Bad Credit Cards: 7 Things You Need To Know

When you're looking for bad credit credit cards, weeding the bad credit cards from the good ones can be like searching for a needle in a haystack. With so many predatory lenders getting into the bad credit card arena, it's essential that you follow these seven rules if you want to avoid getting taken by the bad credit cards out there.

1. Never Pay Up Front

The first thing you need to understand when dealing with bad credit credit cards, and bad credit cards in general, is that no legitimate credit card offer is going to require you to pay money up front. If a credit card company won't process your application without you sending in an up-front fee, it's a scam. There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

2. You May Have to Pay For it

Now, just because you're not going to pay up front for bad credit credit cards doesn't mean you aren't going to pay at all. When credit card companies require an annual fee, it doesn't mean that it's not a legitimate credit card offer.

The difference between the bad credit cards and the good credit cards is that the good credit cards will charge your annual fee to the credit card they are issuing -- they won't ask for you to pay the fee up front.

3. Interest Is Going To Hurt -- But It Doesn't Have To Kill You

When dealing with bad credit credit cards, you are going to have to pay a higher interest rate than people with good credit. That doesn't, however, mean that you should pay through the nose.

If you're being charged more than 20 percent interest, you're dealing with bad credit cards. Even with bad credit, you should be able to keep your interest rate below 20 percent.

4. You Might Need to Secure It

If you're credit isn't good enough to enough to qualify you for an unsecured credit card, you might have to settle for a secured one. This means that you may have to give a security deposit that will be used to ensure your credit limit.

If you deposit $200, your credit limit should be $200. However, some of the bad credit cards will ask you to deposit more than the credit line they are issuing you.

If this is the case, go elsewhere for your credit card needs.

5. Secured vs. Prepaid

Now that we've covered secured credit cards, it's important that you understand that secured credit cards are very different from prepaid credit cards.

While prepaid credit cards do serve a purpose, they are bad credit cards if you're trying to rebuild your credit, since they don't report anything to the credit bureuas.

Make sure when applying for a secured credit card that the credit card company will report your payments to the credit reporting agencies.

6. Adding it Up

When applying for bad credit credit cards, make sure the fees and credit limit offered make sense in relation to one another.

There are some very bad credit cards on the market that charge exhorbinant fees and issue very small lines of credit.

For example, they company may charge a $79 annual fee and a $85 processing fee, but only issue you a $200 line of credit. This means that you only have a credit line of $36 available when the card arrives, and a debt of more than $160.

7. Watch Those Grace Periods

When dealing with bad credit credit cards, you absolutely must watch those grace periods and pay close attention to when your payment is due.

Some bad credit cards will have almost no grace period at all, and by the time you receive the bill, the payment is already due -- leaving you no time to send your payment in.

This is bad for you and good for the credit card company.

Why?

Because these bad credit cards can then tack on late fees and can increase your interest rate due to the "late" payment that you had no control over.

So, follow these seven fundamentals to help avoiding getting stuck with bad credit cards -- regardless of your credit rating.

By: Max Anderson

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For more tips on getting the best bad credit credit cards, saving money and avoiding getting taken, check out CreditCardTipsEtc.com, a website that specializes in providing credit card tips, advice and resources.

Compare Credit Cards and Apply securely online:

	Card Category: All Business Charge Foreign Poor Credit Pre-Paid Regular Reward - Airline Reward - Auto Reward - Cash Reward - Finance Reward - Gas Reward - Hotel Reward - Retail Reward - Sports Reward - Travel Reward - Other All Reward Cards Secured Student Intro APR: All 0.0% 1.9% or Less 2.9% or Less 3.9% or Less 4.9% or Less 5.9% or Less 6.9% or Less 7.9% or Less 8.9% or Less 9.9% or Less Time Period: All 3 Months or More 4 Months or More 5 Months of More 6 Months or More 7 Months or More 8 Months or More 9 Months or More APR (Purch.): All Less Than 6% Less Than 7% Less Than 8% Less Than 9% Less Than 10% Less Than 11% Less Than 12% Less Than 13% Less Than 14% Less Than 15% Less Than 16% Less Than 17% Less Than 18% Less Than 19% Less Than 20% Less Than 21% Less Than 22% Less Than 23% Less Than 24% Less Than 25% Annual Fee: All $0 $10 or Less $20 or Less $30 or Less $40 or Less $50 or Less $60 or Less $70 or Less $80 or Less $90 or Less $100 or Less $110 or Less $120 or Less $130 or Less $140 or Less $150 or Less

Want to guess what your credit score is?

Here are some hints to let you know what your credit score probably is and what type of credit cards you should apply for:

• If you are under 21, even if you have never had credit before, you will not be able to get accepted for certain cards, unless you have three years of great credit history. Apply for cards in the "fair credit" range. If this applies to you,
Fair Credit credit cards are some great cards that you will be accepted for, and have great benefits.



• If you are over 21, and have had perfect credit since you were 18, have made no delinquent payments, and have never had a bankruptcy or charge off, you should apply for a card for people with good credit or excellent credit credit score range. There are many great reward credit cards for you.
• If you have bad credit, you may want to apply for prepaid cards. There is no credit check to get these cards. Also, they start building your score once you use them and help you regain your good credit status, so eventually you can apply for other types of cards. Apply for unsecured credit cards if you would rather get a card for people with poor credit. You can't get turned down; everyone gets accepted for these cards. Also, they start re-building credit quickly.