Writer: Eric Bank
Editor: Lillian Guevara-Castro
Reviewer: Ashley Fricker
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I recently spoke to a friend’s son about credit cards that don’t do a hard pull. The young lad was a little depressed after experiencing several credit card rejections, but he cheered up when he learned about credit cards that don’t require a credit check.
He was happy to plunk down a $200 deposit and now has a secured credit card. His father was grateful — I think.
If you have bad or limited credit, a card that doesn’t require a credit check can get you into the game. Use it responsibly, and you’ll be stepping up to more rewarding cards before you know it.
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Credit Cards That Don’t Check Your Credit History
These cards don’t require credit checks and can help cardholders build credit (or rebuild credit from past mistakes). Their deposits are the small price of admission to get on the path to better credit when you use them responsibly.
- No minimum balance requirements*
- No credit check**
- 2% cash back on category of choice with direct deposit***
- The perks of credit building meet the best of banking****
- Chime Checking Account required to apply for the Chime Visa® Credit Card
Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. or Stride Bank, N.A., Members FDIC. The secured Chime Visa® Credit Card is issued by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. or Stride Bank, N.A. pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. and may be used everywhere Visa credit cards are accepted. Please see the back of your Card for its issuing bank.
*Money added to Chime CardTM will be held in a secured deposit account as collateral for your Chime Card, and you can spend up to this amount. You can use money deposited in your Secured Deposit Account to pay off your charges at the end of every month.
**Out-of-network ATM withdrawal and over the counter advance fees may apply.
***With a qualifying direct deposit, earn 2% cash back on category of choice on eligible secured Chime Visa® Credit Card purchases.
****On-time payment history may have a positive impact on your credit score. Late payment may negatively impact your credit score. Results may vary.
The secured Chime Visa® Credit Card doesn’t require a hard pull of your credit to apply, although you will need to have a Chime Checking Account. This secured credit card can help build credit by reporting your on-time payments to all three major credit bureaus.
By using your card responsibly, you can watch your credit score gradually improve. Plus, with no annual fees, you’ll save money as you work towards better financial health.
- Earn up to 10% cash back on everyday purchases
- No credit check required – 89% approval rate with zero credit risk to apply!
- Boost your credit score fast—2 out of 3 opensky® cardholders see an average increase of 47 points after 6 months
- Track your progress with free access to your FICO® score in our mobile app
- Build your credit history with reporting to all three major credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion
- Seamless payments—add your card to Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay
- Start with just $200—secure your credit line with a refundable deposit
- Fast and easy application—apply in minutes with our mobile-first experience
- Flexible payment options—pick a due date that works for you
- More time to fund—spread your security deposit over 60 days with layaway
- Join 2 million+ cardholders who have used opensky® to build better credit!
The opensky® Secured Visa® Credit Card will let you earn a higher credit limit or graduate to an unsecured card in as few as six months. This no-credit-check Visa credit card offers low interest rates and fees, fraud protection, and email alerts.
It only takes four short steps to apply for this soft pull credit card, and you can set your credit limit anywhere between $200 and $3,000, subject to the approval of the issuing bank, Capital Bank N.A.
- Now offering Up To 10% Cash Back at select merchants with First Progress! Plus, 1% back when you make payments!^^
- A $200 refundable deposit is your first step toward better credit!
- Apply with no impact to your credit!2
- Build your credit history across 3 major credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.¹
- All credit types welcome to apply!
- ¹Cardholders who keep their balance low and pay their credit card bill on time every month typically do see an increase in their credit score.
- 2We may pull a soft inquiry of your credit. Soft inquiries do not impact your credit score.
- ^^The 10% cash back rate is available only at a limited number of participating merchants. Offer percentages vary by merchant and are subject to change. See First Progress Rewards Program Terms & Conditions for details.
- *See Important Disclosures for complete offer details
The First Progress Prestige Secured Mastercard® welcomes applicants of any credit stripe and doesn’t require a minimum credit score to apply. It is designed for those who want to build credit and once approved, you can fund your deposit over 90 days.
Similar to others on this list, the First Progress Prestige Secured Mastercard® card ensures your payments are reported to all three major credit bureaus. While it offers a low variable APR, it also has a $49 annual fee that reduces your credit limit.
Alternative Cards For Bad Credit That Allow You to Prequalify
If you’d prefer to own an unsecured credit card, these cards offer easy prequalification to folks with subprime or thin credit. Although prequalifying for a credit card offer doesn’t guarantee final approval, it won’t hurt your credit score to try.
Because these cards are unsecured, they carry higher costs than similar secured cards for bad credit. None is a cash rewards credit card — you won’t find a good travel or business credit card in the lot, nor any student credit cards.
- Up to $1,000 Initial Credit Limit
- See if you Pre-Qualify with No Impact to your Credit Score
- Less than perfect credit? We understand. The Surge Mastercard is ideal for people looking to rebuild their credit.
- Unsecured credit card requires No Security Deposit
- Perfect card for everyday purchases and unexpected expenses
- Monthly reporting to the three major credit bureaus
- Use your card everywhere Mastercard is accepted at millions of locations
- Enjoy peace of mind with Mastercard Zero Liability Protection for unauthorized purchases (subject to Mastercard guidelines)
- Apply with Confidence! There is no impact to your credit score if you’re not approved. See terms.
The Surge® Platinum Mastercard® from Continental Finance protects you from bogus charges with Mastercard’s Zero Liability Protection. You can access its mobile app to check due dates, view statements, pay bills, and verify direct deposits.
OneMain BrightWay® Card
This card is currently not available.
The OneMain BrightWay® Card allows you to earn cash back rewards while building your credit. You can check to see if you are pre-approved for the card without impacting your credit, and you can easily manage your account through the BrightWay App.
- Up to $1,000 Initial Credit Limit
- See if you Pre-Qualify with No Impact to your Credit Score
- Less than perfect credit? We understand. The Reflex Mastercard is ideal for people looking to rebuild their credit.
- Unsecured credit card requires No Security Deposit
- Perfect card for everyday purchases and unexpected expenses
- Monthly reporting to the three major credit bureaus
- Use your card everywhere Mastercard is accepted at millions of locations
- Enjoy peace of mind with Mastercard Zero Liability Protection for unauthorized purchases (subject to Mastercard guidelines)
- Apply with Confidence! There is no impact to your credit score if you’re not approved. See terms.
The Reflex® Platinum Mastercard®, also from Continental Finance, is virtually identical to the Surge® Platinum Mastercard®. It offers strong fraud protection and waives its monthly maintenance fee for the first year.
What Is a Hard Pull?
A credit inquiry (or pull) occurs when someone requests a copy of your credit report from a major credit bureau (i.e., Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion). The bureaus keep track of these requests and classify them as hard or soft pulls.
A hard pull is a credit inquiry you allow creditors and lenders to conduct when you apply for a new account. All other pulls, including those you make for your personal report, are considered soft inquiries.
Hard pulls remain on your credit reports for two years and slightly decrease your credit score for up to one year. Soft pulls do not affect your score, and only you can see them on your credit reports.
So, why do hard pulls hurt your credit while soft pulls do not? The answer lies in how your credit score is calculated.
FICO, the dominant scoring system for consumer credit, recognizes five factors that affect scores. The FICO scoring range runs from 300 (worst credit) to 850 (perfect credit).
| FICO Score Categories | Score Range |
|---|---|
| Exceptional | 800-850 |
| Very Good | 740-799 |
| Good | 670-739 |
| Fair | 580-669 |
| Poor | Below 580 |
The “new credit” factor accounts for 10% of your credit score and is the one that responds to hard inquiries. FICO considers each hard inquiry to be a credit application you submitted.
Hard pulls can lower your score because FICO links frequent requests for new credit (more than once every six months or so) to financial stress and a higher risk of default.
Can You Get Approved For a Credit Card Without a Hard Inquiry?
Most credit card issuers perform a hard pull on your credit when you apply for one of their cards. But they don’t submit a hard inquiry when you attempt to prequalify for a card.
Here’s the thing: credit card companies want you to choose their cards, so they offer a hassle-free way to see if you qualify. They’re hoping that once you prequalify, you’ll go ahead and apply, even if it might slightly impact your score.
What’s remarkable about the opensky® Secured Visa® Credit Card is that it doesn’t perform hard inquiries on applicants.
Other secured credit cards may also avoid hard pulls, but this card is the only one that publicly commits to it and saves you the prequalification step.
FICO calculates 35% of your credit score from your payment history and 30% from the amount of credit you use. Creditors and lenders that don’t do hard credit pulls usually don’t report your payments to the credit bureaus, thereby preventing your behavior from helping (or harming) your credit score. Rest assured that this card will report your payments to all three credit bureaus, even though it doesn’t require a hard inquiry for approval.
Does Preapproved Mean No Credit Check?
Preapproval and prequalification mean the same thing, and the terms are used interchangeably by credit card companies. “No credit check” usually connotes a credit card issuer that doesn’t do a hard credit pull when you apply for a card.
Almost all card issuers skip a credit check at the preapproval stage but then pull your credit when you apply. Only a couple are no-credit-check cards, the cards that don’t pull your credit when you apply.
In this review, the two secured credit cards are no-credit-check cards; the others aren’t.
Now, let’s compare this to the mortgage world. When shopping for a home, getting preapproved for a specific mortgage amount can give you a competitive edge. Banks and mortgage lenders always perform hard credit checks before granting mortgage preapprovals and set an expiration date by which you’ll need to convert it into a full mortgage application.
When you subsequently apply for a mortgage on the property you want, the lender may do another credit check to see if anything has changed since you were preapproved.
Do Credit Card Preapprovals Hurt Your Credit?
The point behind the preapproval process is to shield your credit score from harm as you find out whether you prequalify for a credit card. Credit card companies can preapprove consumers because doing so does not guarantee final approval. In other words, the card issuers have nothing to lose by offering the prequalification step.
And, to the extent that successful prequalification encourages consumers to apply for the card, the issuers have a lot to gain.
Think of preapproval as a smart marketing tactic. It’s a way to attract potential customers and guide them through a process, ultimately turning them into new cardholders. By engaging consumers, preapproval creates leads that issuers hope will turn into actual sales.
The strategy is similar to the one that issuers of student credit cards use to instill young adults with brand loyalty.
Lest the issuers sound too cynical, consumers also benefit from credit card preapproval:
- It can serve as a way to learn more about a credit card without committing to it. The credit card company must disclose a card’s rates and terms when attempting to prequalify, allowing you to comparison shop.
- You may not receive preapproval, at which point you’ll know it’s futile to apply for the card and can prevent a slight credit score decline.
- It takes money for the card companies to check credit, money they will save if they deny a preapproval to unqualified consumers. This arrangement leaves more cash for the issuers to improve their cards, which generally benefits consumers.
The bottom line is that credit card preapproval serves the interests of consumers and credit card issuers alike. This is why all the best credit card issuers offer it (including American Express and Capital One).
Can You Get Denied After Preapproval?
As previously stated, preapproval does not guarantee final approval. When you attempt to prequalify for a credit card offer, the issuer will review your basic information, including your age and residence, without a hard credit inquiry.
If you then apply for the card, the issuer will pull your credit (the two reviewed secured cards excepted) and receive additional information about your finances, employment, and credit history. It’s always possible that the issuer will uncover facts that cause it to deny your application.
If the issuer turns you down, it must send you an adverse action notice telling you why it denied your application and the source of the information on which it based its decision. Be smart and use the information in the notice to clean up your credit. The effort may require you to check your credit reports for errors, a task you can do yourself or farm out to a credit repair agency.
If you have no luck obtaining an unsecured credit card, consider a secured card instead. These cards have easier acceptance standards since you must deposit collateral to secure your credit line.
What Credit Score Is Required For Approval?
There is a credit card out there for just about any credit score. The two reviewed secured cards don’t check credit at all, and many secured cards have lenient approval criteria.
The alternative unsecured cards in this review welcome applicants with bad credit (i.e., FICO scores below 580) and approve a fair share.
Certain issuers are willing to accept low scores because they have taken steps to mitigate financial losses from cardmember defaults. There are two basic methods at work:
- Secured cards: Issuers can access your security deposit if you fail to pay your bill. This collateral protects them from loss if they must cancel your Account.
- Unsecured cards for poor credit: Issuers protect themselves by collecting high fees, including a setup and annual fee (the annual fee can run as high as $99). They couple these charges with a low credit limit (as low as $200) and a high interest rate (up to 36% APR). By collecting upfront money and limiting capital at risk, these issuers can afford to take chances that larger credit card companies cannot.
The point is not to be discouraged if an issuer denies your card application. We review dozens of subprime cards each year, and one may be a perfect fit. In addition, you can take steps to improve your credit, as we describe next.
How Do I Use My Card to Rebuild Credit?
The key to building credit is responsible behavior, starting with paying your bills on time, every time. Nothing destroys credit faster than failing to pay your bills, which is often a gateway to more severe events, including default, collection, property repossession, and bankruptcy.
You can also use a credit card that offers balance transfers to consolidate credit card debt instead of relying on a personal loan. Consolidation alone won’t improve your credit, but it does make it easier to pay down your debt.
A card that offers a 0% introductory interest rate for balance transfers can cost less than a consolidation personal loan. Your credit score should improve as your credit utilization ratio (i.e., the total credit you are currently using divided by the total credit available to you) falls below 30%.
There are a couple of other ways to use credit cards to enhance your credit. First, keep old card accounts open because FICO views long-standing accounts positively. Second, avoid opening new accounts too frequently, ideally no more than every six months. While these tactics are minor contributors to your credit score, they can still be beneficial.
Credit Cards That Don’t Do a Hard Pull Are Easy To Get
The reviewed credit card that doesn’t do a hard pull is easy to obtain. It is a secured card that requires a relatively small deposit and welcomes credit profiles of every stripe, from poor credit to fair credit to good credit.
You can also apply to an issuer of subprime unsecured credit cards, including those described in this article. Although these issuers will likely pull your credit, they will also look for ways to accommodate your application.
One way or another, most consumers can acquire a credit card, even if it is not particularly attractive. Use it to build credit, and over time, you’ll have access to better cards (from the best credit card issuers, including Citi, Chase, and Capital One) with handsome rewards and benefits.
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