Issuers do not publish a public approval-rate-by-FICO-score table. They do, however, publish credit ranges next to most cards on the application page, and those ranges line up tightly with FICO's published bands. The score on a recent monitoring app pull, plus income and existing card debt, will largely decide which of the cards below is worth applying for. Approval is never guaranteed even at the recommended score range. Issuers also weigh income, debt-to-income ratio, recent inquiries, and other factors. Card terms verified April 27, 2026.

Why credit score sets the gate for which cards you can get

A FICO score and an issuer's underwriting tier are essentially the same thing. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, in its 2025 Consumer Credit Card Market Report, groups cardholders into six tiers running from "deep subprime" (FICO 579 or below) to "superprime" (800+), with prime and near-prime in the middle. The CFPB also reports that 78 percent of U.S. adults hold at least one credit card, and average purchase APRs on general-purpose cards reached 25.2% in 2024, the highest since the bureau began tracking the data in 2015.

The standard FICO score bands published by myFICO are: Poor (below 580), Fair (580 to 669), Good (670 to 739), Very Good (740 to 799), and Exceptional (800 to 850). Per Experian's September 2025 data, 14.7% of U.S. consumers fall in the Poor band, 14.9% in Fair, 20.1% in Good, 27.5% in Very Good, and 22.8% in Exceptional. The average U.S. FICO score is 713, down from 715 in 2024, the first decline in over a decade.

Each section below covers the cards that consistently approve within that band, with the published purchase APR range and annual fee. Rates listed reflect each issuer's published rate range as of April 27, 2026. The actual rate assigned at application depends on the applicant's full credit profile.

Poor credit (300 to 579): Secured cards that build history

Secured cards are the realistic option below 580. A secured card requires a refundable cash deposit that becomes the credit line, which is how issuers underwrite applicants with no FICO score, a damaged file, or a prior charge-off. The deposit returns to the cardholder after the account is closed in good standing or, with some issuers, after a graduation review converts the account to unsecured. Reported on-time payments build the same credit history that an unsecured card would.

Discover it Secured

Discover it Secured Credit Card
Discover it Secured. $200 minimum refundable deposit, $0 annual fee.

The Discover it Secured is a secured card with cash-back rewards, which is unusual at this tier. The minimum security deposit is $200 and the maximum is $2,500. The annual fee is $0. The published purchase APR is 26.49% Variable. Rewards are 2% cash back at gas stations and restaurants on up to $1,000 in combined purchases each quarter, then 1% on everything else. Discover also matches all cash back earned in the first year. The card fits at this tier because Discover's published guidance lists "Building Credit" as the target audience and the secured-deposit underwriting model means a damaged file does not block approval the way it would on an unsecured card.

Capital One Platinum Secured

Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card
Capital One Platinum Secured. Tiered $49 / $99 / $200 deposit, $0 annual fee.

The Capital One Platinum Secured is a no-rewards secured card with a tiered minimum deposit. The deposit is $49, $99, or $200 depending on Capital One's evaluation, and the initial credit line is at least $200, up to a maximum of $1,000. The annual fee is $0. The published purchase APR is 29.99% Variable. There are no foreign transaction fees, which is the case across every Capital One consumer card. The card fits at this tier because the tiered deposit allows applicants who cannot fund a full $200 to still open the account, and Capital One's deposit policy explicitly does not require the deposit to match the credit line for every applicant.

Fair credit (580 to 669): Starter cards for the lower-prime band

The 580 to 669 band is where issuers begin approving for unsecured cards, though the offers are thin: starter products with no rewards or small flat-rate cash back, often with the same APR as a secured card. Approval at this tier is more sensitive to income and recent inquiries than at higher bands. Two cards consistently approve in this range.

Capital One Quicksilver Secured

Capital One Quicksilver Secured Credit Card
Capital One Quicksilver Secured. $200 minimum deposit, 1.5% cash back.

The Capital One Quicksilver Secured is a secured card that earns flat-rate cash back, giving applicants in this band rewards while still using a deposit-backed underwriting path. The minimum deposit is $200. The annual fee is $0. The published purchase APR is 29.99% Variable. Rewards are 1.5% cash back on every purchase, plus 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. The card fits at this tier as a step up from the Platinum Secured for applicants who can fund the full $200 deposit and want a card with rewards while their score recovers.

Capital One Platinum

Capital One Platinum Credit Card
Capital One Platinum. Unsecured starter card, no deposit, $0 annual fee.

The Capital One Platinum is the unsecured version of the Platinum Secured, designed for the upper-Fair band. The annual fee is $0. There is no security deposit. The purchase APR is Variable; Capital One assigns the rate at application and the rate range is disclosed in the cardholder agreement. There are no rewards. Capital One's published credit guidance for this card lists "Average, Fair, Limited" as the target, which in their underwriting glossary corresponds to FICO scores in the 580 to 669 range. The card fits at this tier as a bridge to Capital One's rewards portfolio: cardholders are typically reviewed for a credit-line increase or upgrade to Quicksilver after a documented payment history.

Good credit (670 to 739): Mainstream cash back

The 670 to 739 band is where mainstream rewards cards become accessible. Approval at this band typically depends more on income and existing balance utilization than on score alone, since most applicants here clear the issuer's minimum-FICO threshold. The two cards in this section are the most common entry points to flat-rate and category cash back.

Capital One Quicksilver

Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card
Capital One Quicksilver. Flat 1.5% cash back, $0 annual fee.

The Capital One Quicksilver is the unsecured flat-rate cash-back card that pairs with the Quicksilver Secured. The annual fee is $0. The published purchase APR is 18.49% to 28.49% Variable, with a 0% intro APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers (a 3% balance-transfer fee applies during the intro period). Rewards are 1.5% cash back on every purchase, with 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. There are no foreign transaction fees. The card fits at this tier because Capital One's published credit guidance lists "Excellent, Good" as the target, and the no-fee-plus-flat-rate-rewards structure makes it the default cash-back choice for applicants who want a single card and no category tracking.

Chase Freedom Unlimited

Chase Freedom Unlimited Credit Card
Chase Freedom Unlimited. 1.5% base + 3% dining and drugstores, $0 annual fee.

The Chase Freedom Unlimited is a hybrid flat-rate and category cash-back card. The annual fee is $0. The published purchase APR is 18.24% to 29.99% Variable, with a 0% intro APR period on purchases and balance transfers. Rewards are 1.5% cash back on all purchases, with elevated rates of 3% on dining (including takeout and eligible delivery), 3% on drugstore purchases, and 5% on travel booked through Chase Travel. The card fits at this tier because Chase's "Cash Back Credit Cards" landing page positions it as the entry product of the Freedom family, and the points it earns are convertible to Ultimate Rewards once a cardholder also holds a Sapphire-tier product, which makes Freedom Unlimited a logical first card for applicants planning to upgrade later.

Excellent credit (740 and above): Premium rewards and travel

At 740 and above, the entire issuer catalog opens up. Approval shifts from a question of whether to a question of which: travel, premium cash back, or business. The two cards in this section represent the most common premium travel paths, one with a moderate annual fee and one with a high annual fee that pays back via travel credits.

Chase Sapphire Preferred

Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card
Chase Sapphire Preferred. Travel rewards with transferable points, $95 annual fee.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the standard mid-tier travel rewards card. The annual fee is $95. The published purchase APR is 19.24% to 27.49% Variable. Rewards are 5x points on travel purchased through Chase Travel, 3x points on dining (including takeout and eligible delivery), 3x points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), 3x points on select streaming services, 2x points on all other travel, and 1x point per dollar on everything else. Cardholders receive a 10% anniversary points bonus on the prior year's spend, plus a $50 annual Chase Travel hotel credit. There are no foreign transaction fees. The card fits at this tier because the Ultimate Rewards points transfer to airline and hotel partners at 1:1, and the $95 annual fee is the price of admission to that transfer-partner network.

Capital One Venture X

Capital One Venture X Credit Card
Capital One Venture X. Premium travel card, $395 annual fee, $300 travel credit.

The Capital One Venture X is a premium travel card with a $395 annual fee that is largely offset by a $300 annual Capital One Travel credit and a 10,000-mile anniversary bonus. The published purchase APR is 19.49% to 28.49% Variable. Rewards are 10x miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, 5x miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel, and 2x miles on everything else. Cardholders also get unlimited Priority Pass airport lounge access and access to Capital One's own lounge network. There are no foreign transaction fees. The card fits at this tier as the lower-fee alternative to the $695 Chase Sapphire Reserve, with a comparable lounge benefit and travel-credit structure at roughly 57% of the cost.

Why your score is not the only thing that matters

Score is the threshold, but income, debt-to-income ratio, and recent inquiries decide the actual approval. The CFPB's 2025 Consumer Credit Card Market Report finds that deep subprime cardholders (FICO 579 or below) incur 4.7 late fees per year on average, more than three times the rate for prime cardholders, which is one reason issuers price the APR gap between tiers at six percentage points or more. The same report shows that average purchase APRs for superprime accounts (FICO 800 or above) sat at 23.1% in Q4 2024, while deep subprime accounts averaged 29.1%.

Practical implications for an applicant whose score is at the lower edge of a band:

  • Income. Most issuers require minimum stated income of $20,000 for an unsecured card and significantly more for premium cards. The application asks for total household income, not just personal income.
  • Debt-to-income. Existing minimum payments as a percentage of monthly gross income. An applicant with a 730 score and 50% DTI will often see a denial that an applicant with a 690 score and 20% DTI does not.
  • Recent inquiries. Five hard inquiries in the last six months reads as a red flag to most issuers, regardless of score. A spaced-out application cadence (one every six months) reads cleaner.
  • Time at current job and address. Stability proxies. Less weighted than income or DTI but checked.

How to improve approval odds before applying

Three actions move an application from "borderline" to "clear approval" without waiting for a score to move:

  1. Pay the statement balance, not the minimum, the cycle before the application. The reported balance is what affects utilization. A $4,000 balance on a $10,000 limit reports as 40% utilization. Paying it to $1,000 before the statement closes reports as 10% utilization. The score difference can be 20 points or more for a single statement cycle.
  2. Wait at least six months between hard inquiries from the same issuer. Chase's well-documented "5/24" rule denies applicants who have opened five or more credit cards across any issuer in the prior 24 months. Capital One has its own internal pacing guidance that operates similarly, though it is not formally published.
  3. Pull the actual FICO score before applying, not the VantageScore on a free monitoring app. The score lenders see is FICO 8 (or FICO 2/4/5 for mortgage). VantageScore on Credit Karma can run 30 to 60 points higher or lower than the FICO 8 a card issuer pulls.

A score that has been stable for 90 days reads better to an issuer than a score that just jumped 30 points. Applying at the moment a score peaks risks the issuer pulling a slightly older snapshot during their underwriting check.

Sources

  1. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. "The Consumer Credit Card Market." December 30, 2025. https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/research-reports/the-consumer-credit-card-market-2025/
  2. myFICO. "What is a Credit Score?" Accessed April 27, 2026. https://www.myfico.com/credit-education/credit-scores
  3. Experian. "What Is the Average Credit Score in the U.S.?" March 30, 2026. https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/what-is-the-average-credit-score-in-the-u-s/
  4. Experian. "2025 Consumer Credit Review." March 30, 2026. https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/consumer-credit-review/
  5. Discover. "Discover it Secured Credit Card." Accessed April 27, 2026. https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/secured/
  6. Capital One. "Platinum Secured Credit Card." Accessed April 27, 2026. https://www.capitalone.com/credit-cards/platinum-secured/
  7. Capital One. "Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card." Accessed April 27, 2026. https://www.capitalone.com/credit-cards/quicksilver-secured/
  8. Capital One. "Platinum Credit Card." Accessed April 27, 2026. https://www.capitalone.com/credit-cards/platinum/
  9. Capital One. "Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card." Accessed April 27, 2026. https://www.capitalone.com/credit-cards/quicksilver/
  10. Chase. "Freedom Unlimited Credit Card." Accessed April 27, 2026. https://creditcards.chase.com/cash-back-credit-cards/freedom/unlimited
  11. Chase. "Sapphire Preferred Credit Card." Accessed April 27, 2026. https://creditcards.chase.com/rewards-credit-cards/sapphire/preferred
  12. Capital One. "Venture X Rewards Credit Card." Accessed April 27, 2026. https://www.capitalone.com/credit-cards/venture-x/