4 Best Credit Cards for Unemployed People - How to Money - September 2024 (2024)

The best credit cards for unemployed people are ones with forgiving application requirements, that might also offer cash back for spending and rewards for responsible credit usage.

Depending on your particular situation, this might mean a secured credit card with no income verification needed, or a cash back card that offers discounts at specific merchants.

In this post we’ll cover the best credit cards for unemployed people, including the requirements needed to qualify for each.

Why Trust US

Your Money, Our Mission

• We are personal finance nerds
• Our personal finance podcast has over 45 million downloads and counting
• We believe that everyone should have the tools to be financially independent

When it comes to credit cards, we’ve read all the fine print for you. We share our unbiased advice to help you choose and use the best credit cards for your lifestyle, so you can do more with your money than just make ends meet. We receive a small commission from affiliate links but only promote top-notch cards and give each one an honest How To Money rating.

Best Credit Cards for Unemployed People

Here’s a summary of the credit cards we’ll cover, both secured credit cards and other options.

What’s a Secured Credit Card?

The difference between secured credit cards and regular credit cards is that secured credit cards require a small cash deposit.

Since the bank isn’t requiring any income on your application, they want to make sure they hold at least some collateral before issuing you a line of credit.

After you put up the initial deposit, you can continue using the credit card like normal, within the deposit limits.

Then, as you demonstrate good history and credit responsibility over time, the credit card company will consider increasing your credit limit or returning the down payment.

1. Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards

Oh, and there’s no annual fee – in fact, ALL the credit cards for unemployed and low credit users we recommend have no annual fee to worry about!

Building a relationship with Capital One is a great thing long-term. They offer a number of excellent credit products you can eventually graduate into, as well as online checking accounts and other banking solutions.

Learn more about the card_name here!

2. Self – Credit Builder Account + Secured Visa® Credit Card

There is no credit check or hard pull on your credit report to apply for Self. You will, however, need to abide by these basic rules to get access to a Self Credit Card.

Here’s a quick 1 minute video overview of how Self works. All in all, Self is a great solution for those who are building up their credit responsibility and want a simple all-in-one banking solution.

For full terms and details, check here: card_name

3. Capital One Platinum Credit Card

As far as credit card companies go, Capital One is near the top of our list. One of the benefits all Capital One users have is access to CreditWise. This is a credit score monitoring tool that gives you insights into your current score, history, and how you might be able to improve it over time.

Unfortunately there are no cash back and reward opportunities with this card_name. But, with continued good usage and by building a relationship with Capital One, you can quickly migrate to another card after ~6 months.

4. Discover IT Student Cash Back

There’s even an intro offer for your first year. Discover will match all of your cash back for all the spending in year 1. So if you earn $100 in rewards, it suddenly becomes $200!

While Discover is a major credit card company, not all merchants accept Discover cards – unlike Visa and Mastercard which are accepted virtually everywhere. That’s worth keeping in mind as you may want to have a few different cards and options in your pocket!

Learn more and check out all the terms here: card_name

Can You Get a Credit Card with No Job?

Yep! Credit card issuers are more concerned with your income and ability to repay debt than what your actual job is, or whether you have one.

In the section below we’ll talk about other qualifying income that you may have that isn’t related to having a job.

When applying for a credit card, lenders will look at your credit score, history, any existing debt you have, etc. They factor all of this when determining whether to approve you for a credit card.

Qualifying Income for Credit Card Applications

If you are unemployed, you may think you have to write “$0” for income when applying for a credit card. But, there are several income sources and streams you may be able to account for outside of a regular 9 to 5 job. These include:

• Spouse income, if married
• Side hustle income
• Dividends and or investment growth
• Child support or alimony you receive
• Social Security income
• Pensions, rental income, retirement distributions
• Unemployment compensation

The Credit Card Act of 2009 allows you to list any household income to which you have a “reasonable expectation of access”.

Keep this in mind as you’re going through the application process. Being unemployed doesn’t automatically disqualify you from getting a new credit card – even one with income requirements!

Other Ways to Get Credit Cards for Unemployed People

Here are a few ways you can get access to a credit card and help build your credit:

Become an authorized user on someone else’s account. If you have someone you trust (and they trust you) ask if you can be added as a user to their existing credit card account. While the primary card holder remains overall responsible for paying any debts, with continued responsible usage you can build up a good track record that will boost your own credit too.

Apply with a co-signer. Some banks, for example Bank of America and US Bank, allow co-signers for credit card accounts. A co-signer will allow you to be a primary account holder, while sharing responsibility with the other party.

Get a debit card (that still has credit card benefits!) There are a handful of debit card options that offer cash back and some rewards. And since many of them are Visa backed, you get all the same benefits as a regular credit card. Debit cards are also highly recommended if you can’t responsibly handle credit – they keep you out of trouble!

The Bottom Line

As you can see, there are multiple options for choosing the best credit cards for unemployed people. The perfect match really depends on your individual situation, any qualified income outside a regular job, and your creditworthiness.

But no matter your reasoning for needing a credit card, it is absolutely paramount that you spend responsibly and always have a plan to pay off your debts.

Related posts:

• Best Travel Rewards Cards for Beginners
• What’s in our Wallet? (the cc’s we use personally!)
• Credit Card Best Practices

_{*Advertiser Disclosure: How to Money has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. How to Money and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. Lastly, the site does not include all card companies or all available card offers.}

_{*Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.}

_{*User Generated Content Disclosure: Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.}