Rebuilding your credit starts with getting your credit report so you can get the best credit cards with the most desirable rates and terms sooner rather than later, it is important to clean up your credit report and have any inaccurate entries or errors on your credit history removed. To do this you will need to get your credit reports from all three of the major credit reporting bureaus, review them, then determine what kind of credit card you really need post-bankruptcy.

The first type of card to consider getting is a secured credit card. This type of card is guaranteed issue because it is secured by an amount of money that you first put into a deposit account with the bank, credit union or card issuer. You will be required to put up an amount of money, as collateral for the card, which typically will be the amount of your credit limit on that secured card. For example, if you were to deposit $500 into the account, you would generally have a $500 charging limit on the card. You will still be required to make monthly principle and interest payments on any card balance. It is important that you make your monthly payments on time, as the credit card issuer will be reporting your credit history to the credit reporting bureaus and this is one critical component of rebuilding your credit. You can contact local banks and credit unions in your area to find the lowest fees and interest rates. If you maintain good credit habits with this secured credit card account, the bank or credit union may allow you to convert your account to an unsecured credit card account after six months to one year. 

A pre-paid credit card is a card that has a predetermined amount of money deposited and stored onto the card itself. One disadvantage is that it does not help to build any credit because the value of money that is stored on the card was paid by you and there is no credit extended. You can get this type of card without a credit check which may be helpful for some people. With a pre paid credit card you will be able to purchase items at stores just as if you are using a regular credit card, the difference is that there are no monthly payments or interest charges because the money being spent is the money that you put on the card.

When all of the money is gone you will have to deposit more to your pre-paid account before you can use the card again for expenditures. While it does not have all of the benefits and features of a full-fledged credit card, it does allow you to spend and buy items as if it were a credit card. If this type of card appeals to your needs, it is important to shop around for the lowest card setup rates and additional deposit fees. 

The third type of account is an unsecured credit card, which means it is not backed by any collateral, only your credit rating. It is unlikely that a person will be able to get approved for an unsecured account immediately after a bankruptcy, and if one could, the interest rates and fees attached to the account are sure to be very high. However, it will not be long before you will start to receive credit card offers in the mail soliciting for an unsecured card.