How do you go from good to excellent credit?

There’s no quick fix for improving your credit score. Taking consistent action over time, even a relatively short period of time, is the key to boosting your credit score. If you have credit card debt, have a plan to pay it all off. Make sure your payments are always on time. If you have a close friend or family member who has good credit, ask if they’ll add you as an authorized user to their existing credit account, which will improve your score when the card shows up on your credit report.

What’s the difference between good and fair credit?

The basic difference between the two is the FICO score range. A fair credit score is between 580 and 669 while a good credit score ranges between 670 and 739. Being one level below good credit can make a huge difference when you apply for credit, as you could miss out on access to great offers and end up paying higher interest when you borrow money.

What credit card gives you the highest credit score?

There is no one credit card that will give you the highest credit score. To earn a good to excellent credit score, you’ll need to practice responsible credit habits over a lengthy period of time. The longer you go without missing payments and keeping your credit utilization in check, the more you’ll see your score start to increase.

Best Credit Cards for Good Credit of September 2025

Compare Bankrate’s top credit cards for good credit

Card Name	Best for	Card highlights	Annual fee	Bankrate Review Score
Discover it® Cash Back	First-year rewards	5% cash back on activated rotating categories each quarter (on up to $1,500 in purchases, then 1%) Automatic Cashback Match for all rewards earned at the end of your first year	$0	4.1 / 5 Our writers, editors and industry experts score credit cards based on a variety of factors including card features, bonus offers and independent research. Credit card issuers have no say or influence on how we rate cards. (Read card review) Apply now on Discover's secure site See Rates & Fees
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card	Travel bonus	5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars through Capital One Travel 2X miles on all other purchases Redeem miles for past travel — statement credits toward eligible recent purchases	$95	5.0 / 5 Our writers, editors and industry experts score credit cards based on a variety of factors including card features, bonus offers and independent research. Credit card issuers have no say or influence on how we rate cards. (Read card review) Apply now on Capital One's secure site See Rates & Fees
Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card	Standalone card	8% cash back on Capital One Entertainment purchases 3% cash back on dining, entertainment, select streaming services and grocery store purchases (excluding superstores like Walmart and Target)	$0	5.0 / 5 Our writers, editors and industry experts score credit cards based on a variety of factors including card features, bonus offers and independent research. Credit card issuers have no say or influence on how we rate cards. (Read card review) Apply now on Capital One's secure site See Rates & Fees
Credit One Bank® Platinum X5 Visa Signature®	Household expenses	5% cash back on eligible gas, grocery, mobile phone service, internet service and cable and satellite TV service purchases (up to $5,000 per year, then 1% back)	$95	3.8 / 5 Our writers, editors and industry experts score credit cards based on a variety of factors including card features, bonus offers and independent research. Credit card issuers have no say or influence on how we rate cards. (Read card review) Apply now on Credit One Bank's secure site See Rates & Fees
Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express	Families	3% cash back on U.S. supermarket, U.S. gas stations and U.S. online retail purchases (up to $6,000 each year per category, then 1% back)	$0	4.6 / 5 Our writers, editors and industry experts score credit cards based on a variety of factors including card features, bonus offers and independent research. Credit card issuers have no say or influence on how we rate cards. (Read card review) Apply now on American Express's secure site See Rates & Fees , Terms Apply
Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express	Shopping	Earn 6% cash back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in eligible purchases (then 1%), 6% cash back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions, 3% cash back at eligible U.S. gas stations and on transit (including taxis/rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses and more) purchases and 1% cash back on other purchases. Cash Back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit and at Amazon.com checkout.	$0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95.	4.4 / 5 Our writers, editors and industry experts score credit cards based on a variety of factors including card features, bonus offers and independent research. Credit card issuers have no say or influence on how we rate cards. (Read card review) Apply now on American Express's secure site See Rates & Fees , Terms Apply
Discover it® Chrome	Gas and dining	2% cash back at gas stations and restaurants (on up to $1,000 in combined purchases each quarter, then 1%) Automatic Cashback Match for all rewards earned at the end of your first year	$0	4.6 / 5 Our writers, editors and industry experts score credit cards based on a variety of factors including card features, bonus offers and independent research. Credit card issuers have no say or influence on how we rate cards. (Read card review) Apply now on Discover's secure site See Rates & Fees
Upgrade Cash Rewards Visa®	Low interest and fees	1.5% cash back on all purchases every time you make a payment Monthly installment payments at a set APR and length instead of traditional cards’ revolving credit line No late payment fee and no penalty APR	$0	4.2 / 5 Our writers, editors and industry experts score credit cards based on a variety of factors including card features, bonus offers and independent research. Credit card issuers have no say or influence on how we rate cards. (Read card review) Apply now on Upgrade's secure site See Rates & Fees
The Gemini Credit Card®	Crypto rewards	4 percent back on gas and EV charging, transit, taxis and rideshares (on up to $300 per month; percent after that) 3 percent back on dining 2 percent back on groceries	$0	4.1 / 5 Our writers, editors and industry experts score credit cards based on a variety of factors including card features, bonus offers and independent research. Credit card issuers have no say or influence on how we rate cards. (Read card review) Apply now on Gemini's secure site See Rates & Fees

A good credit score can help you choose a new card

Good credit can help make financial decisions easier, and it’s worth striving for. While it may feel like it’s hard to work towards, and at times the journey can feel unfair with random dips and dives in your score, you should make every effort to climb the credit ranks.

The better your credit score, the more credit card options you could have.
Rod Griffin, Experian consumer education and advocacy senior director

Spending money can be a difficult situation, made more difficult by limited options and resources. A good credit score can help ease the stress of most financial situations by opening up new avenues for accessing the funds you need.

“When you apply for a credit card, the issuing lender reviews your credit report and score to determine your eligibility and whether you qualify for a particular card,” says Rod Griffin, senior director of consumer education and advocacy at Experian. “The better your credit score, the more credit card options you could have.”

But good credit isn’t just about having more options — it’s about having options with some of the best benefits. Here are some of the perks that come with good credit:

Earn rewards

The better your credit is, the more likely you are to qualify for cards that earn more rewards in more categories.

Maximize travel value

Many cards with boosted rates for travel require good credit or better. These cards offer solid value that can help you shoulder the burden of travel expenses.

Access perks and benefits

Credit cards for good credit are more likely to have statement credits, intro APR offers and other bonuses.

How to get good credit

You can achieve a good credit score by keeping low credit utilization ratio, having a mix of credit and installment loans, using credit cards responsibly and having an established credit history.

The time it takes to get a good credit score depends on factors like your credit habits, the consistency of those habits and past financial mishaps. The better you are at paying on time and not borrowing more than you can pay will impact how quickly your credit score goes up.

“To make it work for you, you should use your credit card to pay routine expenses and bills and pay the card off every month,” says Griffin, highlighting the importance of routine spending and payment consistency. “Payment history is the biggest factor that affects your credit score and paying your credit card on time and in full every month will help you build a steady and strong credit history.”

Here’s what you need to know about your score and how the three credit bureaus calculate it:

How is your FICO score calculated?

Estimated distributions of how your FICO score is calculated.

Source: FICO

New credit 10.00%
Credit mix 10.00%
Length of credit history 15.00%
Amounts owed 30.00%
Payment history 35.00%

What makes a great card for good credit

Choosing a credit card for good credit will depend on many factors, including your financial needs. While your decision will largely depend on these needs, here are some general features to look out for.

Low APR and fees

If you aren't able to pay your balance in full every month, finding a card with a low ongoing interest rate should be your priority to help you work your way toward excellent credit. Also, cards with low or no late fees, annual fees or penalty APRs can help you save down the line.

Rewards or cash back

In a competitive marketplace, benefits like cash back and travel rewards have become a popular and appealing benefit for most cardholders. A great card will have high rewards rates in your most frequent spending categories.

Intro APR offers

Features like intro APRs on purchases, balance transfers or both can put a temporary pause on interest charges to help you wrangle new or current debt.

Welcome offers

This one-time bonus can help offset some of your initial spending, including any annual fee that comes with the card (at least for the first year).

What’s the best card for good credit?

There isn’t a single best card for good credit because everyone’s financial situation is different. The best card will depend on several factors. A good place to start when deciding on the best card for your own situation is an evaluation of your needs and circumstances. Knowing why you need a new credit card will make your decision easier.

Jump-start your search by checking out our top choices for cards based on some common financial goals.

A card like this will be the glue that holds your card strategy together. It’s the one you use the most, and it might have a few scratches from going in and out of point-of-sale terminals. This card rewards you generously for groceries, dining, gas or other routine purchases that you make several times throughout the week.

Best card: Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card

This card is the one you use occasionally each quarter for a large purchase that you don’t often make. You might have been planning this purchase for a while, and you want to find a way to reduce your out-of-pocket expenses as much as possible. Or you might have an unexpected emergency expense that you need help managing. This card will not only reward you generously for your purchase (planned or unplanned), but it will also help you shoulder the cost for months to come with a low ongoing APR or an intro APR offer.

Best card: Discover it® Cash Back Card

Good credit might feel like a milestone, but if you want to keep climbing the credit ladder you have options available that can help. Even with good credit you should always be building credit. A card with user-friendly perks and minimal distractions can help you stay on top of payments.

Best card: Discover it® Chrome Card

One of the best perks of good credit is access to lower interest rates on consumer lending products. If you have a good credit score, you should take advantage of this benefit because it can help you manage any debt you’re carrying. While there are cards for good credit with low rates, it may be worth calling your current card’s issuer to negotiate a lower rate if your score has improved a lot since your initial application.

Best card: Upgrade Cash Rewards Visa® Card

Any card that has an introductory APR for purchases and balance transfers will be a great pick for reducing your current debt. You’ll be able to pay your card balance down without worrying about interest for a little over one year (in most cases).

Best card: Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express

Learn more: How to choose the best rewards card for you

Does good credit guarantee approval?

Our data shows that good credit only improves the likelihood of being approved for some of the best cards; it doesn’t guarantee it. While issuers may use your credit score to assess the risk of lending you money, it may not tell the whole story.

According to our proprietary data on credit card approvals from the last 12 months, 38 percent of people with good credit who applied for cards through Bankrate were approved. These may seem like low odds, but remember, your credit score isn't the only factor issuers consider. Recent credit inquiries, any missed payments or delinquent accounts in the past 7 years and new accounts affecting your average credit age can affect your creditworthiness when you apply for a card.

What Bankrate experts say about good credit

A good credit score is worth being proud of because it shows you’ve worked hard to pay your bills on time, avoid maxing out your cards and otherwise use credit responsibly — but the work doesn’t end here. Even Bankrate experts make patience a priority when it comes to maintaining a good credit score. According to Bankrate editors Courtney Mihocik and Sarah Gage, good credit is a rewarding climb built on patience.

Bankrate staff insights

"One thing that really helped me on my journey toward good credit was patience. Not only did I have to be patient while working toward good credit, but now that I have good credit, I remain patient between applying for the cards I want. I try to limit my new card applications to one per year to maintain the average age of my accounts. I also wait between card applications to make sure I really want and will use a new credit card. Otherwise, it can take up meaningless space in my wallet and on my reports."

Courtney Mihocik, Senior Editor

"I had excellent credit as a young adult, until a rough financial stretch knocked my credit score into the 500s. I've since been able to recover from that low point, but I don't think I'll ever forget how it felt to face things like being denied for a car loan or juggling payments on maxed-out credit cards. Having my credit back in the good-to-excellent range now gives me so much more confidence that if I need to access credit, either for planned spending or an emergency, I'll be able to do so — and on reasonable terms that mean I won't pay more than I need to."

Sarah Gage, Managing Editor

Learn more: How long should you wait between credit card applications?

Frequently asked questions about credit cards for good credit scores

There’s no quick fix for improving your credit score. Taking consistent action over time, even a relatively short period of time, is the key to boosting your credit score. If you have credit card debt, have a plan to pay it all off. Make sure your payments are always on time. If you have a close friend or family member who has good credit, ask if they’ll add you as an authorized user to their existing credit account, which will improve your score when the card shows up on your credit report.
The basic difference between the two is the FICO score range. A fair credit score is between 580 and 669 while a good credit score ranges between 670 and 739.

Being one level below good credit can make a huge difference when you apply for credit, as you could miss out on access to great offers and end up paying higher interest when you borrow money.
There is no one credit card that will give you the highest credit score. To earn a good to excellent credit score, you’ll need to practice responsible credit habits over a lengthy period of time. The longer you go without missing payments and keeping your credit utilization in check, the more you’ll see your score start to increase.

How we choose the best cards for good credit

250+

cards rated

50+

rewards programs valued

5000

data points analyzed

40+

perks evaluated

We select cards for “Best” credit cards pages based primarily on how cards score in our proprietary card rating system, our editors’ subjective assessment of card quality, card approval odds and credit requirements and unique card features.

Cards typically must score a minimum of 3.0 stars to be included on a “Best” list. However, we may include cards with scores below 3.0 if they have low credit requirements or unique features — despite their scores, these cards may still be among the “best” in certain categories. Card ratings are not influenced by advertisers or issuer relationships in any way.

Card selection and ordering may vary based on business considerations, including Bankrate visitor interest, site interactions and card application volume. Affiliate commissions (see how we make money), limited-time offers and a card’s general popularity in the product landscape may also influence which cards we feature on our pages and the order in which they appear. Bankrate’s editorial and business teams also strive to feature a variety of card types from various issuers.

Here’s a quick look at how our rating methodology breaks down for cards for good credit:

Since many cardholders with good credit are eager to earn rewards, a key criteria for a card’s inclusion in our list is whether it offers impressive rewards value. This includes a card’s average rewards rate, estimated annual rewards earnings, sign-up bonus value and reward redemption value.

To estimate a card’s average annual rewards earnings, we calculate its average rewards rate based on how much it earns in different bonus categories, as well as how closely those categories match the average person’s spending habits. In other words: Does the card earn rewards at a high rate in the most popular spending categories?

We use consumer spending data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to get a reliable third-party measure of people’s spending habits. The most recent BLS data estimates average total spending in 2023 was $77,280 per consumer. We then narrow our focus to which purchases are likely to be put on a credit card and earn rewards, subtracting expenditures like housing, vehicle purchases and education. This gives us a total “chargeable” annual spend of around $22,500.

Some of the major spending categories that contribute towards the annual spend include:
- Groceries: $6,000
- Dining out: $3,900
- Entertainment: $2,500
- Gas: $2,400
- Apparel and services: $2,000
Using this data, we assign a weighting to each of a card’s bonus categories. For example, a card’s grocery rewards rate receives a 26 percent weighting based on how much of the average person’s budget is spent on groceries. We also estimate the redemption value of points or miles from various issuer, airline and hotel rewards programs.

This weighting and rewards valuation allows us to estimate a card’s average annual rewards earnings — how many points or miles you’d earn with a given card if your spending was about average and you used the card for all of your purchases — as well as what those points are worth. We also use point valuations to determine a card’s sign-up bonus value

With these calculations complete, we assign each card a score based on how its average rewards earnings, sign-up bonus value, rewards rate and redemption value stack up against other cards in its primary category.

The better these values, the the higher its score will be, making it more worthy of inclusion in our list and increasing its potential ranking.
We also rate all cards based on how their ongoing average APR compares to the average APR you’ll find other cards in their primary category. However, the impact of an especially high or low APR on a card’s overall score depends on its primary category.

For rewards-earning cards, this factor has only a minor influence on the card’s score and whether the card is included in our list, since rewards card users generally try to avoid carrying a balance. That said, rewards-earning cards may get a solid boost in score and be more worthy of inclusion in our list if they also offer an intro APR on balance transfers or new purchases, since such offers aren’t always present on these cards.

More important to these cards’ scores and their inclusion in our list is how their annual fees influence their overall value. We consider a card’s annual fee in two ways — how it ranks relative to the fees you’ll find on other cards in the category and how it impacts a card’s overall rewards value.

Cards with an annual fee will always be at a slight disadvantage in our scoring system since annual fees inherently cut into your rewards value. However, if a card offers terrific value via its ongoing rewards and perks, it can earn a high score and a spot in our list even if it carries a high annual fee. After all, the highest rewards rates and most valuable perks are often found on cards with annual fees.

Interest rates and intro APR offers play a much larger role in a card’s score and whether it’s included in our list when the card is designed specifically for users looking to save on interest charges, such as dedicated balance transfer or low-interest cards.

Other fees considered include cash advance and late payment fees, along with penalty APRs.
Along with rewards value and cost, we consider other factors that could give cards great long-term value, like flexible rewards redemption and especially unique and valuable perks.

We rate rewards-earning cards based on the restrictions they impose on earning and redeeming rewards and consider this when deciding on a card’s inclusion in our list.

These restrictions could include only allowing users to earn a high rewards rate on a small amount of spending or requiring users to meet a certain earning threshold before they can redeem rewards. We also examine whether points are worth less when you opt for some redemption options over others and whether a card gives you the flexibility to transfer rewards to airline and hotel partners.

We also evaluate each card’s perks based on their value, usefulness and uniqueness. Cards that offer top-tier benefits like airport lounge access or travel credits are likely to stand out, but we also aim to highlight cards that offer valuable under-the-radar perks, like cellphone protection or one-off credits for everyday expenses like dining and streaming services.

Best credit cards for good credit of September 2025

+ Show Summary

Discover it® Cash Back

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card

The Gemini Credit Card®

Credit One Bank® Platinum X5 Visa Signature®

Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express

Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express

Discover it® Chrome

Upgrade Cash Rewards Visa®