What Credit Cards Can You Get With a 700 Score? Bankrate Caret RightMain Menu Mortgage Mortgages Financing a home purchase Refinancing your existing loan Finding the right lender Additional Resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Bank Banking Compare Accounts Use calculators Get advice Bank reviews Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Credit Card Credit cards Compare by category Compare by credit needed Compare by issuer Get advice Looking for the perfect credit card? Narrow your search with CardMatch Caret RightMain Menu Loan Loans Personal Loans Student Loans Auto Loans Loan calculators Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Invest Investing Best of Brokerages and robo-advisors Learn the basics Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Home Equity Home equity Get the best rates Lender reviews Use calculators Knowledge base Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Loan Home Improvement Real estate Selling a home Buying a home Finding the right agent Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Insurance Insurance Car insurance Homeowners insurance Other insurance Company reviews Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Retirement Retirement Retirement plans & accounts Learn the basics Retirement calculators Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Advertiser Disclosure
Advertiser Disclosure
We are an independent, advertising-supported comparison service. Our goal is to help you make smarter financial decisions by providing you with interactive tools and financial calculators, publishing original and objective content, by enabling you to conduct research and compare information for free - so that you can make financial decisions with confidence.
Bankrate has partnerships with issuers including, but not limited to, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Discover. SHARE: Kerkez/iStock/Getty Images Plus May 30, 2022 Checkmark Bankrate logo How is this page expert verified? At Bankrate, we take the accuracy of our content seriously. "Expert verified" means that our Financial Review Board thoroughly evaluated the article for accuracy and clarity. The Review Board comprises a panel of financial experts whose objective is to ensure that our content is always objective and balanced. Their reviews hold us accountable for publishing high-quality and trustworthy content. Cathleen's stories on design, travel and business have appeared in dozens of publications including the Washington Post, Town & Country, Wall Street Journal, Marie Claire, Fodor’s Travel, Departures and The Writer. Mariah Ackary is a personal finance editor who joined the Bankrate team in 2019, excited by the opportunity to help people make good financial decisions. Send your questions to Bankrate logo The Bankrate promise
At Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions. While we adhere to strict editorial integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners. Here's an explanation for how we make money. The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however, some of the offers mentioned may have expired. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Bankrate logo The Bankrate promise
At Bankrate, we have a mission to demystify the credit cards industry — regardless or where you are in your journey — and make it one you can navigate with confidence. Our team is full of a diverse range of experts from credit card pros to data analysts and, most importantly, people who shop for credit cards just like you. With this combination of expertise and perspectives, we keep close tabs on the credit card industry year-round to: Meet you wherever you are in your credit card journey to guide your information search and help you understand your options. Consistently provide up-to-date, reliable market information so you're well-equipped to make confident decisions. Reduce industry jargon so you get the clearest form of information possible, so you can make the right decision for you. At Bankrate, we focus on the points consumers care about most: rewards, welcome offers and bonuses, APR, and overall customer experience. Any issuers discussed on our site are vetted based on the value they provide to consumers at each of these levels. At each step of the way, we fact-check ourselves to prioritize accuracy so we can continue to be here for your every next. Bankrate logo Editorial integrity
Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. Key Principles
We value your trust. Our mission is to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information, and we have editorial standards in place to ensure that happens. Our editors and reporters thoroughly fact-check editorial content to ensure the information you’re reading is accurate. We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers. Editorial Independence
Bankrate’s editorial team writes on behalf of YOU – the reader. Our goal is to give you the best advice to help you make smart personal finance decisions. We follow strict guidelines to ensure that our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. So, whether you’re reading an article or a review, you can trust that you’re getting credible and dependable information. Bankrate logo How we make money
You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. We continually strive to provide consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life’s financial journey. Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers. We’re transparent about how we are able to bring quality content, competitive rates, and useful tools to you by explaining how we make money. Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and, services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service. Although a credit score of 700 may not allow you to fill your wallet with premium rewards credit cards named after precious metals and gems, you’re well on your way to that goal if you keep building good credit habits. You haven’t reached the credit mountaintop, but you can see the summit. FICO credit scores, the industry standard for sizing up credit risk, range from 300 to a perfect 850—with 670 to 739 labeled “good,” 740-799 “very good” and 800 to 850 “exceptional.” A 700 score places you right in the middle of the good range, but still slightly below the of 711. “A 700 score is not bad,” says Rod Griffin, senior director of consumer education and awareness at Experian. “It’s a little below average, considered prime or low prime. You likely would not get the best interest rates offered. You probably wouldn’t see the premium cards, not the diamonds or the golds.” What can you do with a 700 credit score
Instead of focusing only on whether a 700 score is good or not, consider whether it will allow you to reach your goals, says Victoria Sechrist, certified financial trainer at The Financial Gym. “For example, some mortgage refinance lenders are requiring a minimum of 700,” says Sechrist. “Some credit card issuers say they want people with 720-plus to get their top tier cards. That doesn’t mean you can’t get approved for credit cards or a mortgage refinance. It just means you may have to shop around more to find a lender with lower credit requirements.” “If you’re looking for a personal loan or a 0 percent to refinance higher interest debt, then 700 should be good enough for you to qualify,” says Sechrist. “In the 700 club, your credit limit will likely be close to the average credit limit for a newly issued card, about $5,000,” says Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at Bankrate. “That limit can vary based on income and other debt.” With an average credit score, expect to pay around the of 16.51 percent, Rossman says. That’s better than the 20 percent or 25 percent those with lower scores will pay, but not as nice as the 7 percent or 10 percent people with scores of 740 and higher might achieve. What credit cards can you get with a 700 credit score
Although the with rewards creeping up to 6 percent are probably still out of reach, a 700 score will put you into a better rewards bracket than those with a 600 score who qualify only for credit builder cards with minimal rewards, says Rossman. “Today, a 700 credit score has you in the ballpark,” says Rossman. “But other factors are going to tip the balance as to whether you get approved or not.” Lenders will take a hard look at your income, your debt-to-income ratio, late payments and recent debt. “Somebody who has opened a bunch of credit cards is going to look risky,” says Rossman, as is “somebody who has run up a bunch of debt.” Rossman said a consumer likely would qualify for a card like the , with 1.5 percent cash back and no annual fee, and the , which offers 1 percent cash back when you spend and 1 percent back when you pay for your purchases. Factors in your favor include your relationship with the issuing bank—if you have a checking account or mortgage at that bank, for instance. Even if you have a very good or excellent credit rating, issuers may turn you down if they see you’re adding lots of new cards. For example, some credit card issuers such as Chase may turn you down if you’ve opened in the past two years. 2 quick ways to raise your credit score
1 Add rent and utility payments to your credit report
The good news is there are legitimate free and low-cost ways to improve your credit score—no magic tricks required. Experian offers a free service, , that allows consumers to add to their credit history payments not traditionally reported to credit reporting agencies, including bills for cell phones, utilities and streaming services. “They give us permission to access their checking, savings or credit card accounts for those payments and we add those payments to their credit reports,” Experian’s Griffin says. “That is one of the most empowering things we’ve seen for people—it places the choice in their hands.” People with scores of less than 680 are increasing their credit scores an average of 19 points, Griffin said. (That puts them just within reach of our 700 club.) In general, consumers see an average increase of 13 points, he says. Experian’s data has shown that adding these payments does not skew credit scores inaccurately, but instead helps lenders identify new customers who are actually good credit risks, Griffin says. Similar programs include , which reports your phone and utility payments to credit reporting agency TransUnion for $25 a year Experian , which allows consumers to add on-time rent payments to their credit history A free app called (formerly Perch), which reports payments for streaming services 2 Lower your credit utilization ratio
Reducing your will raise your score. That means paying down your credit card balances so they make up a small percentage of your overall available credit. To quickly determine your current ratio, check out . “Just because a lender says you can borrow a certain amount, does not mean that you should,” says Sechrist. “You should keep your utilization rates under 35 percent. For example, if your monthly credit card limit is $10,000, then you’d want your balance to be under $3,500 at all times.” Another way to lower your credit utilization ratio, even if you pay your entire balance every month, Rossman adds, is to make your payment early or in the middle of the month. “Even if you pay your bills in full, you still might have a high credit utilization ratio,” says Rossman. “Your balance is reported on the statement date, so bring your balance down before the statement comes out.” While it may be tempting to you’re not using, think twice—especially if there’s no annual fee, says Sechrist. Those cards can help keep your credit utilization ratio low, and if you’ve had them a long time, help you maintain a long length of credit history. 700 no longer above average even in the pandemic
Back in 2005, a 700 score would have marked you as above the average, which was 688, according to the . Since then, average credit scores have been trending up, but usually only a couple of points a year. From 2019 to 2020, that average score jumped eight points. The COVID-19 pandemic has made both consumers and lenders more cautious. “Scores have actually improved throughout the pandemic,” says Griffin. “Thus far, consumers have continued to manage their credit well. However, as economic challenges continue to grow, that may change. It’s too early to tell at this point.” Banks tightened standards across all three consumer loan categories—credit card loans, auto loans and other consumer loans—over the first quarter of 2020, on net, according to an by the Federal Reserve. “Lending standards tightened considerably in 2020 and early 2021 as the pandemic made banks nervous,” says Rossman. “The minimum credit score required for many credit cards jumped from about 670 to 720, or even higher. Improvements on the health and economic fronts have brought lending standards more or less back to pre-COVID standards, but there’s still a lot of uncertainty.” Fears about high inflation and a possible recession are once again making lenders nervous, as are rising delinquencies among subprime borrowers. “And we may start to see that minimum credit score drift higher again,” says Rossman. The bottom line
Whether a credit score of 700 is your goal or you’re aiming even higher, keep practicing and building . Since average credit scores are trending up, this is one time when you definitely want to keep up with the Joneses. SHARE: Cathleen's stories on design, travel and business have appeared in dozens of publications including the Washington Post, Town & Country, Wall Street Journal, Marie Claire, Fodor’s Travel, Departures and The Writer. Mariah Ackary is a personal finance editor who joined the Bankrate team in 2019, excited by the opportunity to help people make good financial decisions. Send your questions to Related Articles