Credit Card Blog

If you were offered a credit card with a $100 credit limit, but knew that you would have to pay a $100 activation fee in addition to monthly payments and high interest rates, you’d likely turn up your nose and take your business elsewhere.

Sadly, millions of sub-prime card holders are agreeing to these atrocious terms. They fear that their lack of credit, or bad credit, will prevent them from obtaining a more traditional credit card. College students are prime targets for fee-harvesting card marketing. Their biggest mistake is failing to read the terms and conditions of the credit card before signing a contract. Some of these cards offer credit limits as low as fifty dollars. If students and other potential card holders were to read the terms carefully, they’d do the smart thing and walk away.

It’s true that poor or no credit will have an impact on your interest rate when you sign up for a credit card. But even people with the lowest credit scores can do better than a fee-harvester. If you’re in need of a credit card while you build or repair your credit, talk to your bank. If you’ve done business with them for a while, they will likely work with you and extend you credit. There are plenty of ways to get a credit card if you have bad credit. Do your homework, and don’t fall for cards that sound too easy to be true. Chances are, they’re not a very good deal.