Obtaining credit cards after bankruptcy may seem like a bad idea to those people who have been through the trials of a bankruptcy and need to improve their credit score.

Credit cards see to some to offer “free money”, or at least a supply of funds that don’t have to be repaid, and as such can be one of the prime reasons for insolvency.

At first the minimum payments are manageable, but as more debt is accrued and economic times start to take their effect, even this can become too much. Minimum payments are missed and one’s credit score deteriorates.

Many people just stay away from credit cards after bankruptcy, which on the face of it seems a very good idea, but is it really?

There is an irony here. Credit cards are one of the easiest ways to destroy your credit rating. They are also one of the best ways to repair it.

The best way to repair a credit score is to prove you can repay debt. Avoiding any kind of loan, credit card or any other, will mean your rating will take an eternity to recover.

You will always be subject to a much higher interest rate on a credit card after bankruptcy if it’s unsecured.

Before going any further, a word of warning. Stay away from unscrupulous card issuers. They will charge an exhorbitant rate of interest, but may not register your card. By law, any card should be registered with the credit authorities – if it isn’t you won’t see any benefit to your credit score, as no one will know about it!

The most sensible option is to get what is called a “secured” credit card. This gives you a spending limit equal to an amount of money you deposit with the card issuer. The card is then “secure” as you cannot spend more than you have deposited.

What’s the point – why not just spend the money?

Remember, this is about restoring your credit score – not about using a credit card. A secured card simply means that you’re spending money through a card rather than just using cash. The point is, spending cash doesn’t improve your credit rating, spending money via a credit card and repaying it, does.

If you want to improve your credit score a secured credit card will help considerably, and with minimal risk to yourself.

This is just one of increasing your credit rating. credit cards after bankruptcy are one weapon in the arsenal of credit repair. For further free information concerning this and bankruptcy in general visit www.howtoclaimbankruptcy.net