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Getting a secured card is no big deal if you know what you are looking for and what exactly you can settle for. It is important to do some basic research before taking the plunge; this will give you a lot of help later on in life. You will slowly find out that secured credit cards need a fee which can be annual, quarterly or some times even monthly. And the fees will vary depending on the bank from which you want to get a card and also the facilities that you are looking for.
We then arrive at the question of what sort of fees you will have to deal with. There are a number of fees that can be laden upon you if you do not read the fine print while signing on the dotted line.
The application fee is the most common fee that you will encounter. This is a fee that you have to pay to all the banks with which you apply for a credit card. in order to process your application, the bank will charge a small fee. The fee will be used to conduct a credit check and also a basic background check in some cases.
Monthly fees are an other oft encountered fee. Irrespective of whether or not you use the card, you will have to pay a fee every month or as mentioned before, a different time period such as an annual fee. It can also be bi-annual or quarterly. It's always better to go for a shorter time period if you are not paying more because it will give you the flexibility of destroying the card with no waste in terms of fees already paid.
And then there will be the miscellaneous fees. This can include anything and everything that you can dream about! The over the limit fee is the most common in this lot. If you use your credit card over the limit that you eligible for, you will be charged a hefty fee. But just like debit card overdraft fees, you can get a refund on this fee if you return the money in a short period of time.
You can also find cards with no annual fees if you pay a one time fee. This is how most banks operate these days as they are getting more customers friendly. The banks have realized that people do not appreciate paying for something that they do not use regularly and hence the one time fee concept was devised.
If you are just getting a credit card in order to rebuild your credit record, you can go for a no annual fee card. This will allow you to just keep a card or a number of cards which will add up to your credit history.