OpenSky Secured Visa Review: 3 Cards, No Credit Check
Search for «OpenSky Secured Visa» and most review sites point you to one card. That’s incomplete — OpenSky actually sells three different secured cards, and picking the wrong one for your situation means either overpaying in fees or putting down more deposit than you needed to. Here’s how all three actually compare.
OpenSky’s Core Pitch, Across All Three Cards
Every OpenSky secured card is built around the same headline feature: no credit check to apply. Where most secured cards still evaluate your income and existing debt even without checking your score (as Capital One’s does, for example), OpenSky’s approval process is built specifically to work for applicants who want to avoid any credit-related review at all. That makes the whole lineup a strong option if you’ve been declined elsewhere, or simply want to open an account without any inquiry risk.
At a Glance: All Three Cards Compared
| Launch Secured Visa | OpenSky Secured Visa (Classic) | OpenSky Plus Secured Visa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum deposit | $150 | $200 | $300 |
| Annual fee | $0 (charges $2/month instead) | $35/year | $0 |
| Variable APR | 28.24% | 23.89% | 28.24% |
| Rewards | None advertised | None advertised | Cash back up to 10% on select purchases (verify current terms) |
| Credit check | None | None | None |
| Reports to all 3 bureaus | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Three genuinely different tradeoffs, not three versions of the same thing — which is exactly why it’s worth understanding each one rather than defaulting to whichever OpenSky product happens to rank highest on a given review site.
Launch Secured Visa: Lowest Deposit, Monthly Fee Instead of Annual
At $150, this is the lowest minimum deposit across OpenSky’s lineup — worth knowing if putting down even $200 would be a stretch right now. Instead of an annual fee, Launch charges $2 a month, which works out to $24 a year — actually less than the classic card’s $35 annual fee, despite Launch requiring a smaller deposit. The APR matches Plus at 28.24%.
Best for: Someone who specifically needs the lowest possible entry deposit and doesn’t mind a small recurring monthly charge instead of a once-a-year fee.
OpenSky Secured Visa (Classic): The Lowest APR, With a Flat Annual Fee
This is the original product and the one most commonly meant by the generic «OpenSky Secured Visa» name. Its standout feature isn’t its fee — at $35/year, it’s the most expensive of the three on pure fees — it’s the APR: 23.89%, noticeably lower than either of its siblings, and lower than every other card covered in this site’s best secured credit cards guide.
Best for: Someone who thinks there’s a real chance they’ll carry a balance some months, where a lower APR meaningfully offsets a $35 annual fee. If you’re confident you’ll pay in full every month (the recommended habit for building credit generally), the APR difference matters much less, and the fee-free options below become more attractive.
OpenSky Plus Secured Visa: No Annual Fee, Higher Deposit, Possible Rewards
Plus requires the highest deposit of the three ($300) but charges no annual fee at all, and OpenSky’s own product page advertises cash back of up to 10% on select everyday purchases. The exact categories and any caps on that cash back weren’t consistently detailed across the materials reviewed for this article, so confirm the current structure directly before counting on a specific dollar figure — but even a modest, capped cash-back benefit on top of a $0 annual fee is a meaningful edge over the classic card’s flat $35 charge.
Best for: Someone who can comfortably put down $300 and wants to avoid any recurring fee altogether, potentially with some cash back as a bonus. This is the version most commonly featured in general «best secured cards» comparisons, including our own — for good reason, since $0 ongoing cost is hard to beat if the higher deposit isn’t a barrier.
How to Actually Choose Between the Three
- Deposit is your main constraint? Launch, at $150, asks for the least upfront.
- You might carry a balance sometimes and want the lowest cost of doing so? Classic OpenSky Secured Visa’s 23.89% APR is the lowest available here.
- You want zero ongoing fees and can cover a larger deposit? Plus is the strongest long-term value, assuming you’re not planning to carry a balance.
- Not sure yet? Plus is the safest general-purpose default — no annual fee is the single easiest cost to avoid entirely by paying in full each month, which is also the habit that builds credit fastest regardless of which card you choose.
Pros and Cons (Across the OpenSky Lineup)
Pros:
- No credit check on any of the three cards
- A genuine choice between deposit size, fee structure, and APR, rather than one-size-fits-all
- All three report to all three credit bureaus
- Classic card’s APR is meaningfully lower than most other secured cards on the market
Cons:
- Three similarly-named products can genuinely be confusing to compare without a side-by-side like this one
- Classic card’s $35 annual fee is on the higher end if you don’t specifically value the lower APR
- Plus’s cash-back terms aren’t as clearly and consistently documented as the deposit/fee/APR figures
- No published automatic upgrade timeline to an unsecured card across any of the three, unlike some competitors
Frequently Asked Questions
Which OpenSky card is featured in your general «best secured cards» list? Plus — it’s the version most consumer finance sites default to for a no-annual-fee, no-credit-check combination, and it’s what’s featured in our best secured credit cards for beginners roundup. This dedicated review exists specifically because the other two options are also worth knowing about, depending on your priorities.
Can I switch between OpenSky cards later if I choose wrong? That would generally require closing one account and opening another, which isn’t ideal for your average account age. It’s worth taking a few minutes to pick deliberately using the comparison above rather than assuming you can easily switch later.
Is a monthly fee (Launch) actually cheaper than an annual fee (Classic)? In this specific comparison, yes — $2/month works out to $24/year, less than the Classic card’s $35/year — but it’s worth double-checking both current figures before applying, since fee structures can change.
Do all three OpenSky cards build credit the same way? Yes. All three report to Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion using the same account-level information (payment history, balance, limit) — the differences between them are in cost and deposit, not in how effectively they build your score.
This article is for informational purposes only and is not financial advice. Deposit amounts, fees, APRs, and rewards terms are set by OpenSky and can change — confirm current details for each specific card directly on OpenSky’s official site before applying.