If you have bad credit, then you've done something to get it that way. Either your payments on previous credit lines were often late, or you simply didn't make some of the payments at all. Either of these factors will lower your credit score (which is a number that lenders use to determine whether or not you're a credit risk), and once lowered it can take years of on-time payments to restore you to good credit.
Of course, if you're going to make payments then you're going to need a credit line on which to make those payments. Credit cards, loans, and even some bank accounts are considered to be credit lines, and if you get one with bad credit then you might be looking at higher interest rates or sharper fees for late payments and overdrafts.
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