balance. Or, if you consistently pay your credit card bills on time and keep your balance well below the credit limit, you may eventually graduate to an unsecured version of the card and get the deposit back.

Free Credit Cards for Bad Credit

The best free credit cards for bad credit are usually secured credit cards. It’s true that secured cards usually require at least a couple hundred expendable dollars, since you will lose access to the security deposit until you close the account or it graduates to an unsecured version. However, secured credit cards can still be a lot cheaper in the long run when compared to unsecured credit cards for damaged credit, which usually do charge fees. You can compare more no-fee credit card offers based on your credit score on WalletHub.

When people talk about no fee credit cards, they usually mean those without annual and monthly membership fees. But some folks want more: a truly fee-free credit card, with no past-due fees, over-limit fees, balance-transfer fees or foreign-exchange fees, either. Cards lacking all such fees do indeed exist. The PenFed Promise Credit Card is one good example. However, there are two important things you need to understand about such offers:

First, if you need a card without over-limit and past-due fees, you shouldn’t be looking for a credit card at all. The damage you’ll do to your credit by missing payments or maxing out your spending limit will surely outweigh whatever you save by avoiding fees for those offenses. This is especially true in the post-CARD Act era, as penalty fees can’t exceed the actions that trigger them. For example, if you spend $5 more than your allotted credit limit, the maximum fee would be $5.

Secondly, there’s no perfect credit card. Every offer has its fair share of pros and cons, and credit cards that lack fees entirely usually compensate by offering worse rewards or interest rates. That’s why credit cards without balance transfer fees have relatively high APRs, why rewards cards without fees tend to offer reduced earning rates, and so on.

The moral of the story is that you should compare credit card offers solely based on the features that will affect you most, given your spending and payment habits. After all, if you plan on using your card for rewards, why would you care if it has a balance transfer fee?

The best credit card with free credit score access is the Chase Freedom Unlimited® because it gives scores updated once a week and has a $0 annual fee. Cardholders are rewarded with 5% cash back on travel through Chase, 3% back at restaurants and drugstores, and 1.5% back on all other purchases (plus an additional 1.5% cash back on everything, up to $20,000 spent the first year).

The 10 largest credit card companies all give cardholders free credit score access. Capital One, for example, offers free credit scores to everybody, including non-customers. Some smaller credit card companies, like Navy Federal Credit Union and First National Bank of Omaha, provide free credit score access too, but it’s not as common.

Best Credit Cards with Free Credit Scores

Free Credit Scores & Reports by Credit Card Company