Credit Cards for Bad Credit

Sometimes these are called starter or re-starter cards, because for some borrowers they're the first step onto the credit card ladder - whether you don't have a credit history yet, or you don't have the best one. And for people who've fallen off the ladder by not paying accounts on time, these providers can be more willing to take a chance, usually by offering a low credit limit to begin with.

That's not to say every applicant gets approved - they won't. But the providers we list on this page focus on the riskier profiles that mainstream lenders turn away, which is why we go through each one in detail. Even where we can't get someone approved for an unsecured loan, we can at least help by pointing borrowers towards the card that best fits them. We're independent: we take no fees from borrowers or lenders for these recommendations, so what you read here is impartial.

We have a lot of time for Vanquis - one of the UK's longest-running non-prime credit card brands, and one that's genuinely stood the test of time at over 20 years. The card business was established in 2002 as Vanquis Bank, issuing Visa cards aimed squarely at people with a sub-prime credit history who'd been turned down by mainstream lenders.

Its roots run deeper still: the parent company began life back in 1880 in Bradford, providing affordable credit to working families in West Yorkshire. Today that group is known as Vanquis Banking Group, listed on the London Stock Exchange, having stepped back from its old home-collected lending to focus on cards, savings and consumer finance.

Like much of the sub-prime sector, the wider group has been through a turbulent period in recent years. But the Vanquis card itself remains the strong, established heart of the business - it returned to profit in 2025 - and it's exactly the kind of division that would endure whatever the parent group faces. We don't believe Vanquis is going anywhere. Infact it could be that its best years are now ahead of it.

At the time of writing, in August 2026, Vanquis show a representative APR of between 35% and 40% across four of their specialist credit cards. The highest is on their Low Balance Balance Transfer Card, at 40.9% representative APR.

Unlike some other providers, Vanquis expects applicants to do a bit of research and work out which card best suits their circumstances. In our view, that isn't the ideal approach. We generally prefer to see a single application - or a single eligibility check - after which the provider shows the options a customer is pre-approved for. Presenting applicants with a long list of cards before they know what they'll qualify for can be confusing.

That said, some of their card features are genuinely good. Their travel credit card charges no foreign transaction fees, which could appeal to people who don't necessarily need to borrow but want a card for spending abroad. It also comes with Section 75 protection - a legal safeguard that makes the card provider jointly liable with the retailer on purchases between £100 and £30,000, so if something goes wrong with a purchase (the retailer goes bust, or goods don't arrive) you may be able to claim your money back. It's one of the genuine advantages of paying by credit card rather than debit or cash.

Their website is clear, the app is easy to use, and they hold strong customer ratings.

New users should expect lower credit limits to start with. Like most providers in this field, Vanquis prefer to start low and let borrowers show they can handle the responsibility of a higher limit over time.

Vanquis is another strong option for anyone who needs short-term credit. While a credit card isn't as liquid as cash, it can be used to pay most bills online or over the phone. Vanquis tell applicants a card can take up to 14 days to arrive, though feedback from our own users suggests 6–7 days from application to the card landing is more typical, with the PIN usually following a day or two later.

We'd happily give the Vanquis Credit Card our blessing.

Chose your card and apply

No UK credit card provider publishes approval statistics of any kind. Those figures are commercially sensitive, and in our 16 years in this business we have never seen them.

We believe card approval rates are higher than our own unsecured loan approval rates. We say this because we sometimes follow up with customers who have been declined, asking whether they applied elsewhere and were accepted - and a common answer is that they were later approved for a starter credit card of some kind. If we had to estimate, we'd put it somewhere between 16% and 20% of applicants, but that really is an educated guess. In our opinion, Capital One and Vanquis are the two easiest credit cards to get in the UK.

The rule of thumb is that they do offer some kind of interest-free grace period if balances are paid in full each month - but there are sometimes quirks that catch borrowers out.

Some providers' payment deadlines fall only a few days after the monthly statement is issued, which means that rather than the up-to-56 days some cards offer, you get just over 35 days. Some require you to pay two consecutive months' balances in full before you qualify. Others will charge interest on cash advances regardless of whether the balance is paid in full.

So yes, almost all consumer credit cards come with some reward for paying balances off in full, but qualifying for it varies from card to card.

It depends on what the borrower needs the money for, and when they need it. Unsecured loans let the borrower spend on almost anything they want - they can pay bills or send money to friends. Credit cards are more limited: they can only be used with those who accept cards, usually shops or online retailers. Even paying electricity bills online is sometimes difficult, as some providers don't accept credit cards.

There is also often a 7–10 day delay before a borrower receives a new credit card, which is a negative compared to most unsecured loans. On the plus side, cards do mostly provide interest-free periods on balances paid in full. There is also Section 75 protection on goods that fail or aren't as described.

As a site that deals with loans, we'd like to say loans are the better option - but that isn't the case. The reality is that both options have different benefits, and it comes down to what the borrower needs the money for and how urgently they need it.

There are no providers in the UK that offer guaranteed approval for those with good or bad credit.

The FCA wouldn't be too impressed with any card provider that even suggested they did. There are pre-paid Mastercards and Visa cards that anyone can get, but those aren't credit cards in the general sense of the term - you have to load your own money onto them first, and they typically carry a range of fees such as monthly account fees, cash-withdrawal fees, and charges for inactivity. We wouldn't recommend those.