There are companies advertising that they offer an unsecured loan; poor credit history, they say, is not a problem. If they advertise that they do not do credit checks, then they are probably offering a payday loan. A payday loan is a short term high fee loan that has been referred to as a debt trap. In an emergency situation, it may be the only unsecured loan poor credit history victims have.

There are companies that advertise unsecured credit cards for poor credit risks. One that we looked at offered a credit line of $250, but the initial fees were $178, which were charged to the card and appeared on the first statement, leaving an available credit line of $72.

If you have been denied a loan or a credit card because of information obtained from one of the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experion or TransUnion), you are entitled to a free copy of that report. The bank or credit card company will provide you with the name of the credit bureau and then you must contact that bureau yourself. Before you consider unsecured credit cards for poor credit risks or an unsecured loan, poor credit history should be improved if possible.

You are also entitled to a free copy of your credit report if you are unemployed and plan to seek employment within the next 60 days, if you are on welfare or if there is inaccurate information on the report because of fraud. You are entitled to a free copy once in a 12 month period for any reason or no reason. Experts advise that consumers review the information on their credit reports, before they begin applying for loans or credit cards. Even if you know that you have a poor credit history, you may be able to improve it. In response to a recently enacted law, a new website was created to allow consumers easier access to their credit reports. The website address is www.annualcreditreport.com. There are companies using similar URL addresses to attract business to their websites. These companies are selling information about a number of things including, obtaining an unsecured loan, poor credit history repair, unsecured credit cards for poor credit risks and credit monitoring services. Make sure that you are at the correct site, before you provide any personal information.

There are companies that guarantee or promise an unsecured loan; poor credit history or no credit history is not a problem they say. Then they will ask you for a fee. These are called