BankAmericard® Secured Credit Card review: A chance to get ahead if you have limited options

Getting the Bankamericard Secured is a good choice for building credit as long as you take the right steps. If you’ve only put down the minimum security deposit, be mindful of your available credit. If you spend too close to your credit limit, it negatively impacts your credit utilization which affects your credit score.  

A common best practice is to use the card to pay a small monthly bill (like a streaming service) and set up an autopayment to pay the balance in full before the end of the grace period to avoid interest charges. 

Since payment history makes up the majority of your credit score, you’ll also want to make sure all your monthly payments are on time so that good payment history is reported to the credit bureaus. To keep track of your credit building progress use the Bankamericard’s FICO scorecard access to get clear on what’s affecting your credit score.  

If you’re uncertain about the next step in your credit journey, use the credit education feature to level up your knowledge on the topics that could help you raise your credit score. 

When you need to improve your credit, you have to start somewhere and the Bankamericard Secured is a good place to start. 

Rates and fees: Reasonable for bad credit

Credit cards designed to help people build credit often have inflated fees and costs. Even though this card’s standard variable APR of 25.24 percent on this card is well above the average credit card interest rate, it’s quite average for cards in this category. In comparison to some secured cards, it may even be a lower APR option. Ideally, you’d pay your balance in full each month to avoid interest charges and improve your credit score as quickly as possible. But if you have to hold a balance on this card, it could still get expensive.  

While the BankAmericard Secured Credit Card reduces costs by doing away with annual fees and penalty APR, it does have other common credit card fees that could make it more costly if you don’t avoid them. Late payment, foreign transaction and balance transfer fees can quickly drive up your balance and make it more difficult to pay off. 

Credit-building features: FICO scores and card upgrades

Bank of America periodically reviews your secured card account to determine if you’re eligible to have your security deposit returned and graduate to an unsecured credit card. This means you won’t have to wait indefinitely to move on from your secured card if you’ve made improvements to your credit history. However, Bank of America doesn’t disclose the exact timeline for the “periodic” review of your account and getting your deposit back.

However, you get access to Bank of America’s FICO Score Program which shows you your updated FICO credit score for free each month. When you know where your credit score stands and what’s affecting it, you know how to focus on improving it.

The BankAmericard Secured card is one of many secured credit cards available to people with bad or limited credit history. If these downsides are dealbreakers, look elsewhere for improving your score with a credit card.

Rewards: none

You won’t get a chance to earn rewards with the BankAmericard Secured card. But this may not be a problem if you’re focused on building credit. However, if you feel comfortable managing credit basics and want to earn rewards, Bank of America still offers other secured versions of their top rewards cards. Instead of a secured card with no rewards, you could consider the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card*, Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card* or Bank of America® Travel Rewards Secured Credit Card*.

Security deposit: Potentially inaccessible

Improving your credit with this secured card means you’ll have to set aside at least $200 as a security deposit. If you’re short on cash, not having access to $200 for months on end while you fix your credit could be detrimental. It’s common with other secured cards like the Discover it® Secured Credit Card, but it’s not your only option.

Other secured cards have lower security deposit requirements and clearer guidelines on when you may be eligible to upgrade to an unsecured card and receive your security deposit back. For example, the Capital One Platinum Secured offers a starting limit of $200 with a minimum security deposit of $49, $99 or $200 — depending on your creditworthiness. Additionally, Discover openly states that you could potentially upgrade to an unsecured card after six consecutive months of on-time payments and good status on all your credit accounts.

It doesn’t come with many features and may not provide much value once you’re able to get approved for credit cards for fair credit and beyond, but it does what it sets out to do: assist you in improving your score to help you qualify for unsecured credit cards.

The BankAmericard Secured Credit Card is a good fit for credit builders who have saved up enough for their security deposit and are focused on learning how to use and build credit responsibly. If you’re considering a secured credit card, the BankAmericard Secured might be the right choice if this sounds like you: 

• Have no credit, limited credit history or have had credit struggles in the past.

• Are focused on learning how to use a credit card wisely.

• Can afford not having access to your security deposit for at least six months.

• Aren’t concerned with earning rewards right now

• Don’t plan to carry a balance 

All information about the BankAmericard® Secured Credit Card, Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card, Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card and Bank of America® Travel Rewards Secured Credit Card has been collected independently by Bankrate and has not been reviewed or approved by the issuer.

If you’ve decided that the Bankamericard Secured card isn’t the right move for you, these alternatives could be a better fit. 

The secured Self Visa® Credit Card¹

Best for no credit check 

Chime Card™

Best for no minimum deposit required

Our proprietary card rating system takes into account a mix of factors when scoring credit cards for students and people building credit, including each card’s cost, APR, credit-building tools and more.

We analyzed over 50 of the most popular cards designed for students and people with no credit history, bad credit or a fair credit score and scored each based on where its key features stood in relation to others in its category. 

Here are some of the key factors that gave this card its score: