Citi Secured Mastercard

The value here is access, not rewards: the Citi Secured Mastercard is built for people establishing or rebuilding credit, it carries no annual fee, and it ranks fourth on our list of the best secured cards. Because it is secured, your line comes from the refundable deposit you put down, so it functions as a credit reporting tool rather than a spending tool. There are no earn rates at all, so every dollar you run through it buys you credit history and nothing else. The 25.99% APR is the reason to treat this strictly as a pay in full card, since carrying a balance would erase the progress you are making. Two other limits are worth knowing: it charges foreign transaction fees, so leave it home when you travel, and once your scores recover you should graduate to a card that actually pays you back.