Having a good credit history is an absolute necessity in today’s financial world.

Your credit history may be preventing you from getting a better job, or even a job at all. That’s because companies use every tool at their disposal to figure out who to hire. They figure if you have a good credit score, the odds are better that you’ll be a good employee, too.

One way to improve a bad credit history is to use a secured credit card. There’re lots of secured credit cards out there, so it pays to get the one offering the most benefits.

Take the Bank of America secured credit card as an example. It features zero liability if the card is lost or stolen, prompt reimbursement to your account if an unauthorized person uses it to make charges, fraud monitoring to detect suspicious purchases and your photo on the card for extra security.

Another plus: a higher credit limit than most other secured credit cards. That’s because the credit limit is based on the amount of money in your account – as little as $300 or as much as $10,000. Your credit line directly reflects the amount on deposit. You can use your card to charge as much as is in your account.

The key to using a secured credit card to improve your credit history is to pay the card off in full every month. If you only make the minimum payment, you’ll soon be awash in interest payments of 18.24%. And avoid those cash advances. The rate on them is a whopping 24.24%, and that’s after credit card reform.

After handling a secured credit card responsibly for a year, BoA may offer you an unsecured credit card. Manage that well and you’ll be on your way to an improved credit score.