Are there credit cards for bad credit? The answer is yes. If you have been over 30 days late on loan, charge card, or mortgage payments cvv dump sites, if you have unpaid medical bills, or if you have legal judgments against you such as child support or other lawsuits, you may have “bad credit”. There are many of us who have been unable to keep up with our monthly bills and have fallen behind in the last 12-24 months.

You may be thinking there are no options or credit cards for bad credit. That is not true. Access to a credit card is almost required in this age of technology we live in. This increasing need for consumers to make credit card purchases creates the demand for more and more credit cards for bad credit.

There are three types of credit cards that are available for people with bad credit. The first type is called a prepaid credit card. With a prepaid card, you get out of it exactly what you put in. Similar to a checking account, you deposit a certain amount of money into an account and this is your spending limit. When your prepaid credit card balance reaches $0, you can “recharge” it by depositing more money into your account. Prepaid cards are great for budgeting, online purchases, and those that cannot obtain a conventional checking account. Approval is usually guaranteed regardless of your credit score and there is no need to deal with the credit bureaus.

The second type of card you can obtain is a secured credit card. With a secured card, you deposit a cash amount into an interest-bearing savings account. This amount becomes your collateral. You are then issued a card and a line of credit in the amount of your deposit. When you make purchases, your credit limit decreases, monthly payments are calculated, and you are sent a bill. If you make purchases, a monthly payment is expected just like a regular credit card. Secured cards are great because they function like regular credit cards allowing you to book travel arrangements such as hotels and rental cars that do not accept prepaid cards or debit cards. Like prepaid cards, approval is usually guaranteed regardless of your credit score. Unlike prepaid cards, many secured card issuers report payments to credit bureaus. This can be a great way to establish or re-establish your creditworthiness by showing timely payments. After several consecutive timely payments, many secured card issuers will increase your credit limit without requiring an additional deposit.

The third option is an unsecured credit card. This is a regular charge card that does not require a deposit, and your credit score is taken into consideration. If you have bad credit, the limit on an unsecured card may be lower than a person with good credit, and you may be subject to slightly higher interest rates and/or fees, but the advantage is that you will not have to make any kind of deposit up front. Many unsecured credit cards for bad credit come with credit limits up to $1000. Making small purchases and timely monthly payments can help you re-establish creditworthiness as most unsecured card issuers report your payments to the credit bureausHow often have you seen the advertisement online or in your mailbox telling you how you should apply for their credit card to repair your credit? The advertisements are right to some extent; credit cards can help you when you are trying to repair your credit, if used correctly. The problem is that most people try to repair their credit with horrible credit cards while using the same spending habits that caused their bad credit to begin with.

A large majority of the people who set out to repair their credit, with the aid of a credit card, do so with the wrong credit cards. There is a right way, and a wrong way to repair your credit and using a credit card is only one small part of the process. We monitor the applications and approvals of credit cards across the web that are designed and marketed for those seeking to repair their credit. The overwhelming majority of the cards that people are applying for are going to hurt their credit, not help it.

The correct way to use a credit card to repair your credit is not to use it. People that are recovering from bankruptcy or other credit problems need to face the fact that they aren’t going to get a good credit card right out of the gate. Conceding this fact, we must now begin to pick the best of the worst credit cards in which we can use to re-establish our credit. The main thing to be aware of is that you are getting a credit card to help to restore your credit, not necessarily to use it. This leaves us with two options: secured credit cards and unsecured credit cards.

Most people opt for the unsecured variety, which in my opinion is a mistake. Most unsecured credit cards for bad credit are going to hit you with a lot of front loaded fees in lieu of making you put down a deposit. You can expect to pay anywhere from 50$ to $75 up front for your annual fee for starters. Then, some cards have other up-front fees like a monthly maintenance fee, account processing fees and some even charge an application fee. All in all, up front fees could be around $150 on a card that only gives you a $300 limit.

If you know you are going to have high fees and a low credit limit you should give serious thought to getting a secured credit card with lower rates and fees. Think about it, if you have to pony-up $300 for a deposit, at least all of the money would be yours and you would still have the $300 limit. Also, using a secured credit card gives you the ability to raise your own credit limit, which strengthens your credit. Used correctly, a secured credit card will cost you less, save you on fees and act as a savings account for you.