The reason
for a security deposit on a secured credit card is to
deter delinquent payments. The credit card holder will
lose the security deposit if payments toward the balance
are not made.
Often times, if the borrower continues to make
payments on time and in full, the line of credit will
increase. The purpose of a secured credit card is to
help those with bad or no credit build their credit
rating. Secured credit card holders can build their
credit rating by showing they can make payments on time.
The secured credit card holder is expected to make
payments on the balance of the credit card in order
to keep his or her deposit in the savings account.
Secured credit cards work in the same way regular
cards work. The only difference is the security deposit.
Secured credit cards are usually issued to people
with bad credit or with no credit as a means of improving
their credit rating. The advantage of having a secured
credit card is that individuals with poor or no credit
can raise their credit rating.
Although the lender of the security deposit holds
the deposit in a savings account, the deposit is generally
not lost if one or two payments is missed. Generally,
the deposit is lost if the credit card account is
closed by the credit card holder, or if the credit
card account is extremely delinquent.
An extreme delinquency means that the balance of the
card has not been paid off in 150 to 180 days. A delinquent
account will continue to gain interest and will eventually
retain a balance that is much higher than the original
balance.
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