Yes, you can get a credit card even if you have a bad credit rating. So if you have been refraining from applying for a credit card because you have a bad credit rating, you can take a sigh of relief. However, this does not demean the importance of a good credit rating. In fact this could be your opportunity to improve your credit rating. Only a good credit rating can make your loan or mortgage application sail through. Let's check what kind of credit cards are available to people with bad credit rating.

Secured credit cards or debit cards are the ones which are available to all and sundry irrespective of your credit rating. Looks a bit surprising, doesn't it? Not really, if you understand the concept behind secured credit cards (or more appropriately 'debit cards').

Secured credit cards are plastic representatives of the cash balance in your account. So, to get a secured credit card, you will need to open a savings account with company who is offering the credit card to you. This acts as a security for that company. This is the main difference between secured and unsecured credit cards - you need a savings account for a secured credit card whereas unsecured credit cards don't require any such arrangement as a savings account. The other difference is the interest rates and fees. These are generally higher for secured card as compared to an unsecured one.

The limit or the amount you can spend using a secured credit card is a percentage of the balance in your savings account. This generally ranges from 50 to 100 percent. As there is no dearth of companies offering secured credit cards, you should research well before zeroing-in on the best deal. It goes without saying that reading the fine print is important as well. If not all, you must at least read the bits which relate to fees and charges etc. Generally, the bank will pay the usual interest on the balance in your account. However, you might as well check that too.

Also, you need to be careful that you don't become a target of fraudsters who use deceptive advertising techniques to lure customers. Though the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been strict in tracking and taking action against such fraud companies, it's good to be on guard against such deceptions. These fraud companies advertise everywhere and generally offer too-good-to-be-true deals. Some of the tricks used by them include things like - asking to call a 900 number (without mentioning the call charges which generally run from $2 to $50), not revealing information on fees etc, not revealing the card type itself or just hiding information which might be relevant to you in your decision making. It's outrageous (in fact almost funny) to know that some companies even come up with offers of cleaning up your credit history and some un-informed people do fall for such offers. It's an established fact that no one can clean-up your credit history other than you yourself. Also, this is not something which can happen overnight. You need to make payments in time and take other measures in order to get a good credit rating.

So you just need to be a bit cautious before you start on your credit repair journey with a secured credit card. However, it's not that difficult. On an ending note, just ensure that the company issuing the secured credit card reports transactions to the credit bureau otherwise your credit rating will remain unchanged even if you are good with the new credit card.