Posts tagged: bank_credit_cards

Which Banks Are Offering Secured Credit Cards?

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Thousands of people every month are searching for secured bank credit cards in the US. It won’t be hard to find someone to offer you one, but you’ll want to make sure you like the terms of their offer.

Once you’ve decided (or just realized) you need a secured credit card, you can look into any of the providers in the list below. They all have a proven track record with their customers, so you’ll want to evaluate them on their individual merits.

  • Digital Federal Credit Union
  • Amalgamated Bank of Chicago
  • Suncoast Schools Federal Credit Union
  • Orange County Teachers Federal Credit Union
  • Orchard Bank
  • The Golden 1 Credit Union
  • Bank of America, NA
  • Plains Commerce Bank
  • First Premier Bank
  • Wells Fargo Bank
  • Emigrant Saving Bank
  • The Harleysville National Bank & Trust Corp.
  • First National Bank of Chester County
  • Malvern Federal Savings Union

You’ll be weighing several variables when choosing a secured credit card provider. Bankrate.com lays out the following criteria to help you make your decision. They are:

  • Class
  • APR (the interest rate)
  • Annual Fee
  • Purchase Late/Over Limit Fee
  • Grace Period (time before interest accrues after a purchase)
  • APR on Cash Advances
  • Fees on Cash Advances

Since secured credit cards offer basically guaranteed approval, you’ll want to look carefully at their fees and interest rates. There’s no reason to overpay if you can go next door and get a better deal. The only other thing I’d do is try to find some customer reviews to make sure the cheapest credit card doesn’t have the worst customer service. After all, you usually get what you pay for right?

*Thank you to Bankrate.com for the information supporting this article.


Best Credit Card Deals For Student Credit Cards

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There are a lot of options for you to take a look at. The best credit card deals are going to depend on what you are looking for and what type of credit history that you have. Obviously the best deals are for those that have a higher credit score. If you are in the 700′s or 800′s then you are going to be just fine. I don’t think you will have to worry about high interest rates and if your credit is that high then you probably don’t even care about rates anyways because you are probably very effective in paying all of your bills on time.

So before I discuss anything about credit cards, make sure that you are willing to find out where your credit is and take a look at what you can do to improve your credit score. You can make multiple payments a month and contact any creditors that you owe to pay off debt. Then you can make sure that you have a checking and savings account open. Have a couple credit card accounts that you keep in good standing. Don’t take on a lot of other debt if you can and then it will just take time of good payments that will help you to improve your credit.

So after you have improved your credit then I would look at a major credit card issuer like Visa, MasterCard, or Discover. I have seen a lot of Orchard Bank Credit Cards for students and also a lot Capital One for people with poor credit and looking for lower limits. If you are looking for lower interest rates then I would say that Capital One is good card. A lot of cards will offer very low introductory rates. Be aware that this could change in a heartbeat. So it is important that you are able to check out the terms and conditions to see what is required from you and what obligations the company has. Many only need 15 days to notify you that they are going to change the interest rate.

I suggest that after you have figured out where your credit is, decide what is important to you. You might want a higher credit limit and you are willing to sacrifice your interest rate to get it or maybe a limit might not matter, you just want to get a good interest rate. Many of them will be around 15%. If you can find one lower then that for more than just an introductory rate then you will be doing well.