Those with weak credit (FICO scores of 629 or below) may find credit cards promoting "no credit check" enticing. Applying for these cards will not influence the applicant's credit ratings. However, these cards often come with exorbitant fees and interest rates, which is where the term "fee-harvester cards" comes from.
They could allow you to avoid having a hard pull placed on your credit report, but it will cost you more money in the long run. However, certain credit card firms, particularly more recent newcomers in the industry, are emphasizing that they do not check applicants' credit and do not charge any fees of any type.
To summarize, if you have low credit, the only alternatives you used to have were fee-harvester cards and regular secured credit cards. These days, you have more choices. The following are the best cards with no credit check and either have low or no annual fees.
Chime Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card
- Credit check: None.
- Security deposit: There is no need to make an initial security deposit. The amount that you transfer to your protected account will serve as the basis for determining your credit limit.
- Fees: None.
- APR: None.
Why We Like It
Traditional secured credit cards come with several restrictions that the Chime Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card circumvents. This card is designed for those with weak or no credit. To get the card, you need to have Chime Account, which gives you the ability to receive direct payments. To demonstrate that you have access to a source of revenue, you will be required to have a minimum of $200 in direct deposits made to Chime Account within previous year.
On the other hand, this card does not call for upfront deposit as many other credit cards do, which means that you will not be required to pay an additional $200 that will be locked up and unavailable for an unspecified period.
You are also in charge of determining how much money you will spend. The amount of money you transfer from your Chime Account into your Credit Builder-protected account determines how much of a credit limit you have. Therefore, if you transfer, for example, $25 to your protected account, you will be allowed to use the card to make purchases up to that amount. You may use money in secured account to pay off amount, which will help you develop credit.
If you used secured card to spend $15 on petrol, you could use the $25 that you transferred to secured account to pay off $15 you spent on gas. Your payments are regularly reported to the three main credit reporting agencies, Experian and TransUnion. These firms are responsible for gathering the data to determine your credit scores.
Tomo Credit Card
- Credit check: None.
- Security deposit: None.
- Fees: None.
- APR: None.
Why We Like It
People with low credit scores or no credit history are good candidates for the Tomo Credit Card, which Community Federal Savings Bank provides. Depending on your eligibility, you have a credit limit of up to $10,000 with this card and earn 1% cash back on all purchases. TomoCredit, the firm that issued the card, has developed a unique algorithm that evaluates various data points, such as income (or projected income), account balances, and contact information. The financial institution will evaluate you based on these details to see whether you are a suitable candidate for the credit card.
You need to connect at least one account to Plaid, a third-party service provider, to give this information. You can link a checking account, savings account, investment account, or any other account that is qualified. When building credit, having a feature that ensures payments are recorded to the three main credit agencies is an absolute must.
Grow Credit Mastercard
- Credit check: The organization does a light credit check, which does not affect your credit score.
- APR: None.
Why We Like It
Sutton Bank has created a virtual credit card called the Grow Credit Mastercard geared toward those with low credit scores or no credit history. Grow Credit's patented algorithm considers a customer's income when determining whether or not they are creditworthy. Plaid asks you to connect a bank account so the firm can properly evaluate the information you provide.
