Is there something out there called a bad credit credit card? Well, when a bank or Credit company such as Bank of America, Washington Mutual or Chase receive an application from you, they use a statistical system to determine whether or not to grant credit to you by assigning numerical scores to various characteristics related to creditworthiness. This means the creditor's measure of your past and future ability and willingness to repay your debts. This system is based on your credit history, which is a record of how you have borrowed and repaid debts. If this record shows late payments, skipping payments, exceeding card limits or declaring bankruptcy you are considered a person with "bad credit".

Then you're condemned, you're hopeless.. Nobody will ever lend you money or give you a credit card anymore, you may think but then you should think again. Even people with horrible credit histories who have been in a financial mess because of previous debt can get credit card offers. So, the answer to the question I asked in the beginning of this article is "Yes": You can get a secured or prepaid credit card.

Banks and other credit companies need customers, even thoses in a bad financial situation. So these secured or prepaid cards offers are specifically targeted to help people with poor credit, so that they too can have all the benefits that follows such a card.

What distinguise a secured card from an unsecured is that the card's account is usually related to a savings account. This is the way the card is secured. Let's say you have $1,000 in your account, then your credit limit will be $1,000. With this build in security, you will never be brought into a debt situation again. After using this card for a while, most banks or finance companies will gradually grant you credit that exceeds your saving account balance and you will at the same time repair your credit history. This bad credit credit card is a great offer, that you should take advantage of if you have a messy financial history and want to rebuild your credit.