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

Quick highlights

• Rate: N/A
• Welcome Offer: Deposit return after successful assessment
• Annual Fee: $0
• Purchase Intro APR: N/A
• Balance Transfer Intro APR: N/A
• Regular APR: 26.24% Variable

Welcome offer

Like most credit-building cards, the BankAmericard secured card doesn’t have a sign-up bonus. If you’re looking for a sign-up bonus, consider the Discover it® Secured Credit Card. It’s one of the few secured cards that not only offers rewards, but also a valuable welcome offer: Discover will automatically match all the cash back you've earned at the end of your first year.

You also 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. To get the best value out of this card, only use a small portion of your available credit at a time to keep your credit utilization low and pay your balance off before the grace period ends to avoid interest charges.

If you feel comfortable managing credit basics and would still like to earn rewards, the Discover it® Secured Credit Card and Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card are solid picks that will help you earn cash back on all your purchases.

While this card is focused on helping cardholders build a credit score, it also addresses some other concerns cardholders might have such as card safety and the access to convenient payment solutions.

This card is also useful when you have an existing credit card balance on a card that doesn’t have a good rating and you’re looking to pay off the balance without incurring further credit bureau issues.

Graduate to an unsecured card

Bank of America states that some BankAmericard secured cardholders may qualify to have their security deposit returned, which would make your card an unsecured credit card. This is a nice feature that will allow you to get your deposit back and keep your credit card account open long after you’ve outgrown this card, which could be beneficial to protecting your credit score.

Access to balance transfer

This is an unusual feature on a secured credit card. However, it provides the cardholder with the opportunity to rebuild their credit from scratch without worrying that an existing credit card with a bad history will delay their progress. While the APR and balance transfer fees are substantial, it does provide a good opportunity.

Access to FICO score

An advantage of being a Bank of America customer is that you’ll have access to your FICO score. This helps in your journey to rebuild your score because you can see which elements on your credit history affect your credit rating.

Overdraft protection

This optional feature helps prevent card declines when you’re making a purchase by linking your credit card to your checking account. If there are funds in your checking account, the transaction will be approved.

$0 liability guarantee

This guarantee ensures cardholders aren’t held liable for fraudulent transactions. Cardholders are required to keep their card details secure.

Credit cards designed to help people build credit often have inflated fees and costs since lenders see people with poor credit or a limited credit history as more of a risk. While the BankAmericard Secured Credit Card reduces costs by doing away with the annual fee and penalty APR, it does come with other common credit card fees you’ll have to watch out for, such as late payment and balance transfer fees. Plus, its go to APR of 26.24% Variable is well above the average credit card interest rate.

When using a credit card, it’s important to pay your balance in full each month to avoid interest charges and improve your credit score as quickly as possible. But that’s not always possible, and with more people feeling the impact of inflation, credit card debt has been on the rise.

If you can’t pay your balance in full, a low-interest credit card could prove a safer credit-building alternative. Take a look at how much interest you might pay with two alternatives: The Merrick Bank Secured Credit Card, which comes with an annual fee but a much lower APR, and the DCU Visa® Platinum Secured Credit Card*, which has an impressive APR range of 13.75 percent to 18 percent.

As you can see, if you qualified for the low end of the DCU secured card, you could save a lot of money. And in some cases, even a secured card with an annual fee could be a cheaper option than the BankAmericard secured card, such as if you carried a high balance and it took you more than a year to pay it off.

To get a better idea of how important it is to use a low-interest credit card when you carry a balance, use a credit card payoff calculator to see how much interest you’d pay based on your expected balance and minimum payment.

If you can pay your balance in full each month, the BankAmericard Secured Credit Card is a good option that can help you grow your credit score and improve your chances of getting an unsecured card with more features.

But if you’re worried about the minimum security deposit or want a secured card with a lower interest rate, here are two alternatives that may be within reach.

BankAmericard Secured Credit Card Vs. Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card

The Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card and the BankAmericard secured both charge no annual fee, offer access to your credit score, and come with the chance to get your deposit back and change to an unsecured card after you show responsible card use. (Capital One Platinum Secured - (See Rates & Fees)). 

Both cards have high APRs, but the Capital One Platinum Secured card goes further with its credit-building features, giving some cardholders access to a $200 credit limit with a security deposit as low as $49. There aren’t a lot of secured credit cards around that go this far to try to make it easier to gain access to secured credit.

The Capital One Platinum Secured card also comes with automatic credit line reviews, which could help you grow your credit limit in as little as six months. This is an important feature that could help you maintain a good credit utilization ratio and grow your credit score. Plus, on top of getting your credit score for free, Capital One’s CreditWise program monitors your credit information and sends out alerts when there are changes to your credit or if someone tries to use your Social Security number under a different name or address.

BankAmericard Secured Credit Card vs. OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card

The OpenSky Secured Visa card charges an annual fee of $35, which puts it at a disadvantage against the BankAmericard secured card, especially if you pay your balance in full each month. 

But the OpenSky card stands out because it lets you apply with no credit check needed and comes with a relatively low APR of 25.64% (variable). This is a rare combination of features to find on one card, making it more accessible to people who need help building credit while also helping to minimize the amount you might have to pay in interest charges if you carry a balance. These features help make this OpenSky card a top option for a secured card and one of the best credit cards for bad credit.

Best cards to pair with BankAmericard Secured Credit Card

It’s a good idea to focus on one credit-builder card, making sure you pay on time and keeping your balance as low as possible, even paid in full if you can. Once you’ve managed to build up your credit score, then you may want to consider carrying multiple credit cards, including rewards cards like the Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card, which offers bonus rewards in multiple everyday categories like gas stations, restaurants, travel and transit. This is a great all-rounder card that doesn’t charge an annual fee, and the points earned don’t expire as long as the account remains open.

The BankAmericard Secured Credit Card is a good fit for credit builders who are confident they know the best ways to use a credit card and can take advantage of it to save money while they work on their credit score.

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 people who need to improve their score before they can qualify for unsecured credit cards.

All information about the BankAmericard® Secured Credit Card and the Wells Fargo Propel American Express® Card has been collected independently by Bankrate and has not been reviewed or approved by the issuer.