Yes, the Gold Preferred® Secured Visa® card has an annual fee of $49. However, this fee can easily be offset by the benefits offered by the card, such as a low interest rate, automatic reporting to all three national credit bureaus, and the ability to increase the credit limit with additional deposits.

While both cards require you to make a deposit up front, the main difference is that a secured credit card reports your credit activity to the credit bureaus, which can help improve your credit score. A prepaid card does not report credit activity, which means that it does not affect your credit score.

Gold Preferred® Secured Visa® cardholders can increase their credit limit by adding additional deposits at any time. The card’s maximum limit is $5,000, but it’s important to remember that the credit limit is equal to the security deposit the cardholder makes. For example, if the cardholder makes a security deposit of $200, which is the minimum deposit amount, the card’s credit limit will be $200.