If you have a poor credit score than you may be looking for poor credit rating credit cards and while these do exist they usually have some drawbacks that the average consumer isn’t comfortable with. There are few options for cards for poor credit rating, especially if we are talking about actual credit cards rather than debit cards. Many people get confused on what the difference is so for those who don’t know we will explain what a debit card is and how it differs from a credit card. We’ll also discuss what types of credit cards are available for those who have poor credit.

Credit cards for poor credit rating are entirely different from debit cards that you prepay, or put money on, or debit cards that are issued by your local bank or financial institution. It is extremely easy to get a debit card, and any bank will give you one assuming you haven’t had a bad bank account in the past seven years. However, the money in your account or on the card is what you can spend. There is no credit limit. Don’t get these debit cards confused with credit cards for people with poor credit rating, because they are two completely different financial animals.

The first thing to check is exactly what your credit score is, and what kinds of debts are on there, and how old they are. You may be able to quality for a regular credit card and not even know it. Generally a company will want a credit score of about 700 to quality for a decent credit card. However, they may take a little lower credit score with other factors. Income is one of those as well as stability on the job and in the home. If you can show that you have the money to pay for the card and will have in the future they may take a chance on you even with a bit lower credit score than they want.

Of course these credit cards for poor credit rating will have a higher interest rate then the standard credit card and so you’ll have to suffer with that, as well as possibly paying annual fees or some kind of fee to have the card. Sometimes there are even programs that help you to fix your credit while using the card, where they take you by the hand and teach you how to use your card responsibly while reporting the good payments you make to the credit bureaus. This is an option if you need a credit card poor credit rating stopping you from getting a card from a regular financial institution.

Another type of credit cards for people with poor credit rating are the secured credit cards. These are often confused with pre-paid debit cards, but they are nothing like it. A secured credit card is one that has a line of credit equal to the amount of cash that you deposit with the company. You use the card as a regular credit card and pay the bill each month. If you are good with the card for a certain period your cash deposit is returned to you. If you don’t then you still get reported for not paying the debt and the company keeps your cash deposit. This is a great way to build your credit so always pay your secured card off each month in full.