U.S. Bank Secured Visa® Credit Card Review: Build Credit with No Annual Fee

Quick Review

The U.S. Bank Secured Visa® is a credit card for borrowers with no credit, limited credit, or poor credit. Here’s what else you need to know if you’re considering it as a credit-building option:

• There’s a security deposit requirement: Because this is a secured credit card, you must pay a deposit to open it. Your credit limit will then be equivalent to the amount you pay, which must be $300–$5,000. This means you’ll need to fork out a lot of cash if you want a good credit line.
• There are no usage fees: Although you’ll pay money upfront, it’s free from annual fees, monthly fees, account-opening fees, credit-limit-increase fees, and many of the other fees associated with credit cards for bad credit holders.
• You can graduate to an unsecured card: Once you’ve had your secured card for a year, you can ask to be upgraded to an unsecured card. When you upgrade, your security deposit will be refunded.
• You’ll need a U.S. Bank savings account: If you don’t already have this type of account, opening one may be an inconvenient requirement for getting a U.S. Bank Secured Visa®.

Although the U.S. Bank Secured Visa® covers the essentials, there are more interesting deals available, even to borrowers with limited or poor credit.

Pros & Cons

Who Is the U.S. Bank Secured Visa® Best For?

There are a few different types of borrowers who will be most suitable for the U.S. Bank Secured Visa®:

• U.S. Bank account holders: If you already have a savings account with U.S. Bank, opening a credit card should be easy—so long as you’re prepared to allocate some of your savings to your security deposit.
• Borrowers hoping to graduate to an unsecured card: The U.S. Bank Secured Visa® gives you the chance to upgrade to an unsecured card after 12 months. Although they don’t give you specific information on how you can qualify for an upgrade, the criteria usually include paying your bills on time every month.
• New arrivals to the US: This card is good for new US immigrants or other noncitizens, since you can apply even if you don’t have a Social Security number; you just need an ITIN (an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, which is a number that the tax authorities issue to non-residents of the US for tax purposes).

What the Crowd Says

There aren’t very many reviews of the U.S. Bank Secured Visa® card. The ones that do exist paint a fairly uninspiring picture of a very “bare minimum” card (although some borrowers may consider this an advantage) that only really does the basics for credit building.

Here’s how the U.S. Bank Secured Visa® is rated in the reviews it has:

What Major Publications Say

There are just a handful of professional reviews to go on for this card. Unfortunately, they don’t paint a brilliant picture, overall. Although one positive review commends the simplicity of the card, others think it’s overly basic, and that you could do better.

What Cardholders Say

Cardholders haven’t written many reviews for the U.S. Bank Secured Visa®. But in the ones that do exist, people seem to display a fairly neutral attitude, overall, so cardholder sentiment tallies with the card’s lukewarm reception among experts.

Here are the most common positive and negative points raised:

Security Deposits

There are quite a few cardholder complaints relating to the security deposit for the U.S. Bank Secured Visa®. One is that the minimum deposit this card requires ($300) is higher than for other similar cards you can open with $200 or even less.

Several customers also complain that they haven’t had their security deposits back after two months or more of U.S. Bank saying they’d return the funds. Others remark on how hard it is to get a card upgrade that would qualify them for a security deposit refund, including one person who says graduating is so complicated, it’s easier to just apply for a new card entirely.

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Rates & Fees

Fees

• Annual fee: $0
• Cash advance fee: $5–$20 or 3%–5% (whichever is greater)
• Balance transfer fee: $5 or 3% (whichever is greater)
• Foreign transaction fee: 2%–3%
• Late fee: Up to $41
• Returned payment fee: Up to $41

Cash Advance Fees

The U.S. Bank Secured Visa® has different fees for different types of credit card cash advances. These are as follows:

• Convenience check cash advance fees: 3% of the amount of each advance or $5 (whichever is greater).
• Cash advance/cash advance ATM fees: 5% of the amount of each advance or $10 (whichever is greater).
• Cash equivalent advance fees: 5% of the amount of each advance or $20 (whichever is greater).

Interest Rates

• Purchase APR: 27.74% (variable)
• Balance transfer APR: 29.74% (variable)
• Cash advance APR: 29.74% (variable)
• Minimum interest charge: $1
• Penalty APR: N/A

If you carry a balance on your U.S. Bank Secured Visa® or use it for anything other than purchases, you’ll be charged interest—with the amount you pay depending on your APR (“annual percentage rate”).

Notably, the U.S. Bank Secured Visa® doesn’t have a penalty APR (an increased APR that credit cards often charge if you miss payments).

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Rewards

Although rewards are less common among credit cards for borrowers with credit problems, there are still some cards out there with cashback programs and credit card points. Secured cards for bad credit are a good place to look, as they’re more likely to offer rewards than unsecured cards for bad credit.

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Credit Limit

The U.S. Bank Secured Visa® will give you a credit limit of $300–$5,000. As with most secured credit cards, the amount of deposit you pay will determine your credit limit.

Credit Limit Increases

If you want to increase your credit limit after you’ve opened your account, you can do this after 6 months—and again every 6 months thereafter—as long as your account is still under the $5,000 limit and in good standing (meaning that you must have been paying your bills on time).

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Benefits

The U.S. Bank Secured Visa® includes the following benefits:

Most of these benefits come as standard with all Visa cards, so they’re not particularly remarkable.

Card Graduation

Once you’ve had your U.S. Bank Secured Visa® account for 12 months, you can ask to graduate to an unsecured credit card. If you qualify, you’ll then be refunded your deposit.

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How to Get a U.S. Bank Secured Visa®

Credit Score Required

Many issuers of secured credit cards claim that they do not check your credit or take your credit score into account when you apply. However, we contacted U.S. Bank, and they told us that they’re likely to check your credit report when you apply for the U.S. Bank Secured Visa® credit card.

According to the U.S. Bank website, the secured card is for “customers with low or no credit who want to build or repair their credit history.” 1 This means that, as well as applicants without credit histories, applicants with credit scores that qualify as bad may be eligible for the card.

U.S. Bank also told us that they don’t have a preapproval option for the U.S. Bank Secured Visa®, so there’s no way to find out whether you’re likely to be eligible without a credit check. However, as U.S. Bank’s credit score requirements are minimal, and secured credit cards are low risk for lenders, your approval odds are good.

How to Apply

You can apply for a U.S. Bank Secured Visa® on the U.S. Bank website. As part of the process, you’ll have to provide some personal information, including your SSN (Social Security number) or ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number). And as mentioned, you’ll probably then have to go through a credit check.

Once you’ve applied, you may have to wait 7–10 business days for a decision.

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Building Credit

Security Deposit

If possible, it’s best to pay more for a higher credit limit, as doing so can help your credit score. The reason for this is that your score depends partly on a metric called the credit utilization rate, which is a way of measuring how much of your available credit you’re using. A lower credit utilization rate is better, so the less credit you use, the better it is for your credit score.

Since you’re less likely to max out your credit cards if you have more credit available, a higher credit limit makes it easier to keep a lower credit utilization rate, and thus helps your credit score.

Credit Reporting

Regular credit reporting is important for building credit, since your credit report depends on the information your lenders send to the credit bureaus. However, if you don’t use your card responsibly, it may harm your credit score rather than help it.

Tips for Building Credit

Here’s what you should do to build credit with the U.S. Bank Secured Visa®:

• Pay your bills on time: You must keep up with your monthly credit card payments to benefit your credit score; your credit will suffer if you get late payments on your credit report.
• Increase your deposit: As we’ve already mentioned, a higher credit limit normally means you’ll be using a smaller proportion of your available credit, and this can help your credit score (by making it easier to maintain a low credit utilization rate).
• Monitor your credit score: Since the U.S. Bank Secured Visa® gives you free access to your VantageScore, you should use this to check that your credit is improving and/or to see whether any specific areas of your credit report need work.

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FAQs

Does the U.S. Bank Secured Visa® have a grace period?

Yes, the U.S. Bank Secured Visa® gives you a grace period of 24–30 days, beginning on the first day of the new credit card billing cycle. A credit card grace period is a window of time between the end of your billing cycle and your payment due date.

If you pay off your balance in full by the due date, purchases on your U.S. Bank Secured Visa® won’t have interest added during the grace period. However, if you still have a balance on your card from previous billing cycles, you’ll be charged interest when you use your card during the grace period.

Can I take out cash advances with my U.S. Bank Secured Visa®?

Yes, the U.S. Bank Secured Visa® allows credit card cash advances (when you use your card to take out money at an ATM or for other cash-like transactions).

However, there are cash advance fees of $5–$20 or 3%–5%. Plus, you don’t get a grace period like you get with purchases, so you’ll start gaining interest immediately.

Can I use my U.S. Bank Secured Visa® for balance transfers?

Yes, you can use your U.S. Bank Secured Visa® for credit card balance transfers—when you move debt from one credit card to another.

However, because of the high APR of 29.74% (variable), it’s not a great card to use for this purpose, as you’ll pay expensive interest on your transferred balance. There’s also a balance transfer fee of $5 or 3% of the transaction amount (whichever is greater).

Can I add authorized users to my U.S. Bank Secured Visa®?

No, U.S. Bank doesn’t allow you to add authorized users to their secured cards.

Can I graduate from the U.S. Bank Secured Visa® to an unsecured card?

Yes, you may be able to graduate to an unsecured card after you’ve had the U.S. Bank Secured Visa® for a year.

What is the U.S. Bank Secured Visa® customer service number?

The general customer service number for U.S. Bank credit cards is (800) 285-8585.

For general inquiries and correspondence, you can also write to:

Cardmember Service

PO Box 6352

Fargo, ND 58125-6352