The best credit builder credit cards

Do you have a bad credit rating because you’ve missed or been late with repayments?

What you need is a credit builder credit card. One of these can help you build up your credit rating even if you’ve never borrowed before.

We’ve all heard how your credit score can reflect your credit record, which reveals every snag of your financial past. It’s worth (if you can) trying to keep it in good shape so if you do need a mortgage or need to show you are financially credible to various lenders, that option is available.

For a credit builder card to work you’ll need to manage it carefully. That means paying off the balance every month so that no interest is incurred. You’ll find the interest is much higher on these types of cards. As long as you keep paying in full each month, you’ll create a good credit report and eventually this will help you unlock better deals.

What are the best credit builder cards?

So what are out there? You have to understand that you would need to meet the terms and conditions for each card and that there are variations on each. Of course, each is only on offer for a certain time so you’d need to check.

You can of course check you are eligible before you apply too as this will assess your chances of actually getting the card without your credit score being affected.

Virgin Money and Capital One are both offering these types of cards but we found some other deals here:

Tesco Foundation

Representative APR: 27.5% (variable)

Initial credit limit: £200 – £1,500

Things to know: You should get one if you’ve had no accounts closed or CCJs in the last 18 months

Vanquis Bank Chrome

Things to know:  Mobile app to control repayments, minimum monthly payments of £10

Representative APR: 29.5% (variable)

Initial credit limit: £250 – £1,500

Amazon Classic Mastercard

Representative APR: 29.9% (variable)

Initial credit limit: From £500