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Cards Reviewed
- 5 Tips to get a credit card easily
- Easiest credit cards to get approved for in 2024
- Easiest credit cards to get compared
- Methodology
- Sources
- About the author
- User questions & answers
5 Tips to Get a Credit Card Easily
You already have a major head start when it comes to finding an easy credit card to get. But we Hubsters are generous, so here are a few more pointers to ensure success.
- Check Your Credit & Cash – You can’t know what you need without first assessing what you have. So check your credit score, review your free credit report and take stock of how much money you can attribute to monthly credit card payments. This will help narrow your options a lot as well as pay dividends in terms of account management.
- Compare, Compare, Compare – Once you know what type of credit card you need, figure out which terms are most important to you – no fee, rewards, 0% APR, etc. Then directly compare offers until you find one that closest fits your ideal.
- Start with a Secured Card – The easiest credit cards to get are secured credit cards with no credit check such as the OpenSky® Plus Secured Visa® Credit Card because mistakes from the past or a limited credit history won't prevent you from being approved. The OpenSky Plus Card is an especially good choice because it has a $0 annual fee. It also reports monthly to the major credit bureaus, allowing you to build credit.
Getting a secured card will enable you to start the credit-building process as soon as possible. It will also give you complete control over your spending limit and help you avoid racking up debt, since your limit usually equals the amount of your security deposit. A secured card obviously won’t give you an emergency loan, though.Unfortunately, decent unsecured credit cards for people with bad credit don’t really exist. They tend to charge high non-refundable fees and even higher interest rates in return for only a small amount of borrowing power. That’s why we always recommend biting the bullet and placing a deposit on a secured card.
- Don't Forget Store Cards – Retailer-affiliated credit cards are surprisingly useful credit-improvement tools. They’re usually available to anyone with fair credit or better. And hardly any of them charge annual fees. Plus, the best of the bunch offer some really great rewards.
- Get Your Priorities Straight – When credit-improvement is your top priority, a low annual fee (or no annual fee) is the most important thing to look for in a credit card. Most credit-score damage involves missed payments, after all. So you should try to save as much money as possible, if only to build an emergency fund.
Besides, if you have bad credit, you’re unlikely to qualify for good enough rewards or a low enough interest rate to warrant paying an annual fee when fee-free options are available.
Keep these pointers in mind as you contemplate which card to apply for. For your convenience, we put together a quick recap of our top picks, which you can check out below.
Easiest Credit Cards to Get Approved for in 2024
OpenSky® Plus Secured Visa® Credit Card
The OpenSky® Plus Secured Visa® Credit Card is the easiest credit card to get because applicants don’t have to pass a credit check.
Credit One Bank® Platinum Visa® for Rebuilding Credit
The Credit One Bank® Platinum Visa® for Rebuilding Credit is one of the easiest unsecured credit cards to get because it is available to people with bad credit. It also has manageable fees, and cardholders get a credit limit of $300 to start with.
Petal® 2 Visa® Credit Card
The Petal 2 Credit Card is the easiest credit card to get with no annual fee and rewards. Cardholders earn at least 1 - 1.5% cash back on all eligible purchases.
Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card
The Capital One Quicksilver Secured card is one of the easiest credit cards to get after bankruptcy. Its only requirement in that regard is that your bankruptcy case can’t be ongoing. Capital One Quicksilver Secured (see Rates & Fees) also is easy to get overall by virtue of being a secured card.
Capital One SavorOne Student Cash Rewards Credit Card
The Capital One SavorOne Student Cash Rewards Credit Card (see Rates & Fees) is an easy credit card for students to get. It’s also one of the best, rewarding users with 1 - 8% cash back on purchases, plus an initial bonus, and not charging an annual fee.
Capital One Platinum Credit Card
The Capital One Platinum Credit Card (see Rates & Fees) is an easy credit card for people with limited or no credit history to get. It also charges a $0 annual fee.
First Progress Platinum Elite Mastercard® Secured Credit Card
The First Progress Platinum Elite Card has some of the lowest approval requirements among secured cards, according to WalletHub’s research. Applicants don’t even need a bank account to get approved.
Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card
The Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card (see Rates & Fees) is meant for people with limited or fair credit history, and it’s an excellent option to consider. Although Capital One QuicksilverOne charges an annual fee, it offers above-average rewards that can make it worth the cost.
Easiest Credit Cards to Get Compared
| Card Name | Editor’s Rating | Best For | Annual Fee | APR |
| OpenSky® Plus Secured Visa® Credit Card | 4.5/5 | Easiest to Get | $0 | 29.99% (V) |
| Petal® 2 Visa® Credit Card | 5/5 | No Annual Fee | $0 | 18.24% - 32.24% (V) |
| Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card (see Rates & Fees) | 5/5 | After Bankruptcy | $0 | 30.74% (V) |
| Capital One Platinum Credit Card (see Rates & Fees) | 5/5 | No Credit | $0 | 30.74% (V) |
| Capital One SavorOne Student Cash Rewards Credit Card (see Rates & Fees) | 4.7/5 | Students | $0 | 19.99% - 29.99% (V) |
| First Progress Platinum Elite Mastercard® Secured Credit Card | 3.7/5 | No Bank Account | $29 | 25.24% (V) |
| Credit One Bank® Platinum Visa® for Rebuilding Credit | 3/5 | Unsecured | $75 intro 1st yr, $99 after | 29.74% (V) |
| Amazon Secured Credit Card | N/A | Online Shopping | $0 | 10% |
Methodology for Selecting the Easiest Credit Cards
How Two-Year Cost Is Calculated
Two-year cost is used to approximate the monetary value of cards for better comparison and is calculated by combining annual and monthly membership fees over two years, adding any one-time fees or other fees (like balance transfer fees), adding any interest costs, and subtracting rewards. Negative amounts indicate savings. When fees or other terms are presented as a range, we use the midpoint for scoring purposes.
Rewards bonuses and credits have been taken into account for two-year cost calculations. However, bonuses applicable to only a very small portion of cardholders are not considered. For example, credits and bonuses awarded for spending or redeeming rewards through a company portal with non-co-branded cards have not been taken into account. Similarly, bonuses and credits related to spending with specific merchants using a non-co-branded card have not been taken into account (for example, if Card A offers credits with DoorDash, this feature would not be factored into calculations because it is hard to assess how many cardholders would use the benefit or exactly how much value they'd get from it).
Cardholder Spending Profiles
Given that people have differing goals and are likely to use their credit cards differently, we identified spending profiles that are representative of people’s varied financial priorities and behaviors. For each cardholder type, we have assumed a specific amount of monthly spending by purchase type (e.g., groceries, gas, etc.), as well as an average balance, balance transfer amount, amount spent on large purchases and average monthly payment. Spending assumptions are based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for consumers and PEX data for businesses.
Sources
WalletHub actively maintains a database of 1,500+ credit card offers, from which we select the easiest credit cards to get for different applicants as well as derive market-wide takeaways and trends. The underlying data is compiled from credit card company websites or provided directly by the credit card issuers. We also leverage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to develop cardholder profiles, used to estimate cards’ potential savings.
In case you’re interested in another option, we recommend…
Capital One Spark Classic for Business (see Rates & Fees)
This card provides a healthy 1% cash back earning rate across all purchases and does not charge an annual fee. Most importantly, it’s available to small business owners with limited or average credit history.