# Easy-to-get Credit Cards? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 19, 2006, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-to-get-credit-cards/345185 "2006-02-19T06:59:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-to-get-credit-cards/345185/1 "2006-02-19T06:59:08Z")
My friend is in dire need of building up some credit. His best bet is getting a low-limit, unsecured credit card and making regular charges and paying them off on time and in full. My brother did this a year or so ago and it’s worked great for him. He’s been able to get higher limits and raise his credit score. My friend has tried a few cards and got denied. I’m not going to get into his credit history - from what he tells me he doesn’t have anything horrible on his report but was careless with his credit as a younger man and it apparently has made him a bad risk. Have any of you with bad credit been able to get one of these low-limit (and high interest) cards? We need some recommendations for places he can apply with a good chance of getting accepted so he doesn’t keep applying willy-nilly, thus comprimising his score more. Oh, and I guess he’s convinced that “secured” credit cards (I think that’s what they are - the ones you have to pay for?) are a bad idea and doesn’t want to try them. ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-to-get-credit-cards/345185/2 "2006-02-19T09:31:08Z")
Secured cards are a great way to start building credit. You give them $500 and you get a credit line of $500. I used to have one and the rates were far better than a crap high-interest, yearly fee card. At the end of the year (or whatever their terms) the $500 can be transfered into the card to pay it off or kept in the saving account where it’s been living. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-to-get-credit-cards/345185/3 "2006-02-19T19:05:39Z")
> [@Seven](#): > > Secured cards are a great way to start building credit. You give them $500 and you get a credit line of $500. I used to have one and the rates were far better than a crap high-interest, yearly fee card. > > At the end of the year (or whatever their terms) the $500 can be transfered into the card to pay it off or kept in the saving account where it’s been living. Interesting. I haven’t looked into these myself at all. My friend is indeed one to call stuff “crap” prematurely. So unless you screw something up, you don’t lose your $500 you just don’t have access to it until the end of your terms? And the card works just like a regular credit card? And anyone can get them? ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-to-get-credit-cards/345185/4 "2006-02-19T19:20:11Z")
[Here’s some info](http://www.consumer-action.org/archives/English/library/credit_cards/2002_Secured_CreditCard/index.php?English/library/credit_cards/2002_Secured_CreditCard/index.php) on secured cards. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-to-get-credit-cards/345185/5 "2006-02-19T19:55:33Z")
Also I have heard that people recommend not paying the ballance in full each month, but everything I see is that this does not help, it just cost you money. What they are looking for is a monthly payment pattern. It doesn’t matter if you do this by paying partial payments, or charging something every month and paying the entire ballance every month. Either way it shows a monthly payment on time. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-to-get-credit-cards/345185/6 "2006-02-19T21:03:04Z")
Thanks\*\* FCM\*\* i sent him that link. If _I_ were him I would get one of those. I’m trying to talk him into it.