The Best Credit Card for Poor Credit
A poor credit score can arise after you miscalculate expenses or you experience unpredictable events, such as illness or death of a family member. These can lead to your creditors reporting negatively to the credit bureaus, which lowers your score. To improve your credit score, choose a credit card that reports to the all three credit bureaus: Trans Union, Equifax and Experian. Secured credit cards (which allow you to control your credit limit according to your security deposit) can be ideal for you. They are easy to get and usually have lower fees and interest rates than unsecured credit cards, which require no security deposit.
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Applied Bank Visa® Credit Card
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This credit card offers a fixed APR of 12.99 percent on purchases as of March 2011 as well as on cash advances, while most credit cards charge higher APR on cash advances. However, no purchase grace period is offered by this company. Thus, interest is counted from the day of purchase. The penalty APR is also 12.99 percent but there is a late payment penalty. The annual fee of $50 is charged for the first year, and a maintenance fee of $9.95 is charged per month after first year. A security deposit equal to your credit limit ranges from $200 to $5,000, but you will not earn any interest on the deposit.
Open Sky Secured Visa® Credit Card
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This credit card from Public Savings Bank charges a prime plus 6.5 percent variable APR on purchases, bank transfers and cash advances in March 2011. The card has a purchase grace period of 25 days. If you pay back the amount during this period, you will not be charged any interest. There is no penalty APR, but there are late payment charges. You can control your credit limit by choosing a security deposit between $200 and $3,000, but no interest will be paid on the deposit. After 120 days, you can increase your credit limit by increasing your security deposit up to $5,000. The annual fee is $50.
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Orchard Bank® Secured MasterCard®
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This credit card offers a variable APR (7.90 percent to 19.90 percent in March 2011) on purchases and bank transfers depending upon your creditworthiness. The variable cash advance APR is 20.90 percent and the variable penalty APR is 29.49 percent. The purchase grace period is 25 days ,so if you pay back within 25 days, you will able to avoid the interest. The security deposit that controls your credit limit ranges from $200 to $15,000, and you earn interest on the deposit. The annual charge is $35, which is relatively low and is waived for the first year. If you pay bills on the time, you may qualify for an unsecured credit card with no annual charge.
UltraVX® Visa® Credit Card
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This credit card offers a fixed APR of 18.90 percent on purchases, bank transfers and cash advances in March 2011. There is $29.95 account set-up fee and a $6.95 monthly charge. A 25-day purchase grace period can help you to avoid the interest by paying within this period. The minimum security deposit is $300 and the maximum security deposit is $25,000, which is about five times more than offered by the most secured credit cards, but you are not given any interest on the deposit. The Clear Rewards™ allows you to earn 1 point for every $1 spent, which can be redeemed at iTunes, Southwest Airlines, Amazon and many other merchants.
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