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Started By
Message
Best Credit Card for a college student
Posted on 8/12/19 at 3:17 pm
Posted on 8/12/19 at 3:17 pm
What’s the best credit card for a college student. I want to start building my credit.
Thanks
Thanks
4
Posted on 8/12/19 at 3:19 pm to Tigahhs97
A secured card is a good place to start....see if the campus credit union offers one. You essentially give them $500-$1000, which "secures" your card. You can spend up to the security deposit....as your credit score improves & you use the card responsibly, you can move on to an unsecured card.
Posted on 8/12/19 at 3:31 pm to Tigahhs97
Discover student
Posted on 8/12/19 at 4:24 pm to jimbeam
Or a CapitalOne starter card. Doesn't have to be secured. I think my kids started out with them with a $500 limit.
Posted on 8/12/19 at 4:43 pm to hungryone
quote:
You essentially give them $500-$1000, which "secures" your card. You can spend up to the security deposit....as your credit score improves & you use the card responsibly, you can move on to an unsecured card.
That's a horrible idea and a horrible credit card. If you want to go that route, then just get them a prepaid visa card.
Who in their right mind would give a credit card company $500-$1,000 only to be able to spend up to that amount? And what college student has that money just sitting around, available to hand over to a credit card company?
Stupid idea all around
This post was edited on 8/12/19 at 4:44 pm
Posted on 8/12/19 at 6:00 pm to jimbeam
quote:
Discover student
Posted on 8/12/19 at 6:21 pm to jimbeam
quote:
Discover student
telling my child to apply for this one before the semester starts back up
Posted on 8/12/19 at 8:10 pm to Tigahhs97
None 
Posted on 8/12/19 at 9:23 pm to blzr
quote:
iAmBatman...
...not true at all.
As a former bank employee, I can tell you that a secured card is absolutely the best way to build your credit. Our bankers recommended them all the time. Once an individual is approved for an unsecured line, s/he can pay off the balance of the secured card and get their deposit back.
Capital One has the best secured card product. That’s what I used to rebuild my credit. You can apply online and they’ll give you $150 above your deposit as your credit line.
This post was edited on 8/12/19 at 9:24 pm
Posted on 8/13/19 at 1:48 am to bluestem75
A secured card should only be your route if you have bad credit. If you have no credit you are probably considered to basically have around a 600-630 credit score.
If you have no credit history you can get a capital one (platinum) card. That has no annual fee or deposit required.
If you are a student, like the OP, there are other much better options like the discover student card that actually gives you cash back.
If you have no credit history you can get a capital one (platinum) card. That has no annual fee or deposit required.
If you are a student, like the OP, there are other much better options like the discover student card that actually gives you cash back.
This post was edited on 8/13/19 at 1:51 am
Posted on 8/13/19 at 2:12 am to Tigahhs97
Also OP, before you get your card educate yourself if you havent already on what effects your score.
The big ones are... in this order I believe.
1. On time payments. Dont ever miss a payment. Set it up to be automatically paid every month and if you are new to budgeting it will be benefit you to just pay it when ever there is a charge on it.
2. Utilization - dont use more than 30 percent of your cards limit. Better yet, dont use more than 10 percent. And as a tip, if you pay it off everytime there is a charge you wont rack up a large utilization percentage. I pay for everything I can on my cards and always have a 1% utilization because I pay them off every couple of days.
3. Credit history- this is hard to do much about if you are just starting out. But if you know someone with great credit like your parents... you can get them to add you as an authorized user. Then their credit history becomes part of yours.. you dont even have to have access to the card or number. However, if they frick up their credit, it will effect yours. And they are responsible for paying off anything you put on it. I already have my 14 year old on my citibank card building credit.
4. New credit - this includes inquiries and new lines of credit opened. Just dont open a ton all at once. Add a card every year or so until you get what you need. (The discover student card is a great card cause it has all the benefits of what an adult with good credit can get from discover, plus added benefits for good grades).
Whatever you choose.. be picky and pick out ones you think you'll want to keep a long time. Because if you cancel it will effect your credit history.
5. Types of credit - Lenders like to see a variety of credit types on your history. At first you may only have things like your credit card and possibly a car loan. But things like an installment loan and mortgage can help. But dont go get one for no reason. My credit was in the 750s just based on credit cards alone after two years of having them.
6. Credit limit - Your first card is gonna probably start you off small... so you wont be able to charge much to it and keep your utilization low. But every 6 months you can ask for an increase without an inquiry or anything that will effect your credit. Most allow you to do this via app or website pretty easily. As your limits increase you can use them more to reap the benefits like cash back.
Also, if you havent done it yet, pull at least one credit report from annualcreditreport.com
Equifax, transunion, or experian. I would recommend transunion. If you dont have anything on it you know you have no credit. If you have a car loan with missed payment, or something else with missed payments, or something that's been turned over to a collection agency you may want to investigate your situation further.
Then get yourself a app to check your credit score regularly. Like creditwise. Alot of credit cards and banks will also give you a score from their app or website. Credit karma will as well, but it's pretty annoying. Check them all to give you an idea of what your score is. Cause it will very. Experian almost always reports me the highest by a good bit for example. The rest are usually with 10 points or so.
The big ones are... in this order I believe.
1. On time payments. Dont ever miss a payment. Set it up to be automatically paid every month and if you are new to budgeting it will be benefit you to just pay it when ever there is a charge on it.
2. Utilization - dont use more than 30 percent of your cards limit. Better yet, dont use more than 10 percent. And as a tip, if you pay it off everytime there is a charge you wont rack up a large utilization percentage. I pay for everything I can on my cards and always have a 1% utilization because I pay them off every couple of days.
3. Credit history- this is hard to do much about if you are just starting out. But if you know someone with great credit like your parents... you can get them to add you as an authorized user. Then their credit history becomes part of yours.. you dont even have to have access to the card or number. However, if they frick up their credit, it will effect yours. And they are responsible for paying off anything you put on it. I already have my 14 year old on my citibank card building credit.
4. New credit - this includes inquiries and new lines of credit opened. Just dont open a ton all at once. Add a card every year or so until you get what you need. (The discover student card is a great card cause it has all the benefits of what an adult with good credit can get from discover, plus added benefits for good grades).
Whatever you choose.. be picky and pick out ones you think you'll want to keep a long time. Because if you cancel it will effect your credit history.
5. Types of credit - Lenders like to see a variety of credit types on your history. At first you may only have things like your credit card and possibly a car loan. But things like an installment loan and mortgage can help. But dont go get one for no reason. My credit was in the 750s just based on credit cards alone after two years of having them.
6. Credit limit - Your first card is gonna probably start you off small... so you wont be able to charge much to it and keep your utilization low. But every 6 months you can ask for an increase without an inquiry or anything that will effect your credit. Most allow you to do this via app or website pretty easily. As your limits increase you can use them more to reap the benefits like cash back.
Also, if you havent done it yet, pull at least one credit report from annualcreditreport.com
Equifax, transunion, or experian. I would recommend transunion. If you dont have anything on it you know you have no credit. If you have a car loan with missed payment, or something else with missed payments, or something that's been turned over to a collection agency you may want to investigate your situation further.
Then get yourself a app to check your credit score regularly. Like creditwise. Alot of credit cards and banks will also give you a score from their app or website. Credit karma will as well, but it's pretty annoying. Check them all to give you an idea of what your score is. Cause it will very. Experian almost always reports me the highest by a good bit for example. The rest are usually with 10 points or so.
This post was edited on 8/13/19 at 10:28 am
Posted on 8/13/19 at 12:46 pm to bluestem75
quote:
As a former bank employee, I can tell you that a secured card is absolutely the best way to build your credit. Our bankers recommended them all the time.
So the people making money off these things think they're a great product
Seems totally above board.
quote:
You can apply online and they’ll give you $150 above your deposit as your credit line.
So you're basically loaning someone $150? And I suppose the "deposit" you pay to set up the card is never refunded? So someone pays you $500 for the ability to borrow $150? Yeah I can see why your "bankers" recommend them all the time.
Sounds more like fricking robbery to me
Posted on 8/13/19 at 12:58 pm to iAmBatman
quote:
So you're basically loaning someone $150? And I suppose the "deposit" you pay to set up the card is never refunded? So someone pays you $500 for the ability to borrow $150? Yeah I can see why your "bankers" recommend them all the time.
Sounds more like fricking robbery to me
No, it doesnt work like that.
You pay them 500, then you have a 500 dollar credit line. They are saying if you give then 500, they will give you a 650 dollar credit line. It's a way to prove you are going to be a responsible borrower without risk to the bank.
Once your credit has increased you can get your deposit back and upgrade to one that doesnt require it.
It's a good way for someone that has screwed up in the past to rebuild credit. But it's not the way you want to go if you just have no credit or have anything but poor credit.
quote:
A secured credit card is backed by acash deposit you make when you openthe account. The deposit is usually equal to your credit limit, so if you deposit $200, you'll have a $200 limit. ... When you upgrade or close a non-delinquent secured card, the issuer refunds your deposit.
This post was edited on 8/13/19 at 1:03 pm
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