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.

The credit 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 compare features across the market.

Most credit cards for bad credit offer an eligibility checker to indicate odds of acceptance. But note that eligibility and acceptance are decided by each lender and depend on its own criteria and checks. Checking your eligibility does not guarantee that you’ll be accepted.

Always make sure you can afford repayments.

Vanquis Credit Builder Card

The Vanquis Credit Builder card will consider applicants with no credit history or a poor credit history for a first credit card, including some who may have been declined 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: 37.9% variable APR on purchases.

The credit limit will be between £250 and £2,500.

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

Representative example: Representative 37.9% APR variable. Based on an assumed credit limit of £1,200 at a purchase rate of 37.9% p.a. (variable) with no annual fee.

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

Cons

• Higher-than-average interest rate

Aqua Classic Credit Card

The Aqua Classic Credit Card 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 £1,500. Good financial management can lead to a rise in your credit limit. Free text alerts also notify cardholders when nearing their credit limit.

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

Pros

• Free text alerts

• Eligibility checker

• 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)

Barclaycard Forward

The Barclaycard Forward Credit Card is the only card in this list offering a 0% purchase period (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% 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. Setting up these alerts can help avoid missed payments or exceeding the credit limit, both of which affect credit history.

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

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)

Capital One Classic Credit Card

The Capital One Classic is targeted at those with bad credit or building credit, and proper use can potentially help establish a good payment history. Potential applicants do need some credit history in the UK, such as a current account with direct debits to pay for a mobile phone, gas or electric bill.

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: Representative 34.9% APR variable. Based on an assumed credit limit of £1,200 at a purchase rate of 34.94% p.a. (variable) with no annual fee.

Pros

• Free alerts

• QuickCheck Eligibility checker

• Mobile app

• No annual fee

• Two possible credit limit increases per year

• Credit limit between £200 and £4,000

• No strict income requirement

• Need some credit history in UK

Cons

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

Marbles Credit Card

The Marbles Card considers applicants with poor credit. Marbles may start you off with a low initial credit limit of £250 to £1,500. Once you demonstrate responsible financial management (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, as with 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. Marbles also allows cardholders to choose a monthly repayment date, such as just after pay day or to coincide with other bills, which can help with remembering to pay on time.

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

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)

Zable Credit Card for bad credit

The Zable Credit Card (formerly the Level Credit Card) is issued by Transact Payments Limited under licence from Mastercard, and is a trading name of Lendable Ltd, a UK consumer finance provider. It's aimed at those with a limited or poor credit history, with credit limits of up to £4,000. Cardholders get free access to their Equifax credit score in the Zable app, and can report rent payments to help build their credit history — a feature none of the other cards in this list offer.

As with any card, interest on purchases is only avoided by paying the full statement balance by the due date; cash advances accrue interest immediately, with no grace period.

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

Pros

• Free access to your Equifax credit score via the app

• Rent payment reporting to help build credit history

• Credit limits up to £4,000

• No annual fee

Cons

• Higher-than-average interest rate for those with limited or poor credit

• Cash advances accrue interest immediately, with no grace period

Onmo Credit Card

The Onmo Credit Card is designed for those with a limited or poor credit history, with credit limits between £500 and £2,000. Onmo Visa Card is issued by Transact Payments Limited, on the Visa network, and markets itself around transparency and app-based account management.

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

Pros

• Free eligibility check before applying

• App-based account management with spending notifications

• Choice of repayment date

• No annual fee

Cons

• Higher-than-average interest rate

• Lower credit limit ceiling (£2,000) than several other credit-builder cards

Fluid Credit Card

The Fluid Credit Card, issued by NewDay, is primarily a balance transfer card for those with a limited or near-prime credit history, with credit limits between £250 and £4,000. Cardholders can transfer a balance from another credit card within 60 days of opening the account, receiving 0% interest on the transferred amount for 9 months, at a 3% transfer fee.

As with other NewDay-issued cards, applicants cannot have held an Aqua, Marbles, Opus, or Bip card in the past 6 months, or already hold a Fluid card,

Representative example: Representative 34.9% APR variable. Based on an assumed credit limit of £1,200 at a purchase rate of 34.95% p.a. (variable) with no annual fee.

Pros

• 0% balance transfer for 9 months

• Wide credit limit range (£250–£4,000)

• No annual fee

• Choice of repayment date

Cons

• Higher-than-average ongoing interest rate once the 0% period ends

• Cannot be used to transfer a balance from another NewDay-family card

• Carrying a balance transfer while making new purchases can mean immediate interest on those purchases

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.

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

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

How Credit Reference Agencies and Lenders Work Together

In the UK, credit reference agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) hold information from your credit file and use it to calculate a credit score or rating. Each agency may hold slightly different information and use a different method to calculate a score, so your score can vary between agencies.

When a lender assesses an application, they use their own lending criteria — this may draw on information from one or more credit reference agencies, but lenders don't necessarily use the same score a reader might see when checking their own credit file, and may weigh the same information differently. As a result, a specific credit score or an improvement in one doesn't guarantee any particular lending decision, interest rate, or credit limit — outcomes and terms can vary between lenders.

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.

Credit-builder cards are designed to be open to applicants with a bad credit score or no credit history, though they typically charge higher-than-average interest rates and offer lower credit limits than standard cards. An eligibility check can show the likelihood of acceptance before a full application is made.

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?

Even if an eligibility checker indicates you're likely to be accepted, this isn't a guarantee — you may still be turned down for reasons the checker can't see, such as information on fraud prevention databases, an inability to verify your identity, or other checks carried out only at the full application stage.

Summary of Credit Cards for Bad Credit

Below is a summary of credit cards for bad credit across different categories.

Always make sure you can afford repayments.

Alternative Credit Builder Tools

Not every credit-building product is a credit card. Alternative tools — often from e-money institutions or fintechs rather than traditional banks — typically work differently: some function like a forced-savings loan, where you make fixed monthly payments and only access the money once it's fully repaid, with the repayment history reported to credit reference agencies. Others report rent payments or subscription payments as a form of credit history.

These products aren't required to disclose a representative APR the way credit cards are, so pay close attention to any monthly fee and how it compares to what you'd pay in interest on an equivalent credit-builder card. Providers in this space include Loqbox, Creditspring, and Wollit — availability and terms change more often than with mainstream credit cards, so check current details directly with the provider.

Which type of product someone is actually offered often depends heavily on their existing credit score. The chart below shows, among ClearScore users who clicked through to an offer, the split between traditional credit cards and alternative credit builder tools by credit score band: those with the lowest scores were offered (and clicked through to) alternative tools far more often than traditional cards, while the reverse is true further up the credit score range.

Always make sure you can afford repayments before taking out any credit-building product, whether a credit card or an alternative tool.

Choosing Between Credit Builder Cards

Credit builder cards differ across a few key features: representative APR, minimum monthly payment structure, credit limit range, and whether the card offers perks such as cashback or no foreign transaction fees.

A lower APR combined with a higher minimum monthly payment results in less total interest paid and a faster payoff, for anyone who ends up paying only the minimum each month.

Credit limits on cards for those with a poor or limited credit history are typically lower than on standard cards. Staying within the credit limit is a key factor in building a positive credit history.

Cards with perks — such as cashback rewards or no foreign transaction fees — are generally aimed at applicants with an established, positive credit history rather than those applying for a first card.

Most cards offer a "soft" eligibility checker, which shows the likelihood of acceptance without affecting the applicant's credit score. This is a useful step before applying, particularly where a card's credit history requirements aren't fully explicit.

Credit builder cards typically charge higher-than-average interest rates, so carrying a balance from month to month can be costly. Anyone struggling to repay existing debt can get free advice from organisations including National Debtline, Citizens Advice, and StepChange Debt Charity:

• National Debtline

• Citizens Advice Bureau

• StepChange Debt Charity