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How to Get a Credit Card With No Credit

6 min read

Last Updated: July 19, 2024

Table of contents

Key Takeaways

There are credit card options for individuals with no credit or limited credit history.
A secured credit card is a type of card that requires a security deposit at account opening.
A student credit card is a credit card, usually with a lower credit limit than other credit cards.

Credit history and credit score are major factors in getting approved for a credit card. That's because credit card issuers typically run a credit check of your credit history before issuing a credit card. They want to know that you have experience making on-time payments and using credit responsibly.

But if you haven’t had a credit card before or you don't have an extensive credit history, you still have options to build up your credit score and prove your creditworthiness.

While there's no one best credit card for building credit history, a secured credit card or a student credit card can be an excellent place to start. If you’re approved, with the proper spending habits, you can use your credit cards to build personal credit, and may be able to impact your credit score.

So, if you’re just starting your journey to build credit history, here’s what you need to know about how to get a credit card with no credit history.

Why does credit history matter?

Your credit history usually plays a significant role in determining the credit cards, loans, lines of credit, and even apartments or mortgages that you qualify for. That’s because lenders depend on your previous habits and behaviors to discern whether you can manage debt responsibly. A bad credit score signals that you may not be a reliable borrower. For example, if you’ve missed many credit card payments, lenders aren’t likely to trust that you’ll repay your loans in a timely manner.

Of course, everyone has to start somewhere. As you begin building your credit history, remember that making responsible choices could improve your chances of qualifying for more credit in the future.

Apply for a credit card for people with no credit history

You could get the ball rolling with a card to build credit history. If it’s your first time getting a credit card, you can consider a credit card geared toward people with limited credit history or no credit history. You often don’t need a credit score to apply for these cards.

These options may come with higher interest rates or lower credit limits at first. However, with responsible use, you could establish a good credit score and build your creditworthiness.

Types of credit cards for people with no credit history include:

Secured credit cards

A secured credit card is a credit building card that requires a cash deposit as collateral. This upfront cash payment is typically equal to the credit limit, which helps to minimize the risk to the credit card issuer.

If you’re approved for a secured card, you can use it like unsecured credit cards to shop and make monthly payments. You’ll accrue interest on purchases if you don’t pay your balance in full each month, and any missed payments could show up on your credit report and may negatively impact your credit score. If you don’t repay your balance, the card issuer may use your deposit to cover what you owe and close the account.

You can use a secured credit card like the Discover it^® Secured Credit Card to build your credit history with responsible use.¹ You can build healthy habits by making purchases you can either pay off each month or pay at least the minimum monthly payment on, and paying on time.

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With the Discover it^® Secured Credit Card, you may qualify to get your deposit back after 6 consecutive months of on-time payments and maintaining good status on all your credit accounts.²

A secured card isn’t only a suitable credit building card; a secured credit card may also be helpful for those looking to rebuild credit with responsible use if they want to improve a poor credit score. If you need to determine your credit score, you can check your credit before applying for a secured credit card.

Student credit cards

Student credit cards can help students with no credit score start building their credit history. A student credit card is often considered a good credit building credit card, as typically your card activity is reported to a major credit bureau. As with other credit cards, you could use a student card to make regular purchases, then pay at least your minimum monthly payment.

To apply for a student credit card, you must usually be at least 18 years old, have a U.S. address and Social Security number, show proof of enrollment, and provide all the other information the application requires. The requirements may vary from card issuer to card issuer.

Student credit cards may have a lower credit limit than standard cards and a higher APR or interest rate. However, they also may come with perks such as no annual fee, no foreign transaction fee, or cash back rewards on everyday purchases.

One benefit of a student credit card with cash back is that some credit card issuers let you use the cash back you've accumulated to pay your monthly statement balance.

Did you know?

You may also want a student credit card with no annual fee as a credit building card, so you don’t have to worry about paying fees while managing your first credit card. Discover has no annual fee on any of our cards, including student credit cards.

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With a Discover student credit card, you can build your credit with responsible use.³ This may help you apply for a mortgage, car loan, or other forms of credit with more confidence in the future.

Some card issuers may also allow you to upgrade your student account to a standard credit card account upon graduation, especially if you’ve built or maintained a good credit score. The new card may also have an intro APR offer at account opening.

Build credit history as an authorized user

If you don’t qualify for a credit card account directly—or aren’t interested in using a secured card or student credit card—a friend or family member may be able to add you as an authorized user to their credit card account to build credit history. You may get a card in your name, but the account owner is still responsible for paying the account.

If you become an authorized user on someone else's account, it's important to check that all activity on the card is reported to each major credit bureau. You'll also want to make sure the primary cardholder is responsible when it comes to making payments because you’ll be sharing their credit history. For better or worse, it could show up on your credit report, which may impact your credit score.

Get a credit card with no credit

Getting a credit card with no credit history or limited credit history may seem difficult. The good news is that options are available to people who have yet to have any credit cards and are building credit history for the first time or for those who are rebuilding their credit history.

Whether you apply for a secured credit card, open a student card, or become an authorized user on someone else’s account, just remember to use your card wisely to build your credit score.

Make on-time payments, keep your balance low, and avoid accruing interest if you can. This way, you can improve your creditworthiness and become eligible for other types of credit cards.

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