One of the best deals around for those looking to rebuild their credit scores through credit use is the Classic Secured Visa credit card from the Public Savings Bank. It requires no initial credit check for approval and then reports monthly to the three main credit bureaus. The good part is that although it carries a one off set up fee of $75, it has no annual fees or processing fees attached, whilst most secured cards do have annual fees to service.
You can open the card with a security deposit which reflects your credit limit dollar for dollar. The initial deposit can be between $300 to $3000 dollars, giving you a credit limit equal to your deposit. It is best to determine in advance how much available credit you will need, as there is a $25 fee to increase your credit limit even though you will also be increasing your security deposit to do so.
Always remember that when you take a card to increase your credit score, that ideally you should not use more than 30% of your credit limit at any one time, so if you opt for $400 as a credit limit it effectively gives you just $130 of available credit for score enhancement. However the Public Savings Bank does not pay interest on your security deposit. If you do choose this secured visa card then be patient: there is absolutely no point in paying the $75 fee to have the card rushed out to you.
Currently the card offers 0% APR for the first 6 months, at which time it changes to the variable rate which is 11.24%. This will vary of course with interest rate movement, but the card is quite unique in not imposing a penalty APR. The bank also guarantees that the variable APR will never rise above 18%, whilst other comparable cards put this figure at 35%. Penalty fees apply for late payments and are set at either $20 or 3.5%, based on the highest figure.
There will always be a number of people of who take this type of card as a means to obtain credit at any cost, and will continue to mishandle their credit use, giving secured credit cards a bad name. However used sensibly for credit rebuilding there should not be a stigma attached to secured credit cards, and the Public Savings bank recognize this and when they report your card activity to the three main credit bureaus they do not reveal the status of the card as secured.
All things considered this is one of the best secured cards on the market as if you plan your necessary credit limit ahead there is only the one off set up fee to pay, rather than the recurring annual fees and processing fees which other banks charge.