Applied Bank Secured Visa: 9.99% APR, No Grace

Applied Bank Secured Visa Gold Preferred: The 2026 Terms, Honestly

The Applied Bank Secured Visa Gold Preferred is a secured card built for people with poor, limited, or challenged credit, issued by Applied Bank. Its headline is a 9.99 percent fixed APR, unusually low for a rebuilding card, and the rate will not rise even if you pay late. But two things bite: a 48 dollar annual fee and, more importantly, no grace period, which means interest starts the day you make a purchase, even if you pay the balance in full. A refundable deposit of 200 to 1,000 dollars sets your limit. This guide covers who the card fits, the real fees, whether it truly reports to all three bureaus, your approval odds, and how to apply.

Who It Is For and the Requirements

This card is aimed at all credit profiles, including poor, thin, or no credit history. Because a refundable deposit secures the line, the deposit does the work a credit check normally does, so a low score or a past denial elsewhere usually does not rule you out.

Have these ready before you apply:

• Age and residency. You must be at least 18 and a US resident with a valid mailing address.
• Social Security number or ITIN. Applied Bank uses this to verify your identity.
• A refundable deposit. Between 200 and 1,000 dollars to start, funded from a bank account. This becomes your credit limit, and you can later raise it up to a total of 5,000 dollars.
• A bank account. Needed to fund the deposit and make payments.
• The ability to pay on time. There is no fixed income floor, but you should be able to make the monthly payment every month.

Fees and APR: Read the Grace Period Line Carefully

This is where honesty matters, because the card is easy to misread. The 9.99 percent fixed APR looks like a great deal next to rebuilding cards that charge 25 to 35 percent. On its own, it is a genuine strength.

The catch is the missing grace period. On most credit cards, if you pay your statement in full by the due date, you owe zero interest on purchases. This card does not work that way. Interest begins to accrue on the transaction date, the moment you swipe, and it keeps accruing until you pay. That means you cannot avoid interest by paying in full the way you can on a normal card. A low rate that you can never fully escape is very different from a low rate you can dodge every month.

The rest of the cost picture:

• Annual fee: 48 dollars. It is charged to the account, so it eats into your limit. Fund a 200 dollar deposit and you start with roughly 152 dollars of available credit in the first year.
• Cash advances: 9.99 percent fixed, with a cash advance fee starting at 5 percent (minimum 5 dollars). Avoid cash advances while rebuilding.
• No penalty APR. Your rate will not jump if you pay late. That is a real plus, though a late payment still hurts your credit report.

The practical takeaway: treat this like a rebuilding tool, not a spending card. Put one small charge on it, pay it down fast, and the low APR plus no grace period barely costs you anything. Carry a balance and the no-grace-period design works against you every day.

Does It Report to All Three Bureaus?

For a rebuilding card, this is the make-or-break question, because a card that does not report to a bureau builds nothing on that bureau’s file.

Applied Bank advertises automatic reporting to all three national credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, once a month on the statement closing date. Independent review sites confirm the card is set up to report to all three.

Here is the honest caveat: some cardholders have publicly reported that in practice the account showed up on Experian and TransUnion but not on Equifax, and that customer service was slow to fix it. This is not the advertised behavior, but it has happened often enough to mention. So protect yourself:

• Verify your own three reports after about two statement cycles. Do not assume.
• If a bureau is missing the account, contact Applied Bank in writing and ask them to correct the reporting.
• Keep utilization low on every bureau that does report. Our credit utilization guide shows the target.

Approval Odds

Approval is broad because the card is advertised with no credit check and no minimum credit score. The decision hinges on identity verification and funding the deposit, not on clearing a score cutoff. Treat the table below as informed estimates, not a promise from Applied Bank.

FICO Score Range	Applied Bank Secured Card Odds	Notes
670 and up	Very high	You likely qualify for no-fee cards too
580 to 669	Very high	A solid rebuilding fit
500 to 579	High	The deposit secures approval
Below 500	High	No credit check is advertised
No score or thin file	High	No history needed to be considered

Because approval leans on identity and the deposit rather than a scored decision, the inquiry impact is usually light. If avoiding a hard pull matters to you, confirm the policy at the time you apply. Our guide to hard versus soft credit inquiries explains the difference.

How to Apply

Do not overthink it. The process is short.

1. Check your reports first. Pull Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion so you know your starting point and can correct errors. Even for a no-credit-check card, clean reports help every other application. See the credit score you need for a credit card.
2. Apply online. Go to Applied Bank and start the secured card application. Provide your name, address, and Social Security number or ITIN.
3. Choose and fund your deposit. Pick an amount from 200 to 1,000 dollars and fund it from your bank account. Remember the 48 dollar fee comes out of your first-year limit.
4. Verify your identity and wait for the decision. Approval is usually quick for a secured card with no credit check.
5. Use it lightly and pay fast. Put one small recurring charge on the card and pay it down quickly. On-time history is 35 percent of your score.

Build Your Credit First

A secured card works best when the rest of your file is clean. Errors and high balances quietly cost you approvals and higher limits before you ever apply.

Tired of doing this by hand? Download Credit Booster AI, free on iOS and Android. It scans all three of your credit reports, flags the errors that drag your score down, generates the letters to get them corrected, and tracks your score as it climbs. Cleaner reports and lower utilization are exactly what turn a borderline application into an approval. If you are starting from nothing, read how to build credit with no history.

Better Alternatives

The Applied Bank card can work, but the 48 dollar fee, the missing grace period, and the Equifax reporting complaints push many rebuilders toward a no-fee option.

• Capital One Platinum Secured charges no annual fee, reports to all three bureaus, and offers a path to an unsecured card and a returned deposit as your history improves. See our Capital One Platinum Secured review.
• Compare the full field in our roundup of the best secured credit cards for 2026, where the Applied Bank card sits next to no-fee rivals.

If you have been turned down before, how to get approved with challenged credit and fixing a card denial walk through the recovery path in order.

The Bottom Line

The Applied Bank Secured Visa Gold Preferred pairs a genuinely low 9.99 percent fixed APR with a 48 dollar annual fee and, crucially, no grace period, so interest starts the day you buy and you cannot avoid it by paying in full. It advertises no credit check and reports to all three bureaus, though some cardholders have flagged inconsistent Equifax reporting, so verify your own three reports. Used lightly and paid down fast, it can rebuild credit. But for most people a no-fee secured card that reliably reports to all three does the same job for less. A realistic 90-day move with either card is 30 to 60 points from on-time payments and low utilization.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the Applied Bank Secured Visa Gold Preferred have a grace period?

No. The card has no grace period on purchases, so interest starts to accrue on the transaction date, even if you plan to pay your statement in full. The 9.99 percent fixed APR is low for a secured card, but the missing grace period means you cannot dodge interest by paying in full, so keep balances tiny and pay them down quickly.

How much is the annual fee and deposit for the Applied Bank Secured Visa?

The annual fee is 48 dollars. You fund a refundable security deposit of 200 to 1,000 dollars to open the account, and that deposit becomes your credit limit. The 48 dollar fee is charged to the account, so a 200 dollar deposit leaves roughly 152 dollars of available credit in the first year. You can raise the deposit later, up to a total of 5,000 dollars.

Does the Applied Bank Secured Visa Gold Preferred report to all three credit bureaus?

Applied Bank advertises automatic reporting to all three national bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, each month on the statement closing date, and major review sites confirm it. That said, some cardholders have reported that Equifax reporting was inconsistent in practice. After two statement cycles, check all three of your own reports and contact Applied Bank if any bureau is missing the account.

Does Applied Bank check your credit for the secured card?

Applied Bank markets the secured card with no credit check and no minimum credit score required, so a low score or a past denial usually does not stop approval. The bank still verifies your identity and needs you to fund the deposit. Approval is broad because the deposit, not your score, secures the line.

Related reading: Weighing your options? Compare the best secured credit cards for 2026, the Capital One Platinum Secured card, and the credit score you need for a credit card.

Sources

• SuperMoney, Applied Bank Secured Visa Gold Preferred Credit Card Reviews
• WalletHub, Applied Bank Secured Credit Card Reviews
• US News, Applied Bank Secured Visa Gold Preferred Credit Card Review
• FinMasters, Applied Bank Secured Visa Gold Preferred Credit Card Review
• BestCards, Applied Bank Secured Visa Gold Preferred Card

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