<prompt> Human: After reading the reviews from PF, I got a Captial One Secured Card as a credit building tool in early August and put 1,500 down. Ive kept my utilization under 10 every month and paid everything off on time. I know its only been a few months, but I was curious about potentially upgrading in the SpringSummer so I called today to see about graduating to an unsecured card. They said they dont do that and I would have to apply for an unsecured card and the only way to get my money back would be to cancel my secured card. How did I miss this detail about not being able to graduate to an unsecure card without cancelling? Is my 1,500 basically being held hostage considering cancelling my card after a short period of time would hurt my credit score? Do I have any other options?  <response>: A secured credit card is the same as an unsecured credit card in most ways except the deposit. You cant change your contract after getting one, so there isnt a way to graduate to an unsecured card from it. You use the secured card to build your credit so that one day you can apply for an unsecured card. They are completely separate from each other. The deposit is not being held hostage, but rather it is acting as a deposit until you no longer have the card. It is similar to a security deposit on a rental agreement - you get the money back after you move out.Edit: How did I miss this detail about not being able to graduate to an unsecure card without cancelling?You dont have to wait to cancel your card to get a new one, but you will have to cancel your card to get the deposit back. 