Despite having fair credit, you might qualify for a card that lets you earn cash back or rewards. A handful of such cards come with no annual fees as well. However, using a card for its cash back might be worth your while only if you pay your balances off in full each month.
This article is part of our larger series on Best Cash Back Credit Cards
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A common factor that links most of the top fair credit cash back credit cards is that they don’t offer high cash back earn rates. Cards that offer high reward rates typically require applicants to have good to excellent creditworthiness. Besides, even the best cash back credit cards for fair credit tend to come with annual fees.
While you might stand to earn higher-than-usual cash back through a fair credit cash back credit card, chances are you’ll need to pay a high annual fee. For example, the Credit One Platinum Rewards Visa Card offers 5% cash back on a total of up to $5,000 on purchases in select categories per year, but it comes with an annual fee of $95.
This article is part of our larger series on
Best Cash Back Credit Cards
Quick Summary
MoneyGeek has narrowed down on the top three fair credit cash back credit cards based on the cash back/rewards you stand to earn and the annual fees you need to pay. We have also taken into account whether any of these cards offer higher cash back across specific categories. You’ll find more recommendations further down the page.
Best card for earning cash back across categories
Best card for earning cash back across categories
Best cash back card for those with fair credit
Most cash back cards for fair credit come with basic features and lack premium benefits. However, you may still find cards that offer benefits such as fraud liability, free access to your credit score each month and no foreign transaction fees. Go through the cards listed in the corresponding table to determine if any suits your needs.
"Earning cash back from a credit card can be very appealing. However, make sure that you're earning enough from the card to cover the annual fee without spending so much that you're going into debt." -- Lee Huffman, credit card expert at BaldThoughts.com.
Given that there are multiple fair credit cash back credit cards to choose from, it is important that you compare them across different parameters. This helps you narrow down on an alternative that might work best for you.
While most fair credit cash back cards offer 1% cash back, there are exceptions. For instance, the Platinum Rewards Visa Card from Capital One offers 5% cash back on a combined spending of up to $5,000 across select categories per year. While all other purchases come with 1% cash back, cardholders may earn 10% more cash when they shop through partner retailers. With the QuicksilverOne Card from Capital One, you stand to earn unlimited 1.5% cash back across all categories.
This aspect requires your attention because a number of credit cards for fair credit come with annual fees. If you’re a student with fair credit, you get a few no-annual-fee cash back student cards from which to choose. Some of your options include the Journey Student Rewards from Capital One Card, the Chase Freedom® Student credit Card and the Deserve® EDU Mastercard for Students. Examples of no-annual-fee cash back cards for adults with fair credit include the Petal 1 Card, the Petal 2 Card, the Upgrade Cash Rewards Card and the Upgrade Triple Cash Rewards Card.
The APR that applies on purchases requires your attention if you plan to carry forward balances from one billing cycle to the next. This is also the case with the balance transfer APR if you plan to use your new card for transferring a balance from an existing card.
If you plan to use your card outside of the U.S., consider getting a card with no foreign transaction fees. Otherwise, you might end up paying up to 3% of each international transaction as fees. Examples of fair credit cash back credit cards that do away with this fee include the Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card, the Upgrade Cash Rewards Card and the Journey Student Rewards from Capital One Card.
Unlike secured credit cards that require security deposits, the fair credit cash back cards selected by MoneyGeek come with no such requirements.
Many people with fair credit who are looking for credit cards and are hopeful of building their credit histories will find that regularly viewing their credit reports gives them the means to determine if they’re on the right path. Fortunately, the best cash back credit cards for fair credit report cardholders’ payment histories to one or more credit bureaus. For example, the Credit One Bank® Platinum Visa® Card gives you free access to your Experian credit score each month. The QuicksilverOne Card from Capital One, on the other hand, offers free alerts when there are changes in your TransUnion or Experian credit reports through the CreditWise platform.
Not usually the type of cards that are big on added perks, you may still expect basic benefits such as $0 fraud liability, the ability to set up auto payments and getting additional cards for authorized users.
We asked financial and academic experts a few questions surrounding fair credit cash back cards with the aim that their answers might guide you in the right direction.
Professor at California State University, Dominguez Hills
Assistant Professor in the College of Business at Western Carolina University
Director of Accountancy at Eastern Illinois University
Associate Professor at Emporia State University
Associate Professor of Accounting at the Madden School of Business at Le Moyne College
Associate Professor, Felician University, School of Business and Information Sciences
Assistant Professor of Economics, Knauss School of Business, University of San Diego
Adjunct Instructor in International Business at The University of Arizona
Professor of Marketing at The GW School of Business
Professor of Economics at the University of Louisiana
Professor at the Department of Information Systems, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Assistant Professor of Financial Economics at Methodist University
About Rajiv Baniwal
