A young woman smiles down at her phone while holding a credit card.

Do Prepaid Cards Build Credit?

6 min read
Last Updated: June 26, 2025

Key Takeaways

  1. Credit bureaus don’t receive information from prepaid card transactions, so you can’t use a prepaid card to build credit history.
  2. If you want to begin building your credit history, consider applying for a secured credit card instead of using a prepaid card.
  3. Prepaid cards have several practical applications as alternatives to cash, credit, or debit cards.

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