Credit Cards People Get With a Credit Score in the 600 Range

If you're looking for credit cards people get with a credit score in the 600 range, real-world reports show that people with scores such as 610, 620, 630, 640, 650, 660, 670, 680 and 690 can have very different results. Some people in this range have reported getting cards with starting limits of only a few hundred dollars, while others have received $1,000, $5,000, $7,000 or even much larger credit lines. There are also people with 600-range scores who have been denied. The examples below show what credit cards people have actually reported getting with 600-range credit scores, along with the credit problems, existing accounts and other circumstances that were part of their applications.

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What Credit Cards Are People Getting With Scores in the 600 Range?

A credit score in the 600s generally gives a person more possibilities than a score in the 500s, but there is still a tremendous difference between one 600-range credit profile and another. We looked for actual reports from people who disclosed their scores and described what happened when they applied for credit cards.

Some of the people below were rebuilding after serious credit problems. Others had relatively clean credit files but limited histories. Some already had several credit cards. Others were trying to get their first unsecured card after using secured credit. The starting credit limits were also very different.

600 Credit Score — Credit One Card: One myFICO member reported that Credit One approved an application with a $300 credit limit based on a 600 credit score that Credit One obtained from Experian. The unusual part of the report was that the consumer said their Experian score shown to them was actually in the 700s. The discussion raised the possibility that Credit One was using a different scoring model. This is a useful reminder that the score a consumer sees from a credit-monitoring service may not be the same score an issuer uses when evaluating an application.

600–630 Credit Score — Indigo^® Mastercard^®: A consumer reported being approved for the Indigo Mastercard after being denied by a couple of other major credit-card companies. The person described their FICO score as fluctuating between approximately 600 and 630. They were rebuilding after a Chapter 7 bankruptcy and said their previous cards had included a $900 Amazon Prime Chase Visa, a $700 Capital One card and two $500 credit-union cards. Their report is useful because it shows someone in the low 600s who had already established several accounts but still found that major issuers were not necessarily willing to approve another card.

618 Credit Score — Ollo Everyday Rewards: A myFICO member looking for an unsecured starter card reported being approved for an Ollo Rewards card with a $500 starting limit after their score moved into the lower 600s. The person said the Ollo offer appeared as a match through a credit-monitoring service and that they applied after researching the card. They reported no annual fee and described using the card primarily for groceries. The account was part of their effort to establish credit while starting with a relatively small credit line.

620 Credit Score — Capital One SavorOne: One consumer reported having a credit score around 620 and initially questioned whether they should apply for another card because they were frequently reaching the $1,000 limit on an existing American Express card. They ultimately applied for a Capital One SavorOne and reported receiving a $1,000 starting limit. The person's experience is a good example of an applicant in the low 600s receiving an unsecured card from a mainstream issuer, even though their score was still well below the scores commonly associated with prime credit cards.

621 Credit Score — Discover it: In a myFICO discussion about starter unsecured cards, one member reported that their wife was approved for a Discover it card with a 621 FICO 8 score. The person said she also had several open collection accounts that had not yet updated as paid. Other participants in the discussion mentioned Ollo and Petal as possible alternatives for people with similar scores. This example is particularly useful because the applicant reportedly had negative information still appearing on the credit reports and nevertheless received a Discover approval.

630 Credit Score — Bank of America Denial: Not everyone with a score around 630 is approved. One consumer reported being rejected for a Bank of America credit card with a 630 score. They explained that their score had fallen after they closed older American Express and Discover accounts and then had another credit card go into collections. They had previously paid off several other cards, including Discover, American Express, Apple and American Airlines accounts. Their report shows how a 630 score can still result in a denial when the underlying credit history contains recent negative information.

630 Credit Score — Discover Approval With a Much Larger Limit: Another consumer reported that they had a 630 credit score when they applied for Discover it and were surprised to receive a $5,000 credit limit. The person said they had been trying to establish credit and apparently expected a much smaller limit. This is one of the more dramatic examples in the 600 range because it shows that a 630 score does not necessarily mean that an applicant will be limited to a $300 or $500 card.

630–640 Credit Score — Rebuilding From 520: One consumer described a much longer credit-rebuilding story. Their starting FICO scores averaged about 520 across the three bureaus. At the beginning of their rebuilding process, they reported having 14 collection accounts totaling approximately $15,000, two maxed-out credit cards with $1,000 limits and seven missed automobile or credit-card payments. They also had two defaulted student loans. Over time, they reduced the number of collections, corrected some of the payment-history problems, brought the student loans out of default and improved their revolving utilization. By the time they reported their progress, their FICO scores were approximately 635–640 and their two credit cards had $1,500 limits. This is an important example because the 600-range score was the result of substantial rebuilding rather than a clean credit history from the beginning.

640 Credit Score — Chase Freedom Unlimited^®: One consumer reported starting with a secured card and later obtaining other accounts as their credit improved. When their score reached approximately 640, they applied for the Chase Freedom Unlimited and were approved. The person said their score subsequently fell into the high 500s after the new application, but they considered the approval worthwhile. Their experience shows that a score in the low 600s can sometimes be enough for a Chase approval when the rest of the credit profile supports the application.

650 Credit Score — Chase Freedom: Another consumer described rebuilding after having a credit score around 535. After making a sustained effort to pay bills on time and improve their credit, their score reached approximately 650. They then applied for the Chase Freedom card and reported being approved for a $1,000 starting limit. Their score subsequently improved further. This is another example where the person's history is more informative than the score alone: they had gone through a significant rebuilding process before receiving the Chase approval.

660 Credit Score — Chase Freedom Unlimited^® With a $24,000 Limit: One of the most surprising reports we found involved a consumer whose score had dropped from above 800 to approximately 660 after a temporary health-related expense caused them to exceed the limit on an existing Chase Sapphire Reserve account. They paid the balance off and then applied for the Chase Freedom Unlimited while the score was still around 660. They reported being approved for a remarkable $24,000 credit limit. The person's existing relationship with Chase and their previously excellent credit history clearly made this a very different situation from someone who had a 660 score because of years of missed payments. It is an excellent example of why a credit score by itself cannot tell the whole story.

670 Credit Score — Existing Cards but Still Denied by American Express: A more recent consumer reported having a 670 FICO score, a seven-year-old oldest account and an $82,000 income. Their existing cards included a Chase Freedom Unlimited with an $18,000 limit and a Discover it card with a $9,300 limit. Despite that relatively strong credit profile and substantial existing credit, they reported being denied for American Express cards they had applied for. This is another useful counterexample because a 670 score does not automatically produce an approval from every issuer.

680 Credit Score — Discover With a $7,000 Limit After Major Credit Problems: A recent consumer described having an approximately 590 score after losing their job and dealing with medical bills and missed mortgage, automobile and credit-card payments. Their original credit card had been closed after they maxed it out and missed payments. They eventually caught up on their obligations, paid down debt and rebuilt their credit. When their Equifax and TransUnion scores reached approximately 685 and 676, they applied for Discover after it was the only card that pre-approved them. They reported receiving a $7,000 credit limit. This is one of the strongest examples in the article because it shows the transition from a 500-range score to a substantially higher score and a much larger credit line after rebuilding.

690 Credit Score — Rebuilding After a Charged-Off Card: Another consumer reported reaching approximately 690 after previously having a score around 540 because of a charged-off Wells Fargo credit card. After the charge-off, they opened a Discover secured card, which eventually graduated to an unsecured account, and later received a Capital One SavorOne with a $3,000 limit after being pre-approved. By the time they were considering another application, their score was around 690 and their financial situation had improved significantly. Their story demonstrates how the same person can move through several different levels of credit-card availability as their credit profile improves.

These reports don't cover every score from 600 through 699, and we don't think they should. We would rather show strong, documented examples than force a separate story into every ten-point increment simply to make the numbers appear complete.

Why Can Someone With a 600-Range Score Get Approved While Someone Else Is Denied?

The biggest lesson from these reports is that a 600-range credit score does not describe a single type of credit profile.

Someone with a 620 score might have a relatively short credit history and one or two negative accounts. Someone else with a 620 score might have years of positive payment history but high utilization. A third person could have a 620 score after recovering from bankruptcy or a collection problem.

The examples above demonstrate this difference very clearly. One person around 621 reported a Discover approval despite having several open collections. Another person with a 630 score reported being denied by Bank of America because of a recent account that had gone into collections. Both applicants were in roughly the same part of the scoring range, but their credit histories were different.

The same thing happens with higher scores. A person with a 660 score and a long history of excellent credit reported receiving a $24,000 Chase Freedom Unlimited limit after a temporary score drop. Another person with a 670 score and substantial existing credit reported being denied by American Express.

This is why there is no single credit score that guarantees approval for a particular credit card.

The issuer may consider the entire credit report, including payment history, existing accounts, utilization, recent applications, collections, charge-offs, bankruptcies and the age of the applicant's accounts. The relationship someone already has with a bank can also be very different from that of a new applicant.

The starting credit limits reported in the 600 range make the difference even more obvious. We found examples involving $300 and $500 starting limits, but also $1,000, $3,000, $5,000 and $7,000 limits. The $24,000 Chase example is an extreme case, but it demonstrates the point: two people with the same approximate credit score can receive dramatically different credit limits.

That's also why we don't want to tell someone with a 600, 610, 620 or 630 score that they will automatically qualify for a particular card. Real-world results don't support that kind of promise.

What the reports do show is that people with credit scores in the 600 range have reported getting both rebuilding-oriented cards and mainstream credit cards. The range is broad enough that someone at 600 may have very different options from someone at 690.

What Credit Cards Can You Get With a Credit Score in the 600 Range?

If your credit score is somewhere in the 600 range, you may have more credit-card choices than someone in the 500 range, but the right card for you will depend on your individual credit history.

Some people in this range are still using cards designed specifically for rebuilding credit. Others have progressed to unsecured cards with cash-back rewards or cards from larger mainstream issuers. The examples in this article include both types.

For example, people in the lower 600s have reported getting cards such as Indigo and Ollo, while other applicants around the same range have reported approvals from Capital One and Discover. Further up the range, there are reports of approvals for Chase and other mainstream issuers.

If you're considering one of the cards mentioned here, you should still look at your own credit profile rather than assuming that someone else's reported score guarantees the same result. A person with a 620 score and several collections may have a very different outcome from someone with a 620 score who has years of clean payment history.

We also have several credit cards available for people who are rebuilding or who have fair credit. If one of the cards mentioned in this article is something you're considering, you can learn more about that card before deciding whether to apply.

And if you're not sure which cards may be available to you, you can use our Credit Card Wizard below to check your options.

Checking your available options through the Credit Card Wizard can be a useful starting point if you're not sure which type of card fits your current credit situation. You can look at the available options without assuming that your credit score alone determines what you can get.

The real-world experiences in this article show why the 600 range is such an interesting part of the credit-score spectrum. Someone at 600 may be trying to get their first unsecured card after serious credit problems, while someone at 690 may already have several established accounts and be looking at mainstream rewards cards.

A credit score in the 600 range does not guarantee approval, but it also does not mean that you're limited to one type of credit card. The individual reports show people receiving everything from small rebuilding cards to substantial mainstream credit lines, along with plenty of examples where applicants were denied.