US Bank Secured Credit Card may come to your attention if you want to build your credit score. What is secured credit card? You can get the secured Visa card even with a bad credit score. Also you should keep in mind, that US Bank doesn’t use TransUnion to make lending decisions.
Unlike many other secured credit cards, this US Bank Secured Card has no annual fee. Maintenance fees and monthly fees are widespread among secured cards. In my opinion fees defy the purpose of building credit score.
Before you Apply for US Bank Secured Credit Card make sure to read my review. It can save you from costly mistakes.
Credit limit and security deposit
If you are approved you can get a credit limit between $300 and $5,000. But you will need to make a security deposit equal to your credit limit. The US Bank makes a savings account for security deposits and money earn a little interest. The security deposit is refundable when you close the credit card or after graduation.
US Bank Secured card increase limit is not guaranteed. If your debt to income ration changed, which means income increased or debt decreased, then after 6 months you can call customer support and ask to raise the limit. You may have to deposit more money as a security deposit.
Graduation from secured credit card
The important benefit of the US Bank card is so called graduation. It can happen as early as 6 months. However, to graduate you MUST pay your credit card bill in full every month and keep your credit utilization low. Graduation means the US Bank returns your security deposit and upgrades your secured credit card to unsecured. Graduation is not guaranteed and depends on many factors. To increase your chances of graduation make sure to set up auto payment, avoid late payment fees, and keep your credit utilization low.
Here is how you can setup autopay for US Bank credit card.
Benefits
The purpose of a secured credit card is to build your credit score, so don’t expect many benefits. US Bank reports monthly your utilization and payments to all 3 major credit bureaus TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. US Bank Secured Card offers no rewards, no bonus, no intro APR and regular APR is 24%.
The secured credit card has an EMV chip for additional security and contactless payments. Visually the card has no any difference from a regular credit card.
You should avoid using the secured US Bank Credit Card abroad, because it has a foreign transaction fee of 3%. So the card is not good for travelers.
Overall this secured credit card is good if you want to build a relationship with US Bank. There are much worse credit cards and way better. As an alternative consider secured credit cards from Discover Bank or Capital One.