<p>I was hoping to get my son a credit card in his own name before September. I remember solicitors sitting outside the Coop years ago signing up accounts but times seem to have changed. He applied on-line and was rejected. He re-applied to the same company with a parent co-signer showing adequate income and was rejected again (maybe the first decision blocks an immediate re-application). So as not to waste time collecting multiple rejections, is there any local New Haven bank or company that looks especially favorably on Yale undergraduates? I know I can get him a card on one of my accounts (he has that now) but I want him to build credit and for him to get the bill each month.</p>
<p>Use capitalone - You can apply online. They have student cards.</p>
<p>Tried that one and another rejection :(. The kid has had a checking account for a year and savings accounts. I don’t know what more they can expect to build a credit score. Good thing he is not out there looking for an apartment or car loan. “Authorized user” looks like it will be the only option with the recent credit card rule changes. If anyone has success getting an approved student card with a current application, let us know.</p>
<p>I used Bank of America’s student card offer. My son applied online and was rejected. They sent him paper work a few days later say I could be a guarantor. That is a bad idea in my book. I would have no control over the card but I would be responsible. We called and asked them to re-open the file but to add me as a co-applicant. (we couldn’t do that initially). I works great since we were approved, he gets a card and we both have control over the account. My understanding is that an authorized user will not build credit.</p>
<p>I don’t think you can get a credit card, just under his name solely, from a bank, until he turns 21. My parents have been trying to get me a credit card as well before I go off to school, simply so that I can begin building my own credit: we’ve had similar luck. </p>
<p>splat11: is this student card offer still available? My parents and I have Bank of America, and they’ve never mentioned anything like that to us.</p>
<p>yea. Just go online
<a href=“Credit Cards: Find & Apply for a Credit Card Online at Bank of America”>Credit Cards: Find & Apply for a Credit Card Online at Bank of America;
<p>You should get denied if you don’t have any credit. Then a week later you’ll get the paperwork with a reference number. Call them up and ask to have a co-applicant on the account. You and your parent will need to be present. Then they’ll take your parent’s info and re-run the credit application with their credit and income. You both have a card and access to the account.</p>
<p>Alright, thank you so much!</p>
<p>Yale Dad, politely contact your own bank’s branch manager. Explain how long you have been a customer. Do you by any chance have an account in your son’s name at this bank? That would be very helpful. Next, politely, point out that your son, who will be attending YALE, is at a point in his life where he is going to start a relationship with a bank. Your bank can decide if they want to be included on that list of potential banks for your son to form a relationship with…next point out that giving him a student credit card with a low balance limit ($500 or $1000) is a good way to begin a potential lifetime relationship. Took about a month of back and forth but this was how we just got our daughter a credit card in her own name…</p>
<p>^Thanks for the suggestion. Since his two on-line rejections probably worsened his credit score and that was the purpose of getting a card in his name, I am going to wait for the written rejections from the bank to see if there is a means to appeal. I may have to sit down with a local bank officer to see if I can pull strings. Even if he got a card with a $500 limit, he would probably have to carry a second card of mine since that won’t go far buying text books or plane tickets to return home.</p>
<p>The recent financial downturn has made banks less likely to hand out credit cards to students… :(</p>
<p>I tried to get one right when I opened my Bank of America checking account but was rejected… I just forgot about it until I got my Beinecke library job and the at the bank, they agreed to help me with the paperwork. I listed my income as 5,000 per year and now I have a low balance limit card that I only use once a month…</p>
<p>A friend was in a similar situation and got her son a secured credit card.</p>
<p>Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t see any benefit of a secured credit card to a debit card. Each will only let you spend what you have in that exact account even if you have funds elsewhere. I’m kind of shocked he was turned down for one of those “student” cards since one would expect those cards to not expect more than a couple of thousand dollars of income on the credit application. Yale extends credit to the kids to put stuff on the bursars bill, charge meals, etc. You would think their arrangement with the Chase “Yale” card would readily allow $1000 cards for admitted students considering the benefit to Chase of building brand loyalty going forward with what are likely to be higher earning college grads at some point in the future. I can probably get my son used to paying his own credit card bills by taking out a $3000 card in my own name or as a cosigner to him and have the bills sent to his Yale Station address. He’ll get a reasonable limit so he is not bumping up against the card maximum and I can easily check in on-line to make sure he is not making late payments. Considering how many card applications I receive a week (or day!) in the mail, this seems to be a missed opportunity for the banks even with bank reforms.</p>
<p>She may be wrong, but her understanding is that using a secured credit card builds credit while using a debit card does not. If you cosign a card for him, I believe it will help him build credit, while having him as an authorized user may not. One suggestion so that he will not make late payments is for the card to be paid in full automatically monthly from his checking account. That’s how my sons’ cards are set up. We started them as authorized users on one of our cards, then each was able to obtain a card in their own names (but this was before the new law went into effect).</p>