This question comes up to me often, “What secured credit cards are good and which one aren’t worth my time?”  Well, after doing research on the secured credit card market, I’ve came up with a few tips that you can use when you’re looking to restore and re-build your credit.

Look out for the scammy looking websites – I absolutely hate the websites that won’t let you leave the site.  The application page generally has a bad layout and when you close out or back out of the page, an annoying pop up comes up saying “please don’t leave! chat with us”.  If that’s not bad, it tricks you into saying “press cancel if you’d like to chat.”  I hate companies like that and this is why we don’t promote them or recommend them at all.

Too many fees – Avoid cards that have a million fees.  Some cards want to charge you for so many fees.  From weekly fees to monthly fees and everything else under the sun.  A good secured card will only have an annual fee and I’m sad to say, you probably won’t find a secured credit card that doesn’t have an annual fee.  A good card is one with only an annual fee around $50 or less.

It’s an unknown bank- If the card doesn’t have a Visa(r) or MasterCard logo, ditch it because it’s not going to help you at all.  You want to apply for a card that’s going to be accepted everywhere.  Don’t buy into the crap that they can help build your credit when the card won’t even be accepted anywhere.  A good card has a major logo.

Awful reputation online – If you want to know what the card is about, do a quick Google search.  If the search comes back with a ton of bad reviews, stay away.  If it’s a good card, you won’t see a lot of negative reviews online.  Sure, even the best get knocked down but if the top 10 results of Google are bad, you have to know something is up with the card.

When applying for a secured credit card, just use your own judgement.  Do your research and make sure you look out for a card that works for your future.  Get a card with little fees, a major logo and a good reputation.   If you can do this, I can assure you that you’ll find a good card for your wallet.