Rebuilding credit with CitiBank’s Secured MasterCard

Update 2013: CitiBank is not currently issuing any secured credit cards at this time. Citi has, however, featured many outstanding secured credit card options in the past. Featured below is CitiBank’s most recent, yet no longer available offer, as well as today’s best secured card options.

Directly below are our favorite secured cards currently on the market. Whatever card you end up choosing, make sure the bank reports to each of the three credit card bureaus each month. Using your secured card to rebuild your credit is the ultimate goal after all, and this reporting is the sole feature allowing you to do it. Reporting to these agencies costs money for the banks though, so sometimes they may try and do it only periodically rather than monthly. This could add years to the credit building process. Something you may want to keep an eye on.

Two Solid Secured Credit Card Offers Currently Available in 2013:

  1) The Capital One® Secured Mastercard® is currently the best offer for rebuilding credit. See features below.

• Get the credit you need with no application or processing fees
• Automatic reporting to the 3 major credit bureaus
• Track credit with access to your credit score and other tools
• Your refundable security deposit can get you a line up to $3000
• You may qualify for credit line increases with no further security deposit required
• Use it like any MasterCard credit card, accepted at millions of locations worldwide

2) >First Progress Platinum Elite MasterCard® Secured Credit Card

• Nationwide Program – though not yet available in NY, IA, AR, or WI
• Credit Line Secured by Your Fully-Refundable Deposit of $300 — $2,000 Submitted with Application
• Just Pay Off Your Balance and Get Your Deposit Back at Any Time
• Monthly Reporting to all 3 Major Credit Bureaus to Establish Credit History
• Good for Car Rental, Hotels; Anywhere Credit Cards are Accepted!
• No Credit History or Minimum Credit Score Required for Approval
• 24/7 Access to Your Account Online

The following CitiBank secured credit card plus certificate of deposit is no longer available.

For those looking to rebuild or establish credit this year as well as open a FDIC-insured savings account, CitiBank’s new secured MasterCard + 18 month CD (certificate of deposit) offer may be just the right joint product for you so long as you haven’t encountered bankruptcy or had payments go to collections in the last two years.

Here is what you get:

After opening a CD account with a deposit of between $200 to $25,000, you will receive a secured credit card through CitiBank with your deposit amount as your spending limit.

Your payment records with the new card will then be reported to the three major credit bureaus. After 18 months of solid payment history, you may become eligible for an upgrade to an unsecured Citi Platinum Select credit card.

Meanwhile, you’ll be earning a competitive annual interest rate on your 18 month CD.

Build Your Credit History:

With no minimum income or co-signer required its extremely easy to qualify for this credit card. A solid block of time (18 months) is provided to rebuild credit while reporting to the three credit bureaus monthly.

Out Take:

What we particularly like about this offer is that the 18 month CD you purchase comes with an APY that is well above average (4.17% APY) and the secured card offer is simply a stepping stone to get you back to a standard credit card.

What we don’t like about the card is that Citibank is not allowing the consumers who need this product most eligibility. Requiring that the individual has never entered into bankruptcy is already cutting off a large percentage of consumers whom may need this product most, but not allowing those who have had a bill go to collections in the last two years is absurd. We wish CitBank would have been much more inclusive with this offer.

Important Credit Card statistics:

• $29 annual fee
• 13.24% APR variable credit limit