ClearScore is a credit broker, not a lender.

Why trust our picks? Our analysis is based on a review of more than 100 UK credit cards from 25 providers, assessed across fees, APRs, rewards, introductory offers and other key features. Latest rolling analysis conducted between January and July 2026. See our full methodology here.

Best Credit Cards for Bad Credit

Whether you have a bad credit score or just a very limited credit history, there are specialist credit cards which may accept your application for a new card when other credit cards won't. These are known as "credit builder" cards.

Credit cards for no credit or bad credit charge higher-than-average interest rates to offset the risk of lending to either an unknown or poor credit situation.

All of the cards listed below are "free," meaning they don't charge an annual fee. While there is no one "best" card for everyone, use this list as a starting point to understand the market and find the best card for your individual situation.

Always make sure you can afford repayments.

Vanquis Classic Visa Card

The Vanquis Credit Builder card can be a potential option for those who are worried about getting a credit card due to a poor credit history and might not be able to get one elsewhere. Vanquis will consider applicants with no credit history, for a first credit card, or those with bad credit - interest rates are higher as a result: 42.9% variable APR on purchases and 37.9% variable APR on cash withdrawals.

The credit limit will be between £250 and £2,500. Stay within your credit limit and pay your monthly minimum payment on time and you may be eligible for credit limit increases every 5th month - an increasing credit limit can help your credit score, especially when it tops £1,000. Good account management may also help to improve your credit rating, as it shows responsible card management.

Use Vanquis's Express Check eligibility checker to see your odds of being accepted before you apply.

Representative example: Based on an assumed credit limit of £1,200 at a purchase rate of 42.9% p.a. (variable) with no annual fee, the representative APR is 42.9% variable.

Pros

• Possible first credit card (no credit history needed)

• Express Check eligibility checker (instant, 60 second answer)

• Online & SMS account management

• Mobile app

• No annual fee

• Initial credit limit between £250 and £2,500

• Possible credit limit increases every 5 months, subject to good account management

Cons

• Higher-than-average interest rate

Best Credit Cards for Bad Credit: Aqua Classic Credit Card

The Aqua Classic Credit Card is another solid credit-builder card. The Classic will consider those with poor credit, including the self-employed, individuals who've had trouble with late payments in the past and those with low income. Initial credit limits fall between £250 and £1,200. We particularly like that good financial management can lead to a rise in your credit limit (which might improve your credit score, especially once it breaks £1,000) AND the free text alerts can let you know when you're nearing your credit limit.

Representative example: Based on an assumed credit limit of £1,200 at a purchase rate of 39.9% p.a. (variable) with no annual fee, the representative APR is 39.9% variable.

Pros

• Free text alerts

• Eligibility checker

• Interest rate may reduce by 5% a year for "good behaviour"

• No annual fee

Cons

• Higher-than-average interest rate of 39.9% variable APR on purchases (but lower-than-average for a card for weak credit)

Best 0 Credit Card for New Credit: Barclaycard Forward

The Barclaycard Forward Credit Card offers an unusual perk for a credit-builder card, a 0% purchases period in which you won't pay interest on purchases for 6 months provided you stay within your credit limit and making your minimum payments on time. Showing good financial management can result in your interest rate (which starts at 33.9% variable APR variable) dropping 3% in the first year and another 2% in the second year.

Designed for those with limited or no credit history, applicants must prove they can pay their debts by showing an income of £3,000 per year. Customer service told us that proof of your first month's pay check from a part-time job may be enough to be accepted. Besides being employed, you should have lived at your current address for at least three months.

Barclaycard offers a pre-application soft eligibility check that won't adversely affect your credit rating. Once enabled, free alerts can include your weekly account balance, statement availability, payment received, payment due reminder, balance limit alert and your pre-set monthly limit alert - we highly recommend setting up the free alerts as they can help you stay on top of your account and improve your credit by avoiding missed payments or exceeding the credit limit.

Note: We've recently heard from a reader who said they tried to take out a Barclaycard Forward but was unable to do so, because they didn't have a Barclays account. While we can find no mention of the Barclays account requirement on their website or card documents, be advised that if you don't have a Barclays bank account you may also no be able to take out a Forward card. If anyone else has a similar experience, please let us know in the comments section below.

Representative example: Based on an assumed credit limit of £1,200 at a purchase rate of 33.9% p.a. (variable) with no annual fee, the representative APR is 33.9% variable.

Pros

• Free text/email alerts

• Eligibility checker

• No annual fee

• 0% on purchases first six months

• Chance to reduce interest rate by 5% over two years

• Possible first credit card

• £50 to £1,200 initial credit limit

Cons

• Need income from part-time employment (£3,000 per year minimum)

• Higher-than-average interest rate (but average for a card for bad credit)

Best Credit Cards for Bad Credit or Building Credit: Capital One Classic Credit Card

The Capital One Classic might work for those who are currently between jobs or self employed, as there is no strict income requirement. Potential applicants do need some credit history in the UK, however, such as a current account with direct debits to pay for a mobile phone, gas or electric bill. The card is targeted at those with bad credit or building credit, and proper use can potentially help establish a good payment history.

Capital One could reward you for paying (at least) your monthly minimum payments on time and staying within your credit limit. By doing so you may be eligible to receive two optional credit limit increases a year, which may improve your credit rating. As a credit-builder card, the APR is higher than average, so try to pay as much of the balance as you can every month to help you limit interest charges. Before applying, you can check your odds of being accepted using Capital One's eligibility checker, QuickCheck, which won't harm your credit score.

Representative example: Based on an assumed credit limit of £1,200 at a purchase rate of 34.9% p.a. (variable) with no annual fee, the representative APR is 34.9% variable.

Pros

• Free alerts

• QuickCheck Eligibility checker

• Mobile app

• No annual fee

• Two possible credit limit increases per year

• Credit limit between £200 and £1,500

• No strict income requirement

• Need some credit history in UK

Cons

• Higher-than-average interest rate (but average for a card for bad credit)

Best Credit Cards for Bad or Poor Credit: Marbles Credit Card

The Marbles Card is another solid credit card for poor credit. Marbles may start you off with a low initial credit limit of £250 to £1,500, which can be a good thing to prevent debt from building up. Once you demonstrate responsible financial management (i.e., paying at least the monthly minimum payment on time each month and staying within your credit limit) your credit limit may increase after 3 months, resulting in a potential credit limit increase on your 4th statement.

Marbles charges a higher-than-average interest rate (like all credit-builder cards). You can avoid high interest charges by paying down the full balance every month. Marbles offers a "soft" eligibility checker which has no impact on your credit rating: FastCheck shows your chances of being accepted before you apply. Another card feature we like is the ability to choose a monthly repayment date that suits you, perhaps just after pay day or to coincide with other bills to help you remember to pay on time.

Representative example: Based on an assumed credit limit of £1,200 at a purchase rate of 34.9% p.a. (variable) with no annual fee, the representative APR is 34.9% variable.

Pros

• Possible first credit card (no credit history needed)

• Free SMS alerts

• Eligibility checker

• Mobile app

• No annual fee

• Chance to increase credit limit after three months

Cons

• Higher-than-average interest rate (but average for a card for bad credit)

Best Store Cards for Bad Credit

A store card can let you earn rewards when you spend. There aren't many store cards for poor credit, but the Tesco Foundation card lets you earn Clubcard points while your work to improve your credit score.

Tesco Foundation Credit Card

The Tesco Foundation Credit Card is for both credit building and earning rewards on Tesco shops. You can collect 1 Clubcard point for every £4 spent (£4 minimum) in Tesco and 1 point for every £8 spent (£8 minimum) outside Tesco, although some products at Tesco don't earn points. While it is expensive to carry balance from month to month on any credit-builder card, especially, due to higher interest rates, note that the Tesco Foundation card has a higher minimum payment floor of £25. For anyone paying the minimum amount each month, this small detail can potentially save hundreds of pounds in interest charges over time, versus a minimum payment floor of £5 which is more common. A small touch that feels like Tesco Bank is looking out for the cardholder's best interests.

Representative example: Based on an assumed credit limit of £1,200 at a purchase rate of 29.9% p.a. (variable) with no annual fee, the representative APR is 29.9% variable.

Pros

• Free email/SMS alerts

• Eligibility checker

• Mobile app

• No annual fee

• Minimum monthly payments at least £25 (important for paying off debt quicker and reducing interest charges!)

• Lower-than-average interest rates for a credit-builder card

Cons While interest rate is lower than most credit builder cards, it is still higher than many standard credit cards

E-money Credit Building

If your primary goal of getting a credit builder card is to improve your credit rating, you might want to learn about alternatives to credit cards, such as a new tool by Monese. Even e-money institutes that aren't banks can be useful for helping to build a credit rating as well.

Best E-money Tool for Credit Building: Monese

NOTE: The Monese credit builder product is currently closed to new customers.

Normally you can't build your credit rating with an e-money institution that only issues debit cards, but Monese has recently offered a new product called Credit Builder. It's not a credit card. Essentially, it's like taking out a loan that you repay each month - only you can't access the money until the end of 12 months when you've repaid the total amount. For example, you might pay £30 a month for a £360 loan (£30 x 12 = £360). How much can you borrow? Between £360 and £1,200 (with monthly payments between £30 to £100).

However, there's a monthly fee to get this product of £7.95 per month - this is equivalent to an APR of 28.2% on a loan amount of £600. (The APR would be higher on smaller loan amounts and lower on larger loan amounts.) Is this a good deal? It depends. Compared to the APR on many credit builder cards, 28.2% seems reasonable. However, on a traditional credit builder card you can pay back your full balance each month and then not pay ANY interest fees while working to improve your credit score. However, if you can't or don't want to get one of the credit builder cards then the Monese Credit Builder tool could be one option for demonstrating that you can pay back borrowing, which should improve your credit rating.

The customer has to be a UK resident and have a Monese GBP. The minimum monthly savings amount is £30 (plus you pay the £7.95 fee).

How Can You Improve Your Credit Rating with a Credit Card?

Whether you have no UK credit history (e.g., you are young and/or new to the UK) or your credit score is low (e.g., due to CCJs, late payments, etc.) applying for a credit card can be a challenge.

Applicants with a bad credit score or no credit will have the most luck applying for a credit-builder card. These cards are open to weaker applicants but charge higher-than-average interest rates and tend to offer lower credit limits. We'd recommend carrying out a card's eligibility check as part of your application process, to see if you're likely to be accepted or not.

Once you have your card, you can use it to take steps to build up your credit rating. Perhaps the important steps for improving your credit score are to always:

• Stay within your credit limit

• Pay at least the minimum amount due each month

• Pay on time

Many of the cards on this page will also lower your interest rate or increase your credit limit if you demonstrate this responsible credit card management, which may act to further improve your credit rating over time.

There are other ways to start building up a credit history, beyond your credit card. The MoneyHelper suggests:

We mentioned that paying at least the minimum amount each month is crucial to improving your credit limit. While this is true, credit builder cards typically charge higher interest rates so we'd advise paying the entire balance each month (not just the minimum) to avoid interest charges and prevent debt from building up - or at least paying as much as possible. To learn about why the low minimum payment floor of some cards can lead to drastically high interest charges over time, please read our article How the Minimum Payment Floor on Your Credit Card Could Cost You Hundreds of Pounds.

How to use a credit builder card

To improve your credit score and get access to cards with lower interest rates, demonstrate responsible financial management with a credit builder card. How do you do that? By paying on time each and every month and always staying under your credit limit.

To avoid building up debt and paying high interest charges, try to pay off your full balance each and every month.

Am I eligible?

While these cards for bad credit may offer 100% "Guaranteed Approval" if you use their eligibility checkers, you may still be turned down - for instance, if they identify certain information on fraud prevention databases or if they're not able to verify your identity.

Summary of Credit Cards for Bad Credit

Below is a summary of student card across different categories.

Always make sure you can afford repayments.

How to Choose a Credit Builder Card for You

There are credit builder cards for all kinds of situations: new to credit, building credit, poor credit, part-time income, no income, etc. Finding the right credit card for you can be easy if you consider a few defining features of your financial situation:

If you're prone to paying only the minimum monthly payment each month, finding a card with the lowest APR and the highest minimum monthly payment may help you to pay back your debt sooner with fewer total interest charges.

You'll notice that a common feature of cards suitable for those with a poor credit history is a relatively low credit limit. A key component of your future credit rating is staying within this credit limit so be sure you're aware of it.

Only those with a bit of responsible payment history and a solid credit score are likely to be accepted for credit cards with perks, like cashback rewards and no foreign transaction fees. If you're applying for your first credit card, you may be limited to a simple, no frills card that will enable you to build up a history of staying within your credit limit and paying on time. Once you've established a healthy credit history, you can think about upgrading for a card with perks.

Most cards offer a "soft" eligibility checker that will tell you if you're likely to be accepted or not. Where possible, use an eligibility check to tell you your odds of being accepted before you apply. If you're unsure if you satisfy the credit history requirements (which can be a bit vague), this is a useful step in the application process.

Credit builder cards can be extremely costly if you carry a balance from month to month. If you find yourself struggling to pay back your outstanding debt, you may want to get free debt advice from organizations including:

• National Debtline

• Citizens Advice Bureau

• StepChange Debt Charity