Horizon Gold Card: Why You Should Avoid It

The Horizon Gold Card should be avoided at all costs. The card is extremely expensive and doesn't provide nearly enough benefits to justify its fees. Even if you have a really bad credit score, you could qualify for significantly cheaper options that can help you rebuild and repair your credit history.

Review: Why No One Should Apply for the Horizon Gold Card

The Horizon Gold Card offers some of the worst terms and benefits we've seen, even when compared to other cards marketed towards people with bad credit. No matter how poor your credit history is, you can apply for much better alternatives, including the Discover it® Secured Card - No Annual Fee and the Capital One® Secured Mastercard®. Both cards offer much lower fees—are much more useful—and can help you build up your credit score.

First and foremost, you should know the Horizon Gold Card is not a true credit card. It cannot be used anywhere besides The Horizon Outlet website. The website sells clothing, toys, small appliances and other small-ticket items.

Good For...	Bad For...
Those wishing to shop through the Horizon Outlet online store	People with bad credit
	Anyone looking for a credit card that can be used at stores

The Horizon Gold Card has no interest rate on purchases but it is loaded with other fees that are arguably worse. Worst of all is the $24.95 monthly fee. This charge alone makes the Horizon Gold Card one of the most expensive cards you could have in your wallet—even when you compare it to high-end credit cards meant for people with excellent credit. The terms and conditions for the card also give the company the ability to charge you additional fees, depending on what you buy with it.

The Horizon Gold Card doesn't offer much to the cardholder despite the high price tag. There are no rewards, you can't use the card outside of the Horizon Outlet website, and it's not even guaranteed to help you rebuild your credit history.

Bottom Line: Avoid this card at all costs. If you have bad credit and need a card, or want to rebuild your credit score, we recommend checking out some of these alternatives.

Benefits & Features

The Horizon Gold Card gives you the ability to purchase things through The Horizon Outlet online store. The card is not affiliated with any of the major credit card networks, and therefore cannot be used at places that accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express or Discover. The card has no reward system and no interest on purchases. The Horizon Gold Card comes with an expensive monthly fee of $24.95, which comes out to almost $300 annually. The card also reserves the right to charge users a processing fee depending on the item purchased. These fees are not disclosed anywhere on its website.


Annual Fee	No Annual Fee
Purchase APR
Card Details	$500 Limit No Employment Check No Credit Check

Though the Horizon Gold Card doesn't charge any interest, your monthly minimum payments are significantly higher than what they would be on an ordinary credit card. Every month, you must pay the greater of: 10% of the account balance owed or $25.

Credit Reporting

It is unclear whether Horizon Gold reports your account activity to the credit bureaus. Therefore, it's possible that it will have no impact on improving your credit score. The messaging itself is mixed. The front page of Horizon Gold Card's website claims that "your credit line and good payment history is reported to Equifax each month." However, when going through the terms and conditions for this card, we discovered the following:

"Horizon Card Services™ will report your new Horizon Card Services/Horizon Outlet Account to at least one major credit bureau. The Horizon Card Services Account does not guarantee aid in building or rebuilding credit, or to the posting of any positive references to any credit report."

Screenshots taken from the Horizon Gold website show the confusing and contradictory information about whether a cardholder's good payment history is reported to the credit bureaus. Source: https://www.horizoncardservices.com/a/fees.php

Therefore, while your new account will be added to your credit report, any subsequent positive activity may not. This payment history is what makes up the biggest portion of your credit score. Anyone working on rebuilding their credit score should prioritize a feature like that.

Good Alternatives to the Horizon Gold Card for Those With Bad Credit

Those with bad credit are not typically presented with many decent credit card options. However, we were able to find a few that offer reasonable terms and relatively few fews—especially when compared to the Horizon Gold Card.

Capital One® Secured Mastercard®: Low Security Deposit

The Capital One® Secured Mastercard® is one of our favorite credit cards for people with bad credit. It charges no monthly or annual fees, it has a very low minimum security deposit of just $49, and no foreign transaction fees. Most important of all, however, is that the card reports your payment history to the credit bureaus. That means you have a chance to rebuild your credit. The only downside to the Capital One® Secured Mastercard®, specifically when compared to the Horizon Gold Card, is the high APR of 24.99%. However, as long as you don't carry a balance month-to-month, this should not be an issue.

Highlights

$49, $99 or $200 refundable deposit based on your creditworthiness
No annual fee
24.99% variable APR.
Capital One® Secured Mastercard® Review

Discover it® Secured Card - No Annual Fee: Good Rewards

The Discover it® Secured Card - No Annual Fee is a secured credit card that treats its cardholders like users with high FICO scores. It has no annual fee, decent cash back rewards, and a slew of other features that make this an attractive offer—especially at the $0-per-year price point. The card provides 2% cash back at restaurants or gas stations on up to $1,000 in combined purchases each quarter. You'll also get an unlimited 1% back on all other purchases. Discover will match all the cash back you've earned at the end of your first year as a bonus, like it does with its other credit cards. While the Discover it® Secured Card - No Annual Fee has a steep minimum security deposit, $200, you have a chance to get it refunded after some time. Discover will automatically begin reviewing your account starting at 8 months to see if they can transition you to an unsecured line of credit.

Highlights

2% cash back at restaurants & gas stations on up to $1,000 in combined purchases each quarter. Plus, 1% cash back on all your other purchases
Dollar-for-dollar match of all the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year
$200 minimum security deposit
Discover it® Secured Card - No Annual Fee Review

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Horizon Gold Card: Why You Should Avoid It

Review: Why No One Should Apply for the Horizon Gold Card