Last reviewed: 15 October 2026

Secured cards for building credit: what passed

No paid rankings. Pass or fail is never for sale. Where a provider passes our review, we may link to it with a disclosed affiliate link.

Short answer: a secured card that builds credit should report to all three bureaus, have a refundable deposit, publish its APR and fees, and offer a stated path to an unsecured card. One card on our Register currently meets every point.

Passed our review

Capital One Platinum Secured

• Capital One says the account is reported to the three major credit bureaus (product page, accessed 2026-10-15).^[1]
• No annual fee. The refundable deposit is $49, $99 or $200, and the credit line is at least $200 (product page, accessed 2026-10-15).^[1]
• The purchase rate is 29.24% variable APR (Capital One product page, 15 Oct 2026).^[1]
• The deposit is returned when the account is upgraded to an unsecured card, or when it's closed with a zero balance (help center, accessed 2026-10-04).^[2]

We list a card here only once it passes every point on our standard. Other cards are still under review, and we don't name cards that fail.

How to check any secured card yourself

1. Does it report to all three bureaus? 2. Is the deposit refundable, and how? 3. Are the APR and every fee published before you apply? 4. Is there a stated way to graduate to an unsecured card? 5. Does the marketing promise a specific score increase? Treat that as a red flag.

References

1. [1] Capital One Platinum Secured product page (accessed 2026-10-15 by RECORD-QA/OPS). https://www.capitalone.com/credit-cards/platinum-secured/
2. [2] Capital One help center, secured cards (accessed 2026-10-04). https://www.capitalone.com/help-center/credit-cards/understanding-and-managing-secured-cards/