Wells Fargo Secured Visa

Summary - The Wells Fargo Secured Visa is a secured credit card designed for those with bad or no credit. The annual fee is low at $18.00. One of the tiny drawback is that Wells Fargo does not pay interest in the deposit that you make with them. Find out more...

Deposit Requirement - The Wells Fargo Secured Visa Credit Card will give you a credit limit equal to 100% of your deposit with Wells Fargo. You need to put in a minimum of $300 up to a maximum of $5,000. The deposit account does not pay interest.

Fees - The annual fee is low at $18.00. There is also no one-time processing or origination fee common in some secured credit cards. The APR at Prime Rate plus 13.24% is high, but about average for a secured credit card. The grace period ranges between 20 to 25 days.

Versus Orchard Bank Secured Credit Card - Orchard Bank is one of the biggest issuer of secured credit cards. Orchard Bank has a higher annual fee at $35. But it has a lower APR at 7.90%. The Orchard secured MasterCard does pay an interest on the deposit, whereas Wells Fargo does not. If you do not plan on carrying any balance (our recommendation always), then the Wells Fargo Secured Visa is a better alternative. But if you will occasionally carry a balance, or if you deposit quite a large sum, then the Orchard Bank Secured credit card may just be a better card.

Versus Citi Secured MasterCard - The Citi Secured MasterCard has an annual fee of $29, which is higher than Wells Fargo. But it's APR at 18+% is higher than Wells Fargo, which is around 13+%. Once again, if you do not plan to carry a balance, Wells Fargo is the more effective card. Citi does however give you a timeline of 18 months before you will be eligible for an unsecured credit card. Citi also pays interest on deposits whereas Wells Fargo does not. If these are important for you, then perhaps Citi might be the better choice.

Versus Bank of America Secured Visa - Bank of America also has a secured credit card. However, the fee is much higher at $39. The APR is also higher at 20+%. Hence, Wells Fargo beats the Bank of America Secured credit card on both counts.

Versus US Bank Secured Visa - The US Bank Secured Visa has a higher annual fee of $39 and a higher APR of 20+%. But like other secured credit cards, they do pay interest on your deposit. Given the low interest rates across the board now, I would say that the Wells Fargo beats the US Bank secured credit card despite not paying an interest on the deposit.

Verdict - For an $18.00 annual fee with no one-time processing fee, plus an average apr for a secured credit card, the Wells Fargo Secured Visa credit card is one of the lower cost secured credit card. Wells Fargo also does not pay interest on deposits, which is in contrast with most other secured credit cards which do pay interest. If you pay your balance in full every month, then we have no hesitation in recommending this card. But if you carry a balance occasionally, or if you have just gotten out of bankruptcy, then the Orchard Bank Secured credit card is probably the better card to get as it has a low APR at 7.90% and it is a bankruptcy friendly credit card.