Your credit rating will have a big impact on your entitlement to credit cards, and how expensive credit cards will be. Often the best credit cards with the lowest APRs are only available to people with good credit ratings.

Tell me about credit rating

Well, everyone has a credit rating, which is based on their credit history.

Financial companies share information about money you borrow (e.g. mortgages, credit cards, store cards, overdrafts, student loans, etc.) and about your track record of paying the money back when you're supposed to.

If you have traditionally been a slow payer (e.g. you frequently pay your credit card bills late), the chances are you will have a poor credit rating.

If you have ever defaulted on a debt (i.e. not paid it back), then you will have an extremely poor credit rating and may find it difficult to borrow money at all.

Bad credit credit cards

The good news is that some credit card lenders will still lend money to people with bad credt ratings.

The bad news is that they will charge you more (i.e. a higher APR) because you are perceived to be more risky than someone with a good credit rating.

Use the Credit Card Genie credit card search tools to find lenders that offer bad credit credit card.

Check your credit rating

If you are worried about your credit rating, you can actually check it. Follow one of the links below.

Similarly, if you are rejected for a credit card on the basis that your credit rating is poor, it's worth checking your credit rating to find out why. You never know, mistakes happen.