Yes, you can get a credit card with collections on your credit report. Your choices will be narrower and more expensive than they would be with clean credit, but secured cards, subprime unsecured cards, and some retail store cards regularly approve applicants who have collection accounts on file. Which one fits you depends on how old the collections are, whether they’ve been paid, and what your score looks like today.
Which Cards Will Actually Approve You
Secured Credit Cards
A secured card is the most accessible option and the right starting point for most people with collections. You put down a refundable cash deposit, typically $200 to $300 at minimum, and that deposit becomes your credit limit. Because the issuer is holding your money as collateral, they can afford to approve applicants with poor credit. The deposit sits in a separate account and is only touched if you default; pay your bills and you get it back when you close or upgrade the account.
The important part is that secured card issuers report your payment activity to all three major credit bureaus, just like any other credit card. Six months to a year of on-time payments starts building a positive track record alongside the older negative marks. Some issuers, including Discover, review your account after as few as six consecutive on-time payments and may upgrade you to an unsecured card automatically, returning your deposit as a statement credit.
Subprime Unsecured Cards
Unsecured cards designed for bad credit don’t require a deposit, which helps if you can’t set aside a few hundred dollars upfront. The tradeoff is cost. These cards tend to carry high annual fees, monthly maintenance fees, and setup fees. Federal law caps total fees at 25% of your initial credit limit during the first year of the account.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 US Code 1637 – Open End Consumer Credit Plans On a card with a $300 limit, that still allows up to $75 in fees charged to the card itself in year one.
Retail Store Cards
Store-branded cards tied to a single retailer or chain sometimes have lower approval thresholds than general-purpose cards. They’re most realistic if your collections are older and your score is already in the fair range of 580 to 669. Credit limits tend to be modest, but these cards report to the bureaus and build credit the same way any other card does.
Authorized User as a Fallback
If you can’t get approved on your own, being added as an authorized user on someone else’s account is another route. The primary cardholder’s payment history on that account gets added to your credit report, and the positive activity can help offset your collections. You don’t need to use the card. The catch runs both ways: missed payments or high balances on the primary account will hurt you too.2myFICO. How Authorized Users Affect FICO Scores Newer FICO versions also give authorized user accounts less scoring weight than accounts you hold directly.
What Approval Will Cost You
Expect high prices. Issuers price cards based on risk, and collections signal risk. Average APRs for borrowers with deep subprime scores below 580 run around 26%, and individual subprime cards frequently advertise rates near 29.99%. Some exceed 30%.3Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Credit Card Interest Rate Margins at All-Time High Credit limits for unsecured subprime cards usually start between $300 and $500. For secured cards, your limit equals your deposit.
Watch for the penalty APR clause in the card agreement. If you miss a payment by 60 days, many issuers can raise your rate to a penalty rate, often 29.99% or higher, that applies not just to new purchases but to your existing balance. For someone rebuilding after collections, a single missed payment can undo months of progress. The simplest way to avoid interest charges altogether is to pay your statement balance in full every month.
When comparing offers, add up annual fees plus any monthly fees times twelve, then weigh that total against the credit limit you’ll actually get to use. Secured cards generally charge lower fees because the deposit already protects the issuer.
Improve Your Odds Before You Apply
Pull your credit reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion through AnnualCreditReport.com before applying anywhere.4Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Consumer Reporting Companies You’re entitled to free copies every twelve months. Check each collection account against the amount, date, and creditor name you remember. Errors are common, especially when debts have changed hands between collectors.
If a collection is inaccurate, not yours, or past the seven-year reporting window, dispute it with the credit bureau directly. You can file online, by phone, or by mail. The bureau has 30 days to investigate and must notify the furnisher within five business days of receiving your dispute.5Federal Trade Commission. Disputing Errors on Your Credit Reports If the furnisher can’t verify the information, the bureau must remove it. Getting even one erroneous collection deleted can produce a meaningful score jump, sometimes enough to qualify you for better card options.
Paying off a collection before applying is still worth doing. Lenders look past the raw score during underwriting, and a paid collection signals that you’ve resolved the obligation. An unpaid collection suggests either an ongoing dispute or an inability to settle, and high-volume issuers often auto-reject applicants with active unpaid accounts.
Once your reports are as clean as you can make them, use the pre-qualification tool on each issuer’s website. You enter your name, address, income, and the last four digits of your SSN, and the issuer runs a soft inquiry to tell you whether you’re likely to be approved. A soft inquiry doesn’t affect your score. A hard inquiry, which happens when you formally apply, typically costs fewer than five points and only affects your score for twelve months, though it stays visible on your report for two years. Pre-qualification isn’t a guarantee, but it lets you avoid wasted hard pulls. If several issuers decline to pre-qualify you, focus on secured cards.
A Note on Medical Collections
Medical debt follows different rules, and some of what shows on your report may not need to be there. The three major credit bureaus voluntarily agreed to remove paid medical collections entirely, to stop reporting medical debts less than a year old, and to leave off medical collections with an original balance under $500.6Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Medical Debt Anything Already Paid or Under 500 Should No Longer Be on Your Credit Report If a medical collection on your report fits any of those categories, dispute it. A broader CFPB rule that would have banned all medical debt from credit reports was vacated by a federal court in July 2025, so unpaid medical collections above $500 that are more than a year old can still appear.7Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. CFPB Finalizes Rule to Remove Medical Bills From Credit Reports
What You’ll Need to Apply
Every application asks for the same core information. You’ll need your Social Security number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, which the issuer uses for identity verification required under federal law.8FinCEN. USA PATRIOT Act You’ll give your gross income, housing payment, employment status, and employer name. For a secured card, have your checking account routing and account numbers ready for the deposit transfer. Make sure the name and address on the application match your government-issued ID exactly, because mismatches trigger fraud reviews that delay processing.
If You’re Approved, or Denied
When you submit a formal application, the issuer pulls a hard inquiry and reviews your full history, including every collection. Many return an instant decision, especially for secured cards. If the application goes to manual review, expect 14 to 30 days.
If you’re denied, the issuer must send you a written notice explaining the specific reasons for the decision and identifying which credit bureau supplied the report they used.9GovInfo. 15 US Code 1691 – Equal Credit Opportunity Act The reasons might read “serious delinquency” or “collection account on file.” That notice tells you exactly what to work on before your next application, and you’re entitled to a free copy of the report used in the decision if you request it within 60 days.
If you’re approved for a secured card, the credit line activates once your deposit clears. The physical card arrives by mail within a week or two. Activate it through the issuer’s app or the number on the card, and start using it for small, regular purchases you can pay off in full.
Moving From Secured to Unsecured
A secured card isn’t meant to be permanent. Some issuers upgrade you automatically after six to twelve months of consistent on-time payments, returning your deposit as a statement credit. If your issuer doesn’t do automatic upgrades, call and ask for a product change after about a year of responsible use. You can also apply for an unsecured card from a different issuer once your score has recovered, then close the secured card to get your deposit back. Before closing anything, remember that the age of your accounts affects your score, so closing your oldest card can shorten your average credit history and dip your score temporarily.
Most people with collections who open a secured card and use it responsibly, keeping utilization below 30% of the limit and never missing a payment, see meaningful score improvement within six to twelve months. That won’t erase the collections, but it can move you from poor into fair territory, which is where unsecured cards with lower fees and better limits start to come within reach.