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.

Can I Get a Credit Card with Bad Credit

Getting a credit card with bad credit might feel challenging, but options are available. In the UK, some lenders offer products designed for people looking to rebuild their credit health through responsible card use. The key is understanding your options, picking the right card for your circumstances, and using it wisely to improve your credit score over time.

Important: Approval depends on individual circumstances and lender criteria. There's no guarantee of acceptance or credit score improvement. Before applying, you should always make sure you can afford to make the repayments.

Understanding Bad Credit and Credit Card Approval

Before applying, you need to understand what bad credit means and how it affects your approval chances.

What Is Bad Credit?

Bad credit typically refers to a lower credit score, though the exact definition varies between credit reference agencies. For example, Experian considers scores below 640 as poor on their 0-1250 scale. However, different lenders use different criteria - what one considers "bad credit" might be acceptable to another.

Your credit score reflects your borrowing history, including:

• How you've paid past loans and credit cards

• Your current debt levels

• The length of your credit history

• The types of credit accounts you hold

• Recent credit applications

How Bad Credit Affects Your Options

When you have bad credit, lenders may view you as higher risk. This can mean:

• Higher Interest Rates: You may be offered a higher APR

• Lower Credit Limits: You might start with a limit on how much credit you can access through your card, though limits may increase with responsible use

• Fewer Perks: You may not be offered typical rewards or cashback perks

• LStricter Terms: You might face higher fees and more stringent conditions

Example: Some providers offer credit cards for those with poor credit history. As an example, some credit builder cards advertise limits up to around £1,500 with representative APRs near the high‑30s. Your actual interest rate and limit depend on your circumstances.

This is where ClearScore stands out: You can check your credit score andcompare personalised credit card offersin the ClearScore app.

• Check your eligibility without affecting your credit score

• Discover personalised offers and see your approval chances

• Compare credit cardsfrom 35 different lenders

• We’ll show you your approval chances before you apply - so you can feel confident before you apply.

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

Aqua Classic Credit Card

Barclaycard Forward

Capital One Classic Credit Card

Marbles Credit Card

Zable Credit Card for bad credit

Onmo Credit Card

Fluid Credit Card

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

Types of credit cards for bad credit

Secured credit cards

Secured credit cards exist in the UK but are less common than unsecured 'credit builder' cards. They require a refundable cash deposit, which typically becomes your credit limit.

Advantages: higher approval rates than unsecured cards, help build or rebuild credit history, and may convert to unsecured cards later with responsible use.

Disadvantages: an upfront cash deposit, lower starting credit limits, and possible annual fees.

At ClearScore, we don't offer secured or credit-builder cards. Instead, you can compare credit cards you may be eligible for based on your credit profile.

Unsecured credit cards for bad credit

These don't require deposits but often feature:

• Higher interest rates (approximately 25-40% APR)

• Lower credit limits (approximately £200-£1,500)

• Higher fees and stricter terms

• Limited or no rewards programmes

Credit builder cards

Purpose-built cards designed to help improve your credit score through responsible use:

• Start with lower limits (approximately £250-£1,200)

• Higher APRs (approximately 30-45%)

• Potential for credit limit increases over time

• Some offer transition to standard products

There is no guarantee that using any credit card will improve your credit score. Improvement depends on consistent, responsible use and timely payments.

How to choose the right credit builder card for you

Most credit builder cards do the same basic job - they report your payments to the credit reference agencies each month - but the cost, the credit limit and the way the lender treats you afterwards can vary a lot. Use this checklist to work out which card actually suits your situation before you apply.

• Representative APR.Credit builder cards typically carry higher interest rates than mainstream cards, often somewhere between 25% and 60% APR. If you clear the balance in full every month, you won't pay interest at all - so the APR matters far less than you'd think. It only becomes important if there's any chance you'll carry a balance, in which case a lower rate is worth hunting for.

• Starting credit limit and how quickly it's reviewed.Many credit builder cards start you at £200-£1,500. A low starting limit isn't a problem in itself, but check how often the lender reviews it. Some will consider an increase after three to six months of on-time payments, which helps your credit utilisation ratio fall over time without you doing anything.

• Annual or monthly fees.Some cards charge a fee simply for holding the account. A fee-charging card can still be worth it if it's the only one you'd be accepted for and it gets you onto the ladder - but weigh the yearly cost against the alternatives. A fee-free card with a slightly higher APR is usually the better deal if you always pay in full.

• Soft-search eligibility checkers versus full applications.A soft search shows you your likelihood of acceptance without leaving a footprint other lenders can see. A full application leaves a hard search on your report, which can stay visible for up to two years, although lenders focus most on recent ones. Always run an eligibility check first - you can check your likely eligibilitywithout harming your score, though acceptance still rests on the lender's checks.

• Does the card report to all three credit reference agencies?The UK has three main credit reference agencies - Experian, Equifax and TransUnion (smaller ones such as Crediva also hold statutory data) - and not every lender reports to all of them. If your card only reports to one, your progress will show up unevenly depending on which agency a future lender checks.

• Useful extras.App alerts and balance notifications make it much easier to avoid a missed payment. A straightforward Direct Debit setup is arguably the single most valuable feature. And because it's a credit card, purchases between £100 and £30,000 come with Section 75 protection, which a prepaid or debit card won't give you.

• Red flags.Be wary of a card that combines a high fee with a very small limit - you're paying a lot for very little borrowing power. Treat any offer that "guarantees" acceptance with suspicion too: no legitimate UK lender can promise approval before running affordability and credit checks.

If you're comparing options, look at the whole package rather than one figure. Useful factors include whether you're likely to be accepted, whether you can afford to clear the balance in full each month, and whether it might tempt you to overspend.

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.

Related: Check out our guide on How to Improve Your Credit Score

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.

What lenders look for

Different lenders have different criteria. Common requirements include:

Some providers consider additional factors like bank account history when assessing applications. Acceptance is never guaranteed and depends on your individual circumstances.

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

Card details correct as of 02 September 2026. Terms, rates and features are subject to change — always verify current details before applying. This article is for general information only and does not constitute financial advice.

Applying safely

What you'll need

You'll typically need:

• Valid photo ID (passport or driving licence)

• Recent utility bill or bank statement as proof of address, dated within 3 months

• Proof of income (payslips, tax returns or benefit statements)

• Details of existing debts and financial commitments

Avoid scams

Watch out for:

• Requests for upfront fees before approval

• Unlicensed or unregulated lenders

• "Guaranteed approval regardless of credit" claims

• Pressure tactics urging immediate application

• Requests for unusual personal information

Always check the lender is authorised by the FCA using the Financial Services Register. ClearScore, and all of our partners, are FCA-authorised.

Understand the credit agreement

Before accepting any offer, review the exact APR you'll be charged, minimum payment requirements, late payment charges, credit limit review policies, and how the card reports to credit reference agencies.

You have a 14-day cooling-off period under the Consumer Credit Act to withdraw from most credit agreements. Once approved, you'll typically receive your card within 7-10 working days. Some providers offer digital cards for immediate use.

FAQs

Can I get a credit card with bad credit in the UK?

Yes, several lenders offer credit cards for people with bad credit, including secured cards, unsecured cards and credit builder cards. Approval isn't guaranteed and depends on your individual circumstances. These cards typically have higher APRs and lower credit limits.

Will checking for credit cards on ClearScore damage my credit score?

No. Checking your eligibility through ClearScore uses soft searches that aren't visible to other lenders. Submitting a full application to a lender triggers a hard search that appears on your credit report, and multiple applications in a short period can harm your score.

Is a 700 credit score good in the UK?

It depends which agency you're looking at, because there's no single UK scale. Experian scores run to 1,250, Equifax to 1,000 and TransUnion to 999. So 700 sits in the Good band on TransUnion (653-785), but only Fair on Experian (641-860). Focus on the band your agency places you in rather than the raw figure.

What is the 2/3/4 rule for credit cards, and does it apply in the UK?

The 2/3/4 rule is an unofficial guideline about how many cards certain US banks will approve within set time windows: two in 30 days, three in 12 months, four in 24 months. It has no bearing on UK lending. What does carry across is the principle that several applications in quick succession look like distress borrowing and will hurt your chances here too.

Can I upgrade from a credit builder card to a normal credit card later?

Yes. After around 12 months of on-time payments, many people qualify for mainstream cards with lower rates, though lenders also weigh your income, existing borrowing and affordability. If you do move on, consider keeping the credit builder card open rather than closing it, so you don't lose the credit history attached to it.