Best Credit Cards for Fair Credit

If you have fair credit, it means your score falls between 580 and 669. While you can get a credit card with a score that falls in that range, it will likely come with high-interest rates and you won’t get many of the perks that people with higher scores enjoy. The good news is that if your score falls on the high end of the range, you’re not that far away from entering the “good” credit score range. And once you do, you can begin looking for credit cards that offer more.

When looking for a credit card for fair credit, it’s important to do your research and choose the one that will best benefit you. Benzinga searched for the best credit cards for fair credit and you will find them listed below.  

1. Best for First Credit Card: Capital One Platinum Credit Card

Your first credit card should be recognized everywhere, so you will always have the confidence that you can use it and enjoy the protection that comes from a well-known card issuer. The Capital One Platinum Credit Card offers this recognition and protection. You can tap to pay with the contactless card almost anywhere and enjoy fraud protection in case you lose your card or someone steals it.  

2. Best for No Fees: Petal® 2 “Cash Back, No Fees” Visa® Credit Card

If you’re worried about excessive or surprise fees, the Petal® 2 “Cash Back, No Fees” Visa® Credit card might be a good fit for you. The card charges no fees at all, which makes it a stand-out option in this area. You won’t pay an annual fee with the card and if you’re late on a payment or your payment method is returned, you won’t pay a fee for that either.

3. Best for Travel Cash Back: Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card

While the Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card does charge an annual fee, you can make up for it with the card’s generous unlimited 1.5% cash back. You can apply these rewards to all your travel purchases and much more, and you can even book through Capital One Travel.

4. Best for Easy Application: Avant Credit Card

Applying for the Avant Credit Card consists of filling out a short online application and it only takes minutes to receive your answer. What’s even better is that when you apply for this credit card, the card issuer does not do a hard pull on your credit report. That means that applying for the card is not only easy, but it will not negatively impact your score.

5. Best for Walmart Shopping: Capital One Walmart Rewards® Mastercard®

If you love shopping at Walmart, the Capital One Walmart Rewards® Mastercard® is a card you should consider. This card offers unlimited 5% cash back on Walmart.com purchase including pick up and delivery. 2% cash back on purchases in stores, Murphy USA, Walmart gas stations, restaurants and travel purchases. There is currently an introductory offer of 5% on purchases in Walmart stores for the first 12 months when you use your Walmart Pay. Because you can purchase groceries at Walmart, this is a great card that allows you to earn cash back for everyday purchases.  

6. Best for Building Credit: Mission Lane Cash Back Visa® Credit Card

If you’re looking to build or rebuild your credit, the Mission Lane Cash Back Visa® Credit Card could be a great choice. When you carry this card, you will have access to your credit score anytime – and the positive changes that come from paying your payment on time every month – as well as educational tools to help build your credit. And the card reports your payments to the three major credit reporting agencies which will help build your credit as you make your on-time payments over time.

7. Best for Students: Capital One Journey Student Rewards

The Capital One Journey Student Rewards credit card is an excellent card for students or young adults who are trying to build their credit and want the luxury of getting cash back on their purchases. This is a starter card with a high-interest rate, but unlike similar cards, it gives you the option of earning unlimited 1% cash back and 1.25% cash back that month when you make your payment on-time. And when you pay the card on time, the amount of cash back that you can earn increases. This helps build the good habits that are required for a great credit score.

How to Improve Your Fair Credit Score

When you have a fair credit score, you won’t have access to the best reward credit cards or those that offer lower APRs. That’s why improving your fair credit score is so important. Here are some things you can do to improve your score.

Understand How You Got Here

Sometimes people with a fair credit score have it because they’re just starting on their credit journey and don’t have enough history to justify a higher score. Others with a fair credit score have it because they experienced a financial setback that damaged their credit score. Whatever your reason, it’s important to understand it, so that you can work toward improving it.

Know Your Debt-To-Income Ratio

Your Debt-To-Income (DTI) ratio is a picture of how much debt you have in comparison to your income. Many lenders use this ratio when deciding whether or not to lend money to consumers, and if you want to improve your fair credit score, you should understand your DTI. To get yours, add up all of your monthly bills and then divide that number by your income before taxes. The percentage you get is your DTI. As you pay off your debt, your DTI will improve.

Make Your Payments on Time  

When you make your credit card payments, most card issuers report this activity to the three major credit reporting agencies. If you make your payments on time, the activity will boost your credit score. But remember, if you miss a payment or are late, the card issuers will report that too, and it will negatively affect your score. One way to ensure that you always make your payments on time is to set up automatic payments for your bills.

Keep Your Credit Utilization Low

Another thing that contributes to your credit score is how much of your available credit you use. For instance, if you have $3,000 in credit and only use $300 of it that means your credit utilization is only 10%. To improve your fair credit score, try to limit the amount of credit you use to 30% of your total available credit.

What is Considered Fair Credit?

Depending on the credit scoring company, fair credit scores range from 580 to 669. For instance, FICO® rates credit scores between 580 and 669 to be fair. But VantageScore rates scores between 601 and 660 as fair. Ultimately, the credit card issuer will determine whether your score is high enough to qualify for its credit card, but if your score falls within this range, most will consider it a fair credit score.

Lenders consider borrowers that have fair credit scores to be below the national average. But a good credit score begins at 670, so if you’re near the top of the range, it won’t take too much work to move to a better credit score.

How to Choose a Credit Card for Fair Credit

When choosing a credit card for fair credit, you should look for a card that fits your lifestyle and goals. Here are some of the things to look for.

Fees

When you’re building your credit, credit cards that don’t have an annual fee or other fees are a bonus. That’s because the cards will allow you to use them to build your credit without having to pay for the privilege. Also, because credit cards for fair credit don’t typically offer a lot of rewards and perks, it makes sense that you shouldn’t have to pay a lot of fees.

Perks

Speaking of perks, you won’t get a lot of them with fair credit, but you can find credit cards that offer them. In the list above, we highlight some credit cards for fair credit that offer cash back for things like shopping at Walmart or traveling. And others offer perks that will help you improve your credit score such as access to your credit score, applications that don’t ping your credit score, and reporting to the credit bureaus when you make payments.

APRs

Just because people with fair credit can expect to pay higher interest rates on their credit cards, that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t shop around for the best rates they can find. Credit cards for people with fair credit differ in the rates they offer, so be sure to check the rates for all the cards you look at and choose the card that offers you the lowest rate when applying for a credit card.

Card Limits for Fair Credit

Credit card limits are the amount of credit that the card issuer extends to you, and you cannot spend more than your limit on your card. For instance, if you have a $1,000 credit limit, that means once you charge that amount, you will not be able to use your card until you pay down the balance.

Credit limits differ for various credit scores, and typically, the lower your credit score, the lower your credit limit. That’s one of the reasons why it’s smart to improve your credit score. But if you have fair credit, you can typically expect a limit between $300 and $5,000 on your credit card. The amount will depend on your circumstances and the decision of the credit card company.

Many credit card issuers will raise the credit card limits of people who make their monthly payments on time, every month. Be sure to speak with your credit card issuer and ask if that’s a possibility if you want more credit in the future.

Frequently Asked Questions