5 best starter credit cards of September 2026

While the most valuable credit cards target consumers with good or excellent credit scores, there are still plenty of options for people with limited (or no) credit history who want to earn solid rewards.

Below, CNBC Select reviews the best starter credit cards in a variety of categories. For more on how we made our selections, read our methodology.

Who's this for? The Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card is perfect if you want a secured card without a high deposit. You may be required to deposit $49, $99 or $200, based on your creditworthiness. Regardless of which deposit amount you qualify for, you'll still have access to at least a $200 credit limit.

Standout benefits: With the Capital One Platinum Secured, you'll be automatically considered for a higher credit line within six months of making five monthly payments on time.

Who's this for? Most secured cards offer few benefits and no rewards, but the Chime Card provides both.

Standout benefits: To open a Chime Card, you'll need a Chime^® Checking Account,² and with qualifying direct deposits, you can earn rewards and benefits. With top-tier Chime Prime³, you'll get 5% cash back in a category of your choice on up to $1,500 per month⁴, Priority Pass airport lounge membership with two complimentary visits per year and Visa Signature benefits.

Who's this for? The U.S. Bank Altitude® Go Visa® Secured Card is great if you like to dine out, as it earns a generous 4X points on dining, takeout and restaurant delivery (on your first $2,000 each quarter).

Standout benefits: You can get up to a $15 annual statement credit toward streaming services, such as Peacock and Spotify, with 11 consecutive monthly payments.

Who's this for? The Capital One Savor Student Cash Rewards Credit Card is a good fit for college students because of its high cash-back rates in useful spending categories like groceries and dining.

Standout benefits: You'll earn 3% cash back on dining, entertainment, popular streaming services and at grocery stores (excluding superstores like Walmart and Target).

Who's this for? The Bank of America Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured credit card is geared toward small business owners who want to build their credit and earn rewards along the way.

Standout benefits: With this card, you'll earn 1.5% cash back on every purchase. This is a solid rate of return for a no-annual-fee business card.

Credit scores are calculated differently depending on the credit scoring model. Here are the key factors the two scoring models, FICO Score and VantageScore, take into account when computing your credit score.

FICO Score

1. Payment history (35% of your score): Whether you've paid past credit accounts on time.
2. Amounts owed (30%): The total amount of credit and loans you owe — your credit utilization rate is part of your amounts owed.
3. Length of credit history (15%): The length of time you've had credit.
4. New credit (10%): How often you apply for and open new accounts.
5. Credit mix (10%): The variety of installment loans and revolving credit accounts you have, including credit cards, auto loans, mortgages and personal loans.

VantageScore

1. Extremely influential: Your payment history.
2. Highly influential: The type of credit, its duration and the percent of your credit limit used.
3. Moderately influential: Your total balances and debt.
4. Less influential: Any available credit amount, as well as recent credit behavior and inquiries.

Keep in mind that there may be additional factors besides your credit score that issuers might consider when determining your eligibility for a new card.

Using a credit card responsibly can help you build your credit profile in several ways. Credit card account activity is reported to the major credit bureaus, including Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.

1. Pay on time

Your credit score is designed to show a potential creditor how likely you are to repay the money it lends you. A big part of the calculation is your payment history. One of the best ways to boost your score and maintain a high score is to always pay your bills on time. Paying your monthly credit card bill on time once or twice may not have a huge impact on your credit score, but over time those payments will add up.

2. Pay off your balance in full

How much debt you have and how much of your total available credit you use factor heavily into your credit score. Paying your full credit card balance off each month will help improve your credit score. This is partly because it will help you keep a low credit utilization ratio. Your credit utilization ratio is based on how much of your available credit you're using, and it's generally recommended to keep it below 30%.

3. Keep older cards open

One factor in your credit score is the average age of your credit accounts. Closing older cards, or opening newer accounts, will lower their average age.

Whether you should get a credit card depends on your situation. Opening a credit card can make sense if you want to build credit, earn rewards to put toward your next vacation or save on interest with an intro 0%-APR offer. However, if you won't be able to pay off a new credit card each month or you plan on applying for new credit soon (i.e. a mortgage or loan), then you may want to hold off on getting a credit card.

When it makes sense to get a credit card

Opening a credit card can be a good way to establish credit or to begin rebuilding your credit score. There are plenty of credit cards available even if you have bad credit.

If you're working your way out of credit card debt, a card with an intro APR offer could help you save on interest. These cards may provide interest-free periods of up to 21 months, which can give a significant boost to your debt pay-off strategy.

For those with good to excellent credit, opening a new travel card is a great way to earn rewards to put toward future travel. These cards can also come with built-in travel protections that can protect your luggage or reimburse you when your trip is interrupted or canceled.

When you should wait to get a credit card

If you tend to overspend on credit cards, opening a new card may not be the best option for you. Using a debit card may be a better option for helping you stay within your budget.

Applying for a credit card will typically result in a hard inquiry on your credit report, which will temporarily reduce your credit score. This makes it a good strategy to hold off on applying for credit cards if you will be applying for credit shortly. If you plan on buying a house or taking out an auto loan, you probably want to hold off on getting a new credit card for at least six months.

When you're applying for a credit card, the issuer will want to verify your identity, review your credit and know how much money you make. Credit card applications can vary slightly from one issuer to the next or depending on the type of credit card, but in general, you'll need the following information:

• Personal details (name, address, phone number, email, date of birth)
• Income
• Debt
• Social Security Number
• Job status

A credit card application may also ask other questions such as whether you own or rent a home, your monthly housing payment and if you have a checking account, savings account or both.

Bank-specific application rules

Depending on which bank or card issuer you are applying to, there may be other rules to navigate. Credit Unions typically require you to be a member of that Credit Union to get any of its cards. Joining a credit union may require a professional affiliation, association with the military or it could be as simple as opening a savings account with that credit union.

With other banks, it may be more difficult to get a card depending on how many credit cards you've opened in the past or what specific cards you've had. Chase has the 5/24 rule and it is unlikely to approve you for any Chase credit card if you've opened 5 or more credit cards from any card issuer in the previous 24 months. With American Express, you typically won't be eligible for a card's intro bonus offer if you've had that card at any time in the past.

Credit cards offer a range of value and benefits, however, many of these perks are specific. If your card has travel protections, they aren't as valuable if you rarely book travel. To get the most out of your credit card, start with understanding why you need a credit card.

Type of rewards

Not all credit cards earn rewards, but if you're looking to be rewarded for your credit card spending, then it's worth spending a little time to think about what type of rewards make the most sense for you.

Cash-back rewards are simple and easy to redeem. A flat-rate cash-back card could be a good fit if you want to get something back for your spending and avoid headaches. If you want to maximize the return on your spending, you should look at a card that earns flexible travel rewards. These cards tend to have more options for using your miles or points and you can often take advantage of the best redemptions to earn outsized value from your rewards.

Types of benefits

How you plan to use your card has a big influence on the types of benefits that are the best fit for you.

Retailers, travel providers and other companies often partner with banks to issue co-branded credit cards, such as store credit cards, hotel credit cards and airline credit cards. Co-branded cards tend to have perks that are specific to that company. For example, airline cards earn miles with that airline's loyalty program and may also offer free check bags or even airport lounge access.

However, if you're not brand loyal, a credit card with general benefits will be more useful. Some cards have statement credit offers that apply to purchase categories instead of specific brands. Other offer shopping or travel protections that can apply to an array of different transactions.

Building credit or getting out of debt

Anyone with specific goals such as getting out of credit card debt or building credit will likely want to focus on certain types of credit cards and forgo the chance to earn rewards.

Some credit cards offer 0% intro APR periods for as long as 21 months. Other cards are available if you have no credit or bad credit. However, these cards are less likely to offer generous welcome bonuses or ongoing rewards. You also typically won't have access to meaningful benefits with these types of credit cards.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every credit card review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of credit card products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.

To determine which cards offer the best value for someone with little to no credit history, CNBC Select analyzed over 250 major credit cards issued through FDIC-insured banks and NCUA-insured credit unions that are widely available in the U.S.  

We compared each card on a range of features, including rewards (e.g., cash back, points and miles), annual fees, welcome bonuses, introductory and standard APR and balance transfer fees and foreign transaction fees. We also considered additional perks (e.g., ongoing travel or merchant statement credits), cardholder protections (e.g., purchase protection, $0 liability protection and travel insurance), the application process when available (e.g., is there a credit pull or required credit score) and how easy it is to redeem points (e.g., are rewards are tied to a specific brand; if transferable, to how many/which partners, can you redeem for straight cash back). 
 
We also considered CNBC Select audience data when available, such as general demographics and engagement with our content and tools.  

When choosing the best starter credit cards, we focused on cards that are easier to be approved for. This meant we focused on cards with low or no credit score requirements, including secured credit cards. While most cards we've included on this list offer rewards and benefits, these features aren't the main focus.

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Information about the U.S. Bank Go Visa Secured, U.S. Bank Altitude® Go Visa® Secured Card and U.S. Bank Altitude® Go Visa Signature® Card has been collected independently by Select and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of the card prior to publication.

*For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.

¹To apply for a Chime Card™, a Chime® Checking Account is required to apply.

²Chime® Checking Account is required to be eligible for a Savings Account.

³To be eligible for Chime Prime status, receive $3,000+ in qualifying direct deposits to your Chime Checking Account in the past 34 days. To be eligible for Chime Plus status, receive either 1) a single $200+ qualifying direct deposit; or 2) $400+ in cumulative qualifying direct deposits to your Chime Checking Account in the preceding 34 days. Certain products marketed as perks have additional eligibility requirements. While some perks may have associated fees, none of these fees are mandatory to access the perks or to maintain the applicable status. See the Chime Membership Tiers Terms and Conditions for details on all listed Prime and Plus perks.

⁴With qualifying direct deposits, earn 5% cash back as a Chime Prime member or 2% cash back as a Chime Plus member on up to $1,500 of eligible secured Chime Visa® Credit Card purchases. See the Secured Chime Visa® Credit Card - Cash Rewards Program Addendum for limitations and details on earning cash back on your monthly selected category.