The Harley-Davidson Secured Credit Card is a great option for rebuilding damaged credit, believe it or not. It’s one of the few credit cards for people with bad credit that offers rewards but does not charge an annual fee, according to WalletHub’s database of 1,500+ cards. 

It doesn’t even really matter if you’re a Harley fan. You simply need to have an interest in low-cost credit improvement to give the Harley Secured Card a closer look.

5 Key Things to Know About the Harley-Davidson Secured Credit Card

Available to people with bad credit.

Secured cards are as close as you can get to guaranteed-approval credit cards, which is important because it gives people with damaged credit a chance to begin working their way back from past mistakes. But most secured cards still subject applicants to a credit check, and the Harley-Davidson Secured Credit Card is no exception in that regard. Although U.S. Bank (the card’s issuer) doesn’t disclose the Harley Secured Card’s exact approval requirements, one of the biggest red flags for other secured card issuers is seeing a recent bankruptcy on your file.

You can check your latest credit score and report for free on WalletHub to see exactly where you stand and identify issues that might prevent you from getting the Harley-Davidson Secured Visa.
 

One of the few free paths to better credit.

The Harley-Davidson Secured Credit Card is one of a small number of secured credit cards that anyone can get (i.e. not from a credit union) with no annual, monthly or one-time fees. That saves you about $27.85 per year compared to the average credit card offer and well over $100 per year relative to most unsecured cards for people with bad credit.

So, whether you make purchases and pay your bill in full at the end of the month or simply lock the card in a drawer, you’ll have the opportunity to rebuild your credit for free. After all, credit cards report information to the credit bureaus on a monthly basis, even when you don’t actually use them. Just having an open credit card that is in good standing will result in positive information being added to your credit reports each month, thus devaluing any negative records already in there.
 

Harley rewards.

You might think that only Harley owners and fans would benefit from the Harley-Davidson Secured Credit Card’s offer of 1 point per $1 After all, you can only redeem earnings for a Harley-Davidson gift card, at a rate of $25 per 2,500 points. But if you’re not interested in Harley gear, you can always sell those gift cards online.
 

$300 minimum deposit.

While some secured cards require as little as $49 down, the Harley Secured Credit Card’s $300 requirement isn’t terrible. Other secured cards demand deposits of at least $600. And most don’t pay interest on your deposit amount, which the HD Secured Credit Card does.
 

Bad for carrying a balance.

Secured cards are designed to be paid in full every month. Their spending limits typically match the amount of your required deposit, which means you can’t spend more than you can already afford in cash. So carrying a balance from month to month with one, and paying the accompanying interest charges, would be like charging yourself for a loan.

This loan won’t come cheap, either. The average secured card has an 21.87% APR, according to WalletHub’s latest Credit Card Landscape Report, and the Harley-Davidson Secured Card charges far more.