Pros
- Reasonable $35 annual fee
- As low as $200 minimum deposit
Cons
- 3% foreign transaction fee
OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card
Additional Info
- New feature! Earn up to 10% cash back on everyday purchases
- No credit check to apply. Zero credit risk to apply!
- Looking to build or rebuild your credit? 2 out of 3 OpenSky cardholders increase their credit score by an average of 41 points in just 3 months
- Get free monthly access to your FICO score in our mobile application
- Build your credit history across 3 major credit reporting agencies: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion
- Add to your mobile wallet and make purchases using Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Google Pay
- Fund your card with a low $200 refundable security deposit to get a $200 credit line
- Apply in less than 5 minutes with our mobile first application
- Choose the due date that fits your schedule with flexible payment dates
- Fund your security deposit over 60 days with the option to make partial payments
- Over 1.4 Million Cardholders Have Used OpenSky Secured Credit Card To Improve Their Credit
- More Details & Reviews About OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card
Is the OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card Worth It?
The OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card is worth it for people with a bad credit score who want very high odds of getting approved. OpenSky does not check applicants’ credit history, which makes it easier to get than most secured cards, and its annual fee is just $35. This card also reports account information to the major credit bureaus each month, which is the key to credit improvement, along with on-time bill payments.
What You Need to Do to Make the OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card Worthwhile
To make the OpenSky Secured Credit Card worthwhile, you will need to pay your bill on time and in full every month. This will help you build credit as quickly as possible while avoiding costly interest charges. The card’s regular APR is 25.64% (V).
Ultimately, though, it’s up to you whether avoiding a credit check is really worth the $35 annual fee. Many other secured credit cards don’t charge annual fees.
OpenSky Secured Credit Card Highlights
No Credit Check
It might be hard to believe, but I promise it’s true: OpenSky will not review your credit history when you apply for your card. Instead, OpenSky will merely verify your identity using your name, address and Social Security number.
Bad or no credit generally won’t stand in your way of getting a secured credit card, but this obviously takes things a step further. Not only does it emphasize the lack of a minimum creditworthiness requirement, but it also means you won’t have to deal with the temporary damage to your credit standing that can accompany a hard credit inquiry.
At the very least, I think the lack of a hard inquiry makes OpenSky Secured an excellent fallback option if you get turned down for a card with higher standards and don’t want another inquiry on your record. The lack of a credit check could also be your saving grace if you recently went through bankruptcy or owe back taxes. Many credit-card offers, even the secured variety, explicitly state that applicants in both categories are ineligible.
$35 Annual Fee
OpenSky’s $35 annual fee is about average for a secured card, according to WalletHub data, and it’s by no means expensive when you consider the overall value of credit improvement. But it is $35 more than some secured cards charge, which must not be forgotten.
$200 Minimum Deposit
Secured credit cards are the best credit-(re)building tools available because even folks with significant credit damage can get approved and some offers are free to use. They also report account information to the major credit bureaus each month, thereby devaluing previous mistakes or filling out a thin credit file.
However, it can be difficult to come up with the cash needed to place a deposit, especially when the minimum is $300 or more. In this respect, OpenSky Secured makes things easy on you, allowing you to open an account with as little as $200.
I also think it’s important to reiterate that the deposit is fully refundable when you pay off your balance and close your account. That’s why it’s a lot better to put down a deposit than it is to pay high fees.
Rewards on select purchases
You can now earn up to 10% cash back on purchases made with your OpenSky card at 40,000+ retailers. This adds a whole new dimension to the offer and can make rebuilding credit less costly overall. To find out more, you can visit OpenSky Rewards in the OpenSky app for participating retailers or visit their site.
OpenSky Secured Credit Card Lowlights
3% Foreign Transaction Fee
The OpenSky Card makes a terrible international travel companion, costing you an extra 3% on every transaction processed abroad. You can find other secured cards with no foreign fee, if that’s important to you.
Average APR
The OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card’s interest rate is about the same as the secured-card average, according to WalletHub’s latest Credit Card Landscape Report. But carrying a balance on a secured card basically amounts to charging yourself to use your own money, considering that your credit line is self-funded.
So, strive to enjoy this particular benefit on an emergency-only basis. The goal is to improve your credit, not to finance large purchases. I know that’s easier said than done, though.
$25 Credit-Limit-Change Fees
During the first year your account is open, you will be free to add to your security deposit as you please — up to a maximum of $3,000 — thus helping your credit score via improved credit utilization. But when the second year rolls around, you will have to pay a $25 fee to either add to or withdraw from your deposit.
That’s just not right, in my opinion, considering that it’s your money at play. It’s one reason why you should try to keep this card for no longer than 12 months.
Other Things to Consider About the OpenSky Secured Credit Card
No Overlimit Fee
Capital Bank (the OpenSky Card’s issuer) won’t charge you if you spend more than your available credit, but those types of transactions probably won’t get approved anyway. Besides, you have to actively opt in for the ability to outspend your limit for a credit card issuer to charge you a fee. And in that case, a credit card’s overlimit fee can’t be higher than the amount by which you overspent.
Costly Cash Advances
In addition to a fee of $6 or 5% of the amount you withdraw, whichever is higher, OpenSky’s regular APR for cash advances will immediately begin to add up. I recommend avoiding cash advances due to the high cost. If you do a cash advance, try to pay it off as quickly as possible to minimize the interest charges.
Limit-Increase Uncertainty
With most secured credit cards, you can simply increase your credit limit by adding to your security deposit. But it doesn’t seem to be that simple with OpenSky. You first have to submit a request to customer service, and then your case will somehow be reviewed. If the request is approved (based on what is unclear), you’ll be given instructions for how to add to your original deposit.
The process should be more transparent. If you want to avoid the hassle, I suggest keeping a close eye on your credit score after using this card for six months or so without issue. This will help you determine when you’re ready to graduate to a cheaper card that provides either more deposit flexibility or an unsecured credit line. You can track your credit score for free on WalletHub.
Multiple Ways to Deposit
You have four options in terms of funding your refundable security deposit: 1) debit card/bank transfer; 2) wire transfer to Capital Bank; 3) Western Union money transfer; and 4) mail a check/money order. I’d go with one of the first two options, as they should be the fastest and least expensive methods.
OpenSky Secured Credit Card vs the Competition
To help clarify the OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card’s place in the secured-card hierarchy, we compared it to a pair of popular alternatives below.
minimum deposit$200 | minimum deposit$200 | minimum deposit$49, $99 or $200 |
one time fees $0 | one time fees $0 | one time fees $0 |
annual fee $35 | annual fee $0 | annual fee $0 |
monthly fee $0 | monthly fee $0 | monthly fee $0 |
Regular APR25.64% (V) | Regular APR27.74% (V) | Regular APR29.99% (V) |
rewards rate N/A | rewards rate N/A | rewards rate N/A |
SponsoredApply Now | SponsoredApply Now |
OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card Review Methodology
This OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card review is based on WalletHub’s proprietary 100-point credit card rating system. By using a consistent methodology to evaluate the OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card and all other cards, WalletHub’s credit card experts make it easy for people to compare their options and find the best credit cards for their needs.
The WalletHub rating system uses 16 key metrics grouped into seven categories: Fees, Rewards, Two-year Cost, Interest Rates, Approval Requirements, Special Features, and Reviews. Each metric has a maximum number of points allocated to it, based on the metric’s importance as determined by our editors. The points are added up to create an overall rating for the OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card out of a maximum of 100 points, which is then converted to a 5-point scale.
Ratings for each category reflect how close OpenSky is to WalletHub’s definition of a 5-star credit card, which is based on market conditions and what we believe are reasonable terms. We compare OpenSky to that standard to give a numerical approximation of how reasonable and competitive its terms are compared to other cards.
To learn more about how WalletHub rates credit card offers, check out our full credit card review methodology.
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