Good And Bad Credit Cards

If you are reading this article, you are probably thinking about applying for a credit card soon. While this is a noble endeavor for the right reasons, you need to make sure you apply for the correct one for your circumstances. You may be able to get a great interest rate if your credit is good, but if it's spotty you will have to watch out for the sharks out there who promise their customers the world, only to deliver them a whopping 23% APR with a $300 limit and $250 in fees just for activating the card (yes, it exists, from a bank in North Dakota).

Credit Cards for Good Credit

If you have excellent credit, then you can get pretty well any card. You'll even find you get offers in the mail, and don't even need to try to find them. Although you probably should anyway, as you know those mail cards are rarely worth getting.

Surprisingly, the best of credit cards can be found in the most usual of places. To give you one example, many grocery stores now offer a points based reward card that also features discounts, and acts as a visa card both in that store and outside of it. More then that, most of these stores will send their customers coupons, or other credit, when they spend a specific amount.

Good credit can also be a help with other things, for example a good credit can get you discounts on insurance, or a no annual fee credit card, or otherwise reward you for building up and maintaining a good credit score.

Bad Credit Credit Card

Just because you have bad credit doesn't mean you should suffer offers like the one mentioned in the first paragraph. Often the best thing for you to do is apply at your bank for a secured credit card. This card will give you a low limit and require a security deposit from 25% to 100% of your credit limit, but will also give you an opportunity to re-establish your good credit. Once you have done that, often the banks will extend you more credit and remove the restrictions.

You still need to be careful though. Unsecured offers that come in the mail are usually a lot worse then what you could get at a local bank. If you really need access to a credit card, then go to your bank or credit union and apply there. They'll find something that's appropriate, whether you are looking for a secured or unsecured card. You might even be able to apply for it online.

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Mammon is an experienced financier, and an expert on building good credit. Click here to see his site on bad credit credit cards.