Credit Tips: How to Obtain a Credit Card with No Credit

Posted On: January 1, 2006

Author: Crystal Conte
Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2004 10:32 am
Post subject: How to Obtain a Credit Card with No Credit

2/28/2002 8:08 pm CDT

I have no credit, how can I obtain a credit card? I’ve tried several but get turned down because of no credit history. I am 18.

Author: Steve in VA
Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2004 10:33 am
Post subject: How to Obtain a Credit Card with No Credit

2/28/2002 9:38 pm CDT

I had the same problem when I was younger and got a secured card through First Consumers National Bank (go to www.fcnb.com). The way it works is you open a savings account with their bank, then they issue a card to you with a credit limit equal to the balance in your savings account. If you ever refuse to pay back the balance on your card for some reason, they just keep your savings account, so there’s no risk to them at all. You can increase your credit limit by sending them more money to add to your savings account.

After you establish a good payment history with them (usually in 1-2 years), they will change the card to an unsecured status and refund your savings account balance to you.

There are other secured card issuers out there as well, but FCNB is one of the larger ones. Just go to Yahoo and type in “secured credit cards” to find others. Good luck.