OpenSky Secured Visa Credit Card Review | Bankrate (2024)

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If you want to build your credit with a card, but you have bad credit or no credit history at all, your first step might be looking into secured credit cards. With the OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card, you can be eligible for a credit line increase after six months with no additional deposit required.

Its easy application and lack of credit check can make a world of difference if you need a credit card after bankruptcy.

• Rewards

  • Earn up to 10% cash back on everyday purchases

  Expert Appraisal: Typical
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• Rates and fees

  • $35 annual fee
  • 25.64% (variable) percent ongoing regular APR
  • No purchase intro APR
  • No balance transfer intro APR

  Expert Appraisal: Typical
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• Credit-building features

  • Flexible credit limit
  • No credit check to apply
  • Reports activity to all three credit bureaus
  • Path to upgrade to the OpenSky® Gold Visa® Unsecured Credit Card

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The OpenSky Visa card is a decent option for people building or rebuilding their credit, as it has traditional credit-building features plus the opportunity to have a flexible credit limit and upgrade to an unsecured card after six months.

Unsecured card upgrade: Eligibility for unsecured card within six months

One of the most appealing features of the OpenSky Visa Secured card is the ability to upgrade to the OpenSky® Gold Visa® Unsecured Credit Card after six months if you maintain a positive credit history while using the card. You don’t need to submit a separate application — OpenSky will automatically approve you if you meet its requirements.

The only catch is that you need to be invited to receive this unsecured card, which is exclusively available to OpenSky Secured Visa and OpenSky Plus® Secured Visa® cardholders. The card’s website also haso no clear information on the OpenSky Gold Visa's rates and fees, or if it offers better perks or benefits than the OpenSky Secured Visa.

Credit limit: High possible limit is the biggest advantage

Having the flexibility to determine your credit limit with the OpenSky Secured Visa is a great option, especially given the fact that you can have a credit limit higher than what is offered with some of the best secured credit cards.

With the OpenSky Secured Visa, you can set how much you can spend each month, with a maximum of $3,000, which is much higher than many other secured cards’ credit limits. Your credit limit is determined based on how much you deposit into the account. If you deposit less than $3,000 to start, you can increase your limit at any time by adding more money to your OpenSky security deposit.

Credit-building: No credit check, reports activity to all three credit bureaus

When you open an OpenSky account, the issuer won’t check your credit to determine if you qualify for the card. Instead, you’ll pay a security deposit between $200 and $3,000. You can get the deposit back when you close the account after you have paid your balance in full. Your deposit reduces the lender’s risk, which is why it doesn’t need to check your credit and ding your credit score with a hard pull.

OpenSky also reports all of your payments to the three credit bureaus — Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. This reporting will help you build your credit because your on-time payments with the card show up on your credit report at each of the bureaus. Just remember to avoid any late payments since this can significantly lower your credit score.

Though the OpenSky Visa can help you improve your credit score, it's difficult to ignore the card's significant drawbacks, missing benefits and the hefty fees.

Sign up bonus: No welcome offer

The OpenSky Secured card doesn’t offer a welcome bonus. Like many secured cards, it focuses more on helping you build your credit rather than delivering additional benefits. Once you get your credit built up and can qualify for a new card, you can always switch to a credit card that offers a traditional sign-up bonus.

However, some secured cards offer welcome bonuses. For example, the Discover it® Secured Credit Card offers cash back rewards on purchases and has a one-of-a-kind welcome bonus that will match your spending dollar-for-dollar at the end of your first year with the card. You can essentially get twice the amount of rewards for regular spending in the first year.

Other cardholder perks: No notable benefits

The OpenSky Secured Card has several benefits for building credit and offers traditional Visa perks. Like all base-level cards branded with the Visa network, you’ll receive a quaint list of staple Visa benefits, including $0 fraud liability, 24/7 pay-per-use roadside dispatch, and 24-hour assistance if your card is lost or stolen and you need a replacement. In case you’re worried about potential identity theft, the ID Navigator tools you’ll receive can monitor the dark web for your personal information and alert you about any suspicious activity.

But aside from the Visa and credit-building benefits, the card offers no outstanding features that set it apart. Although these features are extremely beneficial to the average credit builder, they focus mainly on managing your account . Other secured cards, even unsecured cards for limited credit, may offer richer perks than OpenSky’s standard features.

Rates and fees: Piles on the extra costs

The $35 annual fee for the OpenSky secured card is higher than most since many other secured cards have no annual fee. For example, the Discover it® Secured Credit Card has no annual fee and doesn’t charge a ton of extra costs. Meanwhile, the OpenSky Secured Visa has an annual fee and a 3 percent foreign transaction fee.

However, the purchase APR is much lower than most other secured cards at 25.64 percent (variable), which is just more than the current average interest rate. Even better, it’s not a range of APRs, so what you see when you apply for the card is the APR you’ll get.

Other expenses to be aware of include a $6 or 5 percent cash advance fee (whichever is greater), a late payment fee of up to $40 and a $25 returned payment fee. These are typical costs for most cards, and you may not worry about some of them if you don’t use the card abroad or make late payments.

The OpenSky Credit Card works well for someone who needs to build up credit, wants a card for bad credit and a reasonable APR or needs an above-average initial credit limit. If you’re worried you’ll carry a balance occasionally on your secured card, getting the lowest APR possible is a good idea. Plus, you’ll get a higher initial credit limit than several other secured cards (provided you can put down a high deposit) and the OpenSky Secured Visa doesn’t require a credit check.

Otherwise, this card isn’t the best choice on the market since you’ll owe a $35 annual fee.

Dig deeper:Is the OpenSky Secured Card worth it?

Our proprietary card rating system takes into account a mix of factors when scoring credit cards for students and people building credit, including each card’s cost, APR, credit-building tools and more.

We analyzed over 50 of the most popular cards designed for students and people with no credit history, bad credit or a fair credit score and scored each based on where its key features stood in relation to others in its category.

Here are some of the key factors that gave this card its score:

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