Best Credit Cards for Stay-at-Home Moms & Dads

Stay-at-home parents can absolutely get credit cards, and it’s often vital for them to have one in their wallet in order to take care of the household and deal with emergencies. Even though they may not have an independent income, they can typically qualify for their own card using their spouse or partner’s income. Stay-at-home parents can also become authorized users on their spouses’ credit cards if they want to.

Key Things to Know About Credit Cards for Stay-at-Home Parents

• Stay-at-home parents who are at least 21 years old can list income that they share with their spouse or partner on their credit card applications, even if they have no individual income.
• The easiest type of credit card for anyone, including stay-at-home parents, to get is a secured card. Even people with no credit, bad credit, or low income can qualify.
• In rare cases, a stay-at-home parent might be able to get a joint credit card account with their spouse or have them act as a co-signer.
• Anyone, regardless of their credit qualifications, can become an authorized user on someone else’s credit card.

Below, we’ll walk you through the different ways a stay-at-home parent can get a credit card, as well as some of the best offers in 2025.

How Stay-at-Home Parents Can Get a Credit Card

Apply for a Card With Their Shared Income

Some people are under the impression that stay-at-home parents can’t get a credit card if they don’t have their own income and only rely on income from their partner. That was true for a while, but it’s not anymore.

Starting in October 2011, changes to existing laws required credit card companies to consider individual income rather than household income on credit card applications. However, lobbying from consumer groups ended up changing the laws again by 2022.

Now, credit card companies can consider income that applicants over 21 years old share with their spouse or partner. For example, if you don’t have an independent income but your spouse makes $60,000, then you can list a $60,000 income on your application and the credit card company will evaluate your application based on that.

Get a Secured Credit Card

Regardless of how your income is viewed by credit card issuers, pretty much any stay-at-home parent can qualify for at least a secured credit card. This type of card requires a security deposit to open the account, but that allows the issuer to offer nearly guaranteed approval, as long as you can make the deposit and your monthly payments.

The nice thing about secured credit cards is that they are indistinguishable from unsecured cards on your credit report, and you can typically add to your deposit to increase your credit limit. The deposit is fully refundable when you close your account with a $0 balance, and many secured cards eventually let you graduate to an unsecured card.

Get a Joint Credit Card Account or a Co-signer

You may be able to get a joint credit card account with your spouse if you’re a stay-at-home parent. Very few credit card companies offer this type of application, but if you find one that does, you and your spouse can list your combined income/assets and debts/liabilities in order to obtain a credit card in both of your names. Both of your credit reports will reflect usage of this card, and both of you will be held legally responsible for any outstanding payments.

You could potentially also get your spouse to be a co-signer on a card. In that case, approval depends mostly on your spouse’s credit and income, and they are fully responsible for paying back any balance that you can’t. However, no major credit card companies offer this option. You might have luck at small local banks or credit unions, though.

Become an Authorized User

Being an authorized user on your spouse or partner’s credit card account will provide some credit score gains. They won’t be as pronounced as if the card was in your own name, but something is certainly better than nothing.

As an authorized user, you’ll be able to get your own card that shares the credit line with the primary cardholder, but only the primary cardholder will be responsible for making payments on the card. As long as you and your spouse or partner use the card responsibly, positive information will appear on your credit report, which can eventually help you qualify for a great credit card of your own.

This content is not provided, commissioned or endorsed by any issuer. WalletHub independently collected information for some of the cards on this page.

Best Credit Cards for Stay-at-Home Moms & Dads

Best Overall - Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card

The Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card is the best credit card for stay-at-home moms and dads because it combines simple but lucrative rewards with great financing. It offers 2% cash rewards. It also gives an initial bonus of $200 cash rewards after spending $500 on purchases in the first 3 months.

In addition, the card offers an introductory APR of 0% for 12 months from account opening on purchases and 0% for 12 months from account opening on qualifying balance transfers. It has a regular APR is 18.74%, 24.74%, or 28.74% Variable and a balance transfer fee of 3% intro for 120 days from account opening, then up to 5% (min $5) . To top things off, it has a $0 annual fee. It’s easy to see why our editors have named it not just the best card for stay-at-home parents but the best credit card overall.

Best for Groceries & Streaming - Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express

Stay-at-home parents are often in charge of the grocery shopping, and they may also like to binge a little TV during their downtime. Luckily, there’s a card that’s great for both. The Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express offers 6% cash back at U.S. supermarkets (up to $6,000 spent per year), 6% back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions, 3% back at eligible U.S. gas stations and on transit, and 1% back on other eligible purchases, received as rewards dollars (which can be redeemed as a statement credit and at Amazon.com checkout). Its initial bonus is $250 statement credit for spending $3,000 on eligible purchases in the first 6 months.

The card also gives a $10 monthly credit for subscription services, including a bundle subscription purchase, at disneyplus.com, Hulu.com, or Plus.espn.com U.S. websites (enrollment required), and it has a $0 intro annual fee for the first year, after which it rises to $95.

Best for Utilities - U.S. Bank Cash+® Visa Signature® Card

The U.S. Bank Cash+® Visa Signature® Card is a great card for stay-at-home parents who handle paying the utility bills. It gives 1 - 5% cash back. One of the categories you can pick for your bonus rewards is utilities, and other ones that might be good for stay-at-home parents include department stores, select clothing stores, and cell phone providers. This card also has an initial bonus of $200 cash back for spending $1,000 in the first 90 days.

In addition, the card offers an introductory APR of 0% for 15 billing cycles on purchases and 0% for 15 billing cycles on balance transfers. It has a regular APR is 17.99% - 28.24% (V) and a balance transfer fee of 3% (min $5)  It also has a $0 annual fee.

Best for Customized Rewards - U.S. Bank Shopper Cash Rewards™ Visa Signature® Card

The U.S. Bank Shopper Cash Rewards™ Visa Signature® Card is a good credit card for stay-at-home parents who want customized rewards because it allows you to choose two individual retailers and an “everyday” spending category for earning bonus rewards each quarter. The everyday category can be bills and utilities or other helpful things for parents like wholesale club purchases or gas/EV charging.

Overall, you’ll earn 1.5 - 6% cash back. You can also earn an initial bonus of $250 bonus after you spend $2,000 within 120 days.

While this card’s rewards are great, it’s only available to people with excellent credit (a score of 750+). Its annual fee is $0 intro for the first year and $95 after.

Best for Fair Credit - Upgrade Cash Rewards Visa®

The Upgrade Cash Rewards Visa® is available to people with a credit score of 640+. It has very generous rewards, offering 2 points per $1. Plus, its annual fee is $0.

Best for No Credit - Petal® 2 Visa® Credit Card

If you haven’t really gotten the chance to develop much credit history yet due to being a stay-at-home parent, there are still some great options available to you that don’t require a security deposit. The Petal® 2 Visa® Credit Card doesn’t require you to have any credit history, and it still gives great rewards, offering 1 - 1.5% cash back. This card also charges no fees whatsoever.

Best for Bad Credit - Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card

Even if you’ve made some mistakes with credit in the past, it’s still easy to get a secured credit card as a stay-at-home parent. The Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card requires a refundable security deposit that also sets your spending limit on the card, making it a low-risk option for both you and the issuer.

The card gives 1.5 - 2% cash back, which is phenomenal for a secured card. It has a $0 annual fee, too.

How to Build Credit as a Stay-at-Home Mom or Dad

1. Become an authorized user. Even if you still plan to get your own credit card, becoming an authorized user on your spouse or partner’s credit card will add one more account reporting positive information to the credit bureaus each month.
2. Apply for a secured card. Secured cards have nearly guaranteed approval and help you build credit just as well as unsecured cards. Many of them even offer generous rewards.
3. Use your partner’s income. As long as you’re at least 21 years old, you can list income that your partner shares with you on your credit card application, improving your odds of approval.
4. Keep your credit utilization low. One of the best ways to build your credit score is by only using a small portion of your credit limit. We recommend using less than 30% of your credit limit at a time.
5. Always pay on time. Making on-time payments is the most important thing you can do for your credit score. Paying your balance in full each month is even better for your score, and it prevents you from owing any interest.

You can learn more about how to build credit here on WalletHub.

Final Thoughts

Your full-time job as a stay-at-home parent is caring for the household and your children. Even though that doesn’t come with a paycheck, that doesn’t mean you can’t get a credit card. You can still build credit on your own and qualify for some great offers by listing your spouse or partner’s income on the application.

Just make sure to choose wisely when picking a credit card, in order to maximize its usefulness for your everyday life. You can learn more about how to choose a credit card, as well as browse the best credit cards for families, here on WalletHub.