Credit Rebuilding Credit Cards to Help Growing Your Credit

Rebuilding credit after a bankruptcy or another negative event is a tough business. A situation where you need to have credit first in order to build credit is a typical Catch 22 situation. However, you still have options. Secured cards and high-risk products are some of them. 

Here're our editor’s picks for cards that will help you establish or rebuild credit:

Generally, whatever option you choose, these are the main principles:

• Get a card that reports to major credit bureaus, not unknown ones. Some cards report like secured cards, some like regular – it does not matter that much.
• Get a card with a grace period. It will give you additional 20-25 days to pay off your balance every month.
• Get the highest credit limit you can get. A high limit will help you build a credit score faster.
• Do not overuse your credit limit. You should not exceed 30% of your credit limit every month; it is even better to aim for 10% territory. If needed, pay your balance two times a month.
• Pay on time. Always. That is a simple but effective way to improve your score.
• Do not send out many credit card or loan applications. Lenders make so-called “hard inquiries” on your credit report and this can lower your score in a year’s timeframe.

In most situations of bad credit, the only choice is the secured card. A secured card offers you a credit limit that is secured with a deposit that you put in a bank as collateral.

Some of the good secured cards are:

If your credit score is not damaged but rather nonexistent, it is much easier because you have more options – typical newcomer products like Capital One Platinum, Credit One Platinum or some of the Discover cards can help you to jump-start your credit score building.