Applied Bank Secured Visa® Gold Preferred® Card

At a Glance  

The Applied Bank® Secured Visa® Gold Preferred® Card offers those with limited credit history or a poor credit score the chance to receive a full-fledged Visa card without the need for a credit check. The card also boasts and impressively low fixed APR on purchases and cash advances – all for the modest annual fee of $48. 

Ideal for Those Who: 

• Have bad credit, limited credit, or no credit history at all
• Want a card that automatically reports to all the major credit bureaus
• Are tired of spending money on reloadable prepaid cards
• Can make a minimum deposit of at least $200

Applied Bank Secured Visa® Gold Preferred® Card Review

The Applied Bank® Secured Visa® is an enticing secured credit card that proves you don’t need excellent credit (or any credit at all) to get an excellent interest rate.  

Better than a Prepaid Card

Those with bad credit – or no credit – often choose a prepaid debit card rather than get a credit card. Why? Because getting a credit card with no credit history can be challenging.  

However, Applied Bank makes it easy to build your credit with no credit check and no minimum credit score requirement. Simply apply for the Applied Bank® Secured Visa® and submit a deposit of between $200 and $1,000 – that’s it! 

With secured cards, like the Applied Bank® Secured Visa®, you load once and keep on using your card. Unlike prepaid cards, where you must keep reloading every time you exhaust your funds, with a secured card, your credit limit refreshes when you pay your balance in full each month. Even better, you build credit with on-time payments – something prepaid cards can’t provide. 

Automatic Reporting to All Three National Credit Bureaus

Secured credit cards are one of the best ways to quickly rebuild your credit – or establish credit for the first time. When you use your new Applied Bank® Secured Visa® card to make small purchases and pay your balance each month, you can raise your credit score steadily.  

Because Applied Bank reports to the major credit bureaus – Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion – every month, you can raise your score with a string of on-time payments and low credit usage.  

Payment history and credit utilization (the percentage of your available credit used) are the two most essential factors in your credit score. These two factors account for about 65% of your FICO Score – the credit scoring model over 90% of lenders use.  

Making small purchases can help you keep your credit use below 30%, which is important for building your credit score. For those looking to raise their score even faster, try keeping your credit use below 10%. 

An Impressive Fixed-Rate APR

Of course, not everyone can afford to pay their statement in full each month. Sometimes life happens, and you can only make the minimum payment. Many secured cards punish cardholders with exceptionally high interest rates, making them difficult to carry a balance month-to-month. This is not the case with the Applied Bank® Secured Visa® Card, however. 

The Applied Bank® Secured Visa® features a fixed-rate 9.99% APR on purchases, which is among the lowest interest rates on the market today. According to the BestCards Average Credit Card APR Guide, secured cards have an average interest rate of 18.1%. The Applied Bank Secured Card, however, has an APR at half that rate. In fact, it is significantly lower than the average interest rate for even the very best credit scores. 

What’s more, Applied Bank won’t raise the rate – even if you are late on payments. Many banks charge a penalty APR for late payments, which is often around 30%. What’s more, this rate can last for six months or more. Applied Bank, on the other hand, understands building credit is difficult and provides the tools you need to succeed. 

Other Card Features

Applied Advantage 

Applied Bank also provides cardholders with the optional Applied Advantage® program. This program offers Applied Bank® Secured Visa® cardholders with members-only discounts on a variety of products and services. Discounts include offerings with leading brands, such as: 

• Avis
• Budget 
• Orbitz
• Macy’s 
• Sam’s Club
• JCPenney
• Kohl’s
• Fandango
• Six Flags
• And more

Choose Your Own Credit Limit 

The Applied Bank® Secured Visa® also allows cardholders to raise their credit limit whenever they choose. Applied Bank allows additional deposits up to a total credit line of $5,000. This feature lets customers decide how much credit they want. 

Visa Benefits 

The card also enjoys the same great features and protections that come with all Visa credit card products. Visa is the world’s largest payment processing network, accepted at over 40 million merchants in 200 countries globally. 

Traditional Visa cardholders can expect a wealth of protections just for using their Visa card, including: 

• Zero Fraud Liability on purchases
• Visa cardholder inquiry services for any questions you may have
• Emergency card replacement and cash disbursement if you lose your card or it is stolen
• Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver for car rentals booked with your Applied Bank® Secured Visa®
• And more

Should You Apply for the Applied Bank Secured Visa® Gold Preferred® Card? 

So, is the Applied Bank® Secured Visa® Card worth applying for? For those with bad credit, no credit, or even fair credit, the answer is likely yes.  

The card offers the perfect platform for repairing credit – or even establishing credit for the first time. The annual fee of $48 is reasonable and in line with secured cards from many other card issuers. Unlike competitor cards, however, the Applied Bank® Secured Visa® features an APR almost half of what users can typically expect.  

The low interest rate is one of the major highlights of the card – as is the fact that there is no penalty APR if you make a late payment. That fact means that the card works with you to build credit, unlike some other cards that make it difficult for users struggling to boost their credit scores.  

Overall, the Applied Bank® Secured Visa® Credit Card is an excellent option for anyone who wants to build credit with regular on-time payments. It also makes sense for those who fall back on prepaid cards because they think they can’t get a credit card. Applied Bank is one of the most popular names in secured credit cards – and their Secured Visa card is a big reason why.