Good Credit? Bad Credit? 4 Types of Credit Cards You Need to Know About

In the market for a credit card? Need more spending power? Here are 4 types of credit cards that you need to know about before you sign up for anything:

1.Unsecured credit cards

The most common credit cards out there, unsecured credit cards are what most people think of when they think of paying with plastic. With unsecured credit cards, you swipe them now and pay the bills later. The credit limit you get depends on your credit history and the card company you’re dealing with.

2.Secured credit cards

Unlike their unsecured counterparts, secured credit cards don’t come with such free spending. Secured credit cards are typically used by people who have bad credit and can’t qualify for traditional unsecured credit cards. Or, they can be used by people who don’t want the temptation of racking up lots of debt.

With secured credit cards, you have to deposit money onto them before you can buy anything. You can deposit as much money as you want, and you can add more anytime you want. However much money you put onto the card becomes your “spending limit”.

Secured credit cards eliminate risk for the credit card company. Since everything is prepaid, the credit card company doesn’t have to front any money on your behalf. That’s why they are so readily available for people with bad credit scores.

On the downside, secured credit cards do not help improve your credit rating. Since you are not responsible for paying anything back, nothing you do with these cards will be reported to the credit bureaus.

As a result, though, these cards don’t require you to pay interest.

3.Low APR credit cards

For people who do have to worry about interest rates, low APR credit cards can be worth their weight in gold. After all, the more interest you have to pay on your purchases, the more money you feel like you’re wasting!

Aside from saving you money, low APR credit cards can also help you get out of debt. By transferring all of your outstanding credit card debts onto low APR credit cards, you can start paying everything off, rather than just having all of your money going towards high interest payments.

4.Cash back credit cards

If you’re going to spend money, why not get something in return for it? That’s the premise of cash back credit cards. With them, you get a percentage of the money you spent returned to you. So, if your cash back credit cards come with a 1% rate, you will get 1% of the amount on your credit card back in the form of cash.

Under the right circumstances, people with both good and bad credit can take advantage of cash back credit cards.

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