Credit Cards for People with No Credit

The Fingerhut Credit Account is the easiest unsecured card to get. 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.

If you’re looking for a card that can be used for anything, the Credit One Bank® Platinum Visa® 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.

Here are the easiest unsecured credit cards to get:

• Overall: Fingerhut Credit Account 
• Rewards: Credit One Bank® Platinum Visa®
• Small Business: Capital One® Spark® Classic for Business​ 

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 2018's easiest credit cards to get approved for​.

Insufficient credit history means that you don’t have enough experience as a borrower for a lender to approve you for a credit card or loan. Without a sufficient amount of information in your credit report, a financial institution cannot predict how you will handle borrowed money as accurately. So it’s common to see the term “insufficient credit history” on a letter of denial from a lender. But it may come up other times, too, like when you’re apartment hunting. Renters with insufficient credit history are more likely to be asked for money upfront.

Having insufficient credit history doesn’t mean you’ve done anything bad. It just means you’re inexperienced. And that won’t keep you from borrowing, building credit, finding an apartment, etc. You just have to choose wisely. For example, there’s an entire class of credit cards for people with limited or no credit. And using such a card responsibly will help you build a strong track record as a borrower, making insufficient credit concerns a thing of the past.

Here’s what insufficient credit history means and how to fix it:

• Insufficient credit history is a term that lenders use to tell you that there is not enough information in your credit report to approve you for a loan or credit card.
• If you have insufficient credit history, it might mean that you have less than 3 years of recent credit experience, a track record of credit mistakes, or just not enough experience with different types of borrowing.
• Insufficient credit history is something you can start to change in as little as a month. One way to start is to become an authorized user on someone else’s credit card. Or, you can apply for one of the many credit cards for people with limited or bad credit.
• There are plenty of credit cards for people with insufficient credit history, including secured cards (easiest to get, thanks to a required security deposit) and unsecured credit cards designed for applicants with limited or no credit history. As long as you have some form of income, you should be able to get a card.
• You can ask your local bank or credit union if they offer credit-builder loans. This is involves the financial institution depositing a small sum of money in your savings account, which you then repay over an agreed-upon number of months. The lender reports your payment history to the credit bureaus each month. And you get access to the savings account afterward.

You don’t need to feel too stressed about having insufficient credit history. But you should also strive to start building credit as soon as possible. Getting a credit card, making small purchases each month, and always paying your bill (in full) by the due date will set you firmly on the credit-building path.

You can check your latest credit score for free, and track its progress over time, on WalletHub.

Most issuers will only allow you to apply for new lines of credit if you're 18 or older. With that said, you can get accepted as an authorized user for someone else. Get your parents to add you as one, and the cards will start getting reported to your file as well. Once you go over the age limit, get one of those "student" cards, that accept people with limited credit history.

The easiest way for most people to build credit is to maintain credit card accounts in good standing. We recommend going here for our Editors’ top choices of limited/no credit history cards. Whether you lock your card in a drawer or use it responsibly (i.e. pay your bill on time each month, minimize unnecessary debt, and maintain low credit utilization levels), your creditor will relay positive account information to the major credit bureaus each month, thereby beefing up the files on which your credit scores are based.

You can learn more from our New To Credit Guide and you can always check your credit report for free, right here on WalletHub.