GermShepLvr

Having a credit card with a relatively small maximum-balance is an excellent way for a young person to build up credit history. All the years while they're in school and until they graduate, they are building credit history that will be VERY important for after they graduate. One of the other young ladies (26 yrs. old) I work with gave me this idea. She is very financially responsible and said her father had helped her get one around age 17 or so. She is now graduated and working in a good job, engaged to be married this summer, and qualified for a mortgage by herself only when she and her fiance' were looking for a house (he's still in school). Might as well take advantage of these years to build credit history!

cristiline

Wait wait wait. I have to be 21 to get a credit card on my own? I want to be able to build my credit, but if I have to have my mom cosign, I'm afraid it's going to affect me negatively--my mom's credit score is terrible.

Iron Maiden

Read the law in the link I posted.

sk8rmom

If you don't have verifiable income, you will likely need your parent. My 19 yo had no trouble getting a $1K Citicard a few months ago based on her part time income (she has no banking relationship with them at all). She has still been inundated with offers from Discover and other card issuers despite the new law.

Oscarg1

How much income is needed to get one of these credit cards from citi?

@GermShepLvr what was the max on the card?

sk8rmom

Oscar, my kid works less than 10 hours a week during school though she's usually close to full time during breaks...her income from work is well under $10K/year.

GermShepLvr

I'm not positive, but I think my daughter's max on her credit card is perhaps $1000? I've forgotten by now, but know it was def. over $500 as her books were more than that and her card covered those expenses just fine. Less the $50 credit for first major purchase. Looked for same deal today for our son but nothing so far. Will wait until the summer and hope they run a similar special to save him some money, too.

jazzpark

Perks. Lots of rewards. You can receive hundreds of dollars each year. This is assuming, of course, that the person is responsible and pays off the balance in full each month. It's only when people do not understand what credit cards are for and use them for purchases -- they otherwise wouldn't make if they didn't have the card -- that causes problems.

IUmom7

I thought about charging 1st semester tuition to get the rewards points; my D's school does not take credit card payments. I wonder how many do? My D's requires a direct withdrawal from a savings or checking account. I think you can also mail a check. But it explicitly says no credit card payments...so depending on where you go to school this may not be an option.

I certainly wouldn't recommend it for anyone unless they could immediately pay it off (and even then--only for convenience and/or points!)

ChicagoBear

I know my DS's college - Miami (Ohio) allows for the payment of tuition by credit card. However, a convenience fee of between 2-3% of the transaction is charged (can't remember the exact amount). This represents the amount due to the credit card company for processing the transaction - without this fee the school would not receive the "full tuition" amount. That's a high price for bonus miles

Arutha

Wanted to give an update. S's CC has been approved with no co-signer and it is a regular unsecured CC. Only $500 limit though, which is plenty for a starter.

mommapalooza

Arutha – is your 18 year old son working at all? It sounds like the law doesn't prohibit dependent students from getting credit on their own so long as they can show income sufficient to pay (maybe it wouldn’t have to be very much for a $500 credit limit).

I don't want to co-sign (was always advised against mixing parent and children’s credit histories), but would love to see my daughters get credit cards while they’re students to help them build history. But even though the cards would be for school expenses and we’d give them money to pay the bills, it seems that our girls not having jobs is a problem - D1 (21 yrs) and D2 (18 yrs) didn’t really work during the school year (D2 tutored a few hours per week); they’re now looking for summer jobs, so wondering if they should wait until they have pay stubs to show, even though it seems kind of silly for credit card issuers to consider seasonable employment.

D1 was told by our credit union last week that the new law prevents them from giving credit cards to dependent students without a co-signer - one person indicated they would give her one if she had a summer job, but someone else said that wouldn’t matter; either way, it seems clear they’re confusing the law with their policy as the law doesn’t even cover 21 year olds. It’s very frustrating - both daughters have had accounts at this credit union for most of their lives and I would’ve thought they’d have options there.

D1 is now looking elsewhere for a “student card” with a small max where they might not require employment in case she doesn’t find work; does such a card exist? She has a reasonable credit score which surprised me for someone without a credit card - I guess due to having had a checking account for several years, a utility that reported her having paid on time and some Stafford loans.

At 18 years old, D2 is covered by the new law, so I guess if she’s unsuccessful at getting a job this summer, she’ll wait until later to apply for a card.

Arutha

He has started working 8 hrs/week about the same time that he applied for the CC, but no income documentation was asked. Also, I had added him as an authorized user to one of my cards a few months ago, which at that time didn't even ask for his SSN and I don't think he ever used that card. However, when I pulled his credit report, that card was listed and has been in good standing for years. It may have helped him, I don't know.

a_mom

Similar with the above poster. My daughter is a freshman. She finally found an on-campus job back in March, about 15 hrs per week. Right after she got her 1st paycheck, she went to the bank that she already has relationship with (a student checking account) and applied their student credit card. She didn't have to show any proof of income, which I surprised, just stated her estimated annual income on the application. No co-sign was needed. One week later, she received her credit card with a $700 or $800 limit, I don't remember.