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As one of the only options available for those with poor or no credit, secured credit cards have long carried a bad reputation for charging extra fees and high APRs, in addition to the security deposit required by card members just to carry the card. In many instances, these fees end up harming credit more than helping and the card user ends up with more debt and an even worse credit rating.
Over the years, secured credit cards have bounced back quite a bit by offering more reasonable opportunities for building or rebuilding credit. Not only do many secured options now offer extra incentives such as rewards programs and cardmember perks, there are cards that actually include manageable APRs and relatively low fees. Though secured cards without annual fees are rare. (See also: Best Secured Cards for Rebuilding Credit)
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