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Home Credit Cards Secured Credit Cards with No Annual Fee

5 Best Secured Credit Cards with No Annual Fee in May 2025

Secured Credit Cards with No Annual Fee

At a glance

Secured credit cards can be expensive, especially if you need to pay an annual fee on top of a deposit. However, there are plenty of secured credit cards without annual fees available, and we’ve found the best ones.

Written by Kari Dearie

Updated Oct 17, 2022

Fresh advice you can trust

We promise to always deliver the best financial advice that we can. Our writers and editors follow strict editorial standards and operate independently from our advertisers and affiliates. Learn more about how we make money.

Secured Credit Cards with No Annual Fee

Credit Card Best For Credit Score Annual Fee Welcome Bonus Apply Now
Discover It secured credit card
Discover it® Secured Credit Card Apply
Overall 300–669 $0 Cashback Match Apply
G2bank Secured Visa Credit Card
GO2bank™ Secured Visa® Apply
No Credit Check 300–669 $0 Apply
US Bank Secured Visa
U.S. Bank Secured Visa® Apply
Building Credit 300–669 $0 Apply
Citi Secured Mastercard credit card
Citi® Secured Mastercard® Apply
Free Credit Scores 300–669 $0 Apply
Horizon Secured Credit Card
Horizon Secured Credit Card Apply
High Credit Limit 300–669 $0 Apply

Table of Contents

  1. What’s a secured credit card?
  2. Do secured credit cards have annual fees?
  3. Best secured credit cards without annual fees

If you have bad credit or a limited borrowing history, you may be looking at getting a secured credit card. On top of security deposits, a lot of these cards charge annual fees, and some even charge monthly and startup fees.

Luckily, this isn’t always the case, and you can still find a secured credit card without annual fees. To help you find the right one, we’ve put together a list of our 5 favorites.

What’s a secured credit card?

A secured credit card is a credit card that requires a security deposit. The security deposit on a credit card acts as collateral, so the issuer can keep the deposit if the borrower doesn’t pay their credit card bill.

Secured credit cards are an accessible borrowing option for people with bad credit or no credit. Because they pose a low risk to lenders (since they can take your deposit if you don’t pay), it’s usually easier to get approved for a secured credit card than an unsecured one.

Do secured credit cards have annual fees?

Not all secured credit cards have annual fees. Like most credit cards for bad credit, secured cards tend to have worse borrowing terms, including fees and high APR. However, this isn’t always the case. There are secured credit cards for bad credit that don’t charge annual or monthly fees.

Best secured credit cards without annual fees

Rewards, credit building, and flexible credit limits—all without an annual fee. Here are our top 6 secured cards that don’t charge annual fees.

Overall best secured credit card with no annual fee

Overall

Discover it® Secured Credit Card

Discover It secured credit card Apply Now

on Discover's secure site

Rates & Fees
4.8
Rating Breakdown
Fees
4.9

No annual fee and no foreign transaction fees score this card a high rating in the fees department.

APR
2.7

Carrying a balance could get costly on this card, given the high purchase APR.

Rewards
4.4

Considering it’s a secured card, the Discover it® Secured offers impressive rewards and even a cashback welcome bonus.

Credit Reporting
5.0

Discover reports to the major credit bureaus, which can help you build your credit.

Security Deposit
4.0

The minimum and maximum security deposit allow a good range of flexibility for you to determine your credit limit.

Other

We adjusted for factors like free credit scores and a fully refundable security deposit.

Our FinanceJar Star Rating represents an objective and unbiased evaluation of this card, without influence from advertisers and affiliates. Our scores are generated by a rubric and our reviews adhere to a strict editorial process. Learn more about how we rate credit cards.

Annual Fee

$0

Credit Score

300–669

Deposit

$200–$2,500

Purchase APR

25.99% (variable)

Rewards

  • Welcome Bonus

    Cashback Match earns you a dollar-for-dollar match on your first-year rewards

  • Gas & Restaurants

    2% cash back up to $1,000 in combined spending each quarter

  • Everything Else

    1% cash back on all eligible purchases

Why It's Great

The all-around best secured credit card without an annual fee is the Discover it® Secured card. This card breaks the mold of credit cards for bad credit, offering more than borrowers with poor or limited histories can usually hope for.

Not only does it come with no annual fee, but it has high approval odds, a flexible credit limit, and—best of all—cashback rewards. Here’s how the rewards work:

  • 2% cash back on dining and gas purchases up to $1,000 each quarter
  • 1% unlimited cash back on everyday purchases
  • Dollar-for-dollar cashback match in your first year of card ownership

We’re especially impressed by the first-year cashback match. You can rake in hundreds of dollars in cash back by the end of your first year of borrowing if you use this card regularly. If you frequently drive or eat out (or order in, for that matter), it shouldn’t be hard to maximize your cashback earnings.

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • No annual fee
  • 2% cash back on gas station and restaurants
  • 1% cash back on all other purchases
  • Dollar-for-dollar Cashback Match after 12 months
  • Free monthly access to FICO score

Cons

  • High annual percentage rate (APR)
  • Maximum deposit of $2500
  • Rewards rates cap out at $1000 per quarter
  • High penalty fees

Best secured credit card with no annual fee and no credit check

No Credit Check

GO2bank™ Secured Visa®

G2bank Secured Visa Credit Card Apply Now

on GO2Bank's secure site

Rates & Fees
3.8
Annual Fee

$0

Credit Score

300–669

Deposit

$100

Purchase APR

22.99% (fixed)

Why It's Great

It’s rare to find credit cards that don’t require credit checks, but some secured cards can claim this benefit. Avoiding a credit check accomplishes two things:

  1. It’s easier to qualify: If the lender doesn’t look into your credit history, they can’t be dissuaded from qualifying you based on scary stuff in your credit report—like defaulted loans, bankruptcies, foreclosures, or repossessions.
  2. You won’t get a hard inquiry: You'll receive a hard inquiry on your credit report when a lender pulls your history through a credit check. Hard inquiries knock a few points off your score, so why not avoid them if you can?

The ​​GO2bank™ Secured Visa® is one of these no-credit-check cards, and one without an annual fee. To open your account, you can put down a deposit as low as $100 now, then add to it later to increase your credit limit.

Lastly, the card offers a unique plus: a fixed APR. Most credit cards have variable APRs, meaning the card’s interest rate fluctuates based on the market. A fixed APR, however, won’t respond to changes in the US economy.

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • No annual fee
  • Foreign transactions and cash advances available
  • Credit reporting to all three major credit bureaus
  • No credit check required

Cons

  • High APR
  • Security deposit required
  • Foreign transaction fees
  • No balance transfers
  • GO2bank account required

Best secured credit card with no annual fee for building credit

Building Credit

U.S. Bank Secured Visa®

US Bank Secured Visa Apply Now

on U.S. Bank's secure site

Rates & Fees
3.7
Annual Fee

$0

Credit Score

300–669

Deposit

$300–$5,000

Purchase APR

27.74% (variable)

Why It's Great

Not only is the U.S. Bank Secured Visa® one of the best bad-credit credit cards with high limits, but it doesn’t come at the cost of an annual fee.

It’s a straightforward credit card without rewards or bonuses, but still offers a flexible borrowing option to people with bad credit. It’s highly accessible, offers a credit limit that can go as high as $5,000, and comes at a low cost given the lack of fees.

Additionally, it’s a great card for building your credit, as it reports to the three major credit bureaus. It also gives cardholders free VantageScore credit scores, so you can keep up on your credit-building progress.

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • No annual fee
  • Foreign transactions, cash advances, and balance transfers available
  • Credit reporting to all three major credit bureaus
  • Bad credit may qualify

Cons

  • High APR
  • Security deposit required
  • Foreign transaction fees
  • No rewards
  • No welcome bonus or intro offers

Best secured credit card with no annual fee and free credit scores

Free Credit Scores

Citi® Secured Mastercard®

Citi Secured Mastercard credit card Apply Now

on Citi's secure site

Rates & Fees
3.8
Annual Fee

$0

Credit Score

300–669

Deposit

$200–$2,500

Purchase APR

26.24% (variable)

Why It's Great

The Citi® Secured Mastercard® is another no-frills secured credit card with no annual fees. It's a great option for credit builders and repairers who want to keep up to date with their credit score progress.

The Citi® Secured Mastercard® gives free monthly FICO scores to cardholders and reports activities to all three major credit bureaus. Both of these can greatly help your efforts to improve your credit score.

FICO is a more commonly used credit scoring model than VantageScore, yet many credit card issuers offer free VantageScore credit scores to bad-credit borrowers. Getting a FICO score each month through your Citi® Secured Mastercard® will give you a more accurate view of how future lenders and landlords will see your credit.

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Available to limited credit borrowers
  • $0 annual fee
  • Reports to all three credit bureaus

Cons

  • High APR
  • Requires a security deposit
  • No rewards

Best secured credit card with no annual fee and high credit limit

High Credit Limit

Horizon Secured Credit Card

Horizon Secured Credit Card Apply Now

on Horizon Bank's secure site

Rates & Fees
3.8
Annual Fee

$0

Credit Score

300–669

Deposit

$300–$5,000

Purchase APR

27.74% (variable)

Why It's Great

The Horizon Secured credit card is a high-return secured credit card with no annual fee. It offers an extremely high credit limit (up to $5,000).

Don’t worry if you’re not ready to put down that high of a deposit, though—you can make a minimum deposit payment of $300 for an equivalent line of credit. The Horizon Secured also reports to the three major credit bureaus, making it an adequate option for credit building.

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • No annual fee
  • Balance transfers available
  • Foreign transactions available
  • Cash advances available
  • Reporting to all three credit bureaus

Cons

  • Security deposit required
  • High APR
  • No rewards
  • No welcome bonuses or intro offers

How we rate our credit cards

Getting a new credit card can be tough, especially when you have less-than-perfect credit. That's why we heavily weighted the following factors when determining the best secured credit cards without annual fees:

  • Fees
  • Credit limits
  • Qualification requirements
  • Interest rates
  • Benefits
  • Borrowing terms

These factors, among many others, are part of our 5-star credit card rating methodology for all card categories. Our star ratings are unbiased and independent of our affiliates and advertisers.

Kari Dearie

Credit Cards Editor

View Author

Kari Dearie is an editor for FinanceJar specializing in credit and personal finance. She previously managed a B2B website in the data privacy and digital compliance industry.

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