When applying for a credit card the one thing that you need to be aware of is that there are both unsecured and secured versions of this handy product. Unsecured credit cards are the most common type to be issued; you can even find unsecured credit cards for people with bad credit. Most people aren’t even familiar with the term unsecured credit cards because this is the only type of plastic they are familiar with.

An unsecured credit card is the type of that is issued based on your credit rating, if you don’t match up to the requirements of the issuers you will be declined. With unsecured credit you do not have to put any money down to open the account, while if you have to pay any money upfront for the account that is known as a secured credit card. Unsecured credit cards rely on your promise to repay the amount that you have put on credit based on your credit risk, which makes finding one of these very difficult for people with bad credit.

When looking for unsecured plastic, just like those searching for auto loans bad credit it can be pretty hard to find a suitable deal. The terms and conditions are going to be worse than most other people are going to have to put up with due to the fact that you represent a bigger risk to the lender. If you do qualify for an unsecured card you are going to end up paying very high interest rates. The bad part about applying for unsecured credit cards is that there is no interest rate cap, so the credit card companies can charge you ridiculously high amounts of interest to punish you for your past financial mistakes.

Despite the high interest rates and the arduous process of trying to find one, obtaining an unsecured credit card is actually one of the best things that you can do to repair your credit. However, if you do get one make sure you pay your payments on time as being late will only make your rating even worse and lead to more problems in the future.

There are some people who love getting department store credit cards and there are others who see them as senseless and would rather just stick to their major credit cards when making their purchases. Both sides have their reasoning and we will take a look here at some issues that you might want to know before you go filling out that application.

With a store credit card you can sometimes reap the benefit of receiving free items and taking advantage of store promotions that are only available to their credit card holders. Department stores will sometimes give away the free items when you make a purchase from them using their card, it does not matter if you make your purchases in the store or online. Sometimes when you are shopping online they will even offer free shipping when you use their credit card. Another great thing about some department store cards is the great deals that they offer when you make a purchase with their credit card. Many times they will offer you interest free specials that will last for a certain amount of time. For instance, they might offer a one year free interest deal when you make a $1000 purchase. This is a terrific bargain for shoppers as they will basically pay no interest at all if they pay off the item in less that one year.

Now for a few cons about department store credit. When you have a department store line of credit, your interest rates on the average will be much higher than that of a major credit card. You have to be careful here as not to drown in debt and have a difficult time getting your balances down. Another disadvantage is that your card is only good for that particular store and can’t be used anywhere else unlike a major credit card that can be used anywhere. If you have too many store cards it may also have a negative affect on your credit report as you will have many lines of credit open with too many creditors. It may actually be wiser to apply for secured credit cards.