<p>Chase Freedom Card for students. Easy to get, low or no income not an issue, at least wasn’t for my S. Rewards in the form of gift cards to assorted student friendly merchants, low initial credit limit, but increases fairly quickly IMO.</p>
<p>Great starter card for student. Am planning to get one for current HS senior before the year is out for college next fall. Much safer than a debit card for online purchases, etc.</p>
<p>S is at a small school with only one ATM. We figured we had to go with that bank to avoid use charges, but it turns out that they have an agreement with some other banks in the area. It would have been nice to know we had a choice.</p>
<p>Why is a debit card less safe for online purchases? Our son just told me last week that he learned how to use his debit card online (Yikes, I thought!). We have never had debit cards, only a few credit cards, so aside from knowing what they are as a concept, I am ignorant. Please enlighten!</p>
<p>You have built in safety w/credit card if erroneous charges, item not as described, damaged in shipping, lost, etc. Not necessarily the case w/debit cards, as the amount “charged” is immediately deducted from your account. Credit card allows time to dispute charges if necessary before paying. Some credit cards come w/additional warranty for purchases, thinking specifically AMEX card.</p>
<p>Which would you rather have stolen online, your credit card number or your debit card number? You may not realize your debit number is being used until all your funds are gone in minutes…</p>
<p>This thread was started before the credit collapse. Credit rating??? Will there even be a bank left issuing credit in another year or two? Good credit ? you will need spotless credit to get loans in the future. Days of getting Visa cards in your dogs name are over. Unless the teenager is going to be spot on perfect with the card and it never ever ever gets stolen or cloned then maybe it would be advisable to get a card. Otherwise the future conventional wisdom will be to open an old fashioned checking account and put money in a savings passbook. Kids in college today will need 20% down payments to buy a car on a loan. The days of upside down auto loans are over.</p>
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<p>If something goes foul with a debit card purchase then you’re out real money from your checking account. You’ll be out that real money until the bank sorts things out (which can take 2-3 days or 2-3 months).</p>
<p>If something goes foul with a credit card purchase you’re only out virtual money in the form of money against your credit limit. You’ve not lost any actual money since you’ve not paid for the charge.</p>
<p>Also, credit cards are much better for situations where ‘holds’ are placed against your accounts. For example, when you rent a car or check into a hotel they swipe your card and place a ‘hold’ on a chunk of money. If it’s a debit card that is real money that is frozen in your account (you can’t spend it… it’s like they take it out of your account and then give it back a while later). If you use a credit card the ‘hold’ just temporarily lowers your credit limit… again fake money that you never really pay for. </p>
<p>I’ve seen a lot of hotels that have a warning at the check-in desk about this situation. For example, someone has $1,000 in their checking account. They check into the hotel (for which their employer is paying for) and provide a personal debit card during check-in. The hotel puts a $500 ‘hold’ on the card during the stay (basically in case you trash the place or leave without paying). The person, thinking they have $1,000 in their checking account writes a check for $550… which then bounces (because the ‘hold’ reduced their account balance by $500). So you can see how having this happen a few times (eg you rent a car and check into a hotel) can turn messy really quick… you really have no idea how much money is actually in your account. </p>
<p>Credit cards are excellent tools if used properly. Use it responsibly and pay it off in full each month. </p>
<p>But the poster was correct, in all these situations credit cards are VASTLY superior to debit cards.</p>
<p>I think it is important in this day and age for college students to have a credit card. So many times it has been necessary–to rent a car when d’s car was hit by another driver, for airline tickets, for ordering books online, etc. My son has a Citi card that pays cash back. He pays it in full each month and every few months gets a little cash back–he has his electric and cable/internet automatically charged on it. Both son and d. also have their own bank credit card that is just kept put away–these are linked to their checking account so that (God forbid) they ever overdraw, the charge is automatically put on credit card and no fees are charged or checks returned (so far this has not come into play, but it makes me feel better that they wouldn’t get socked for a 30-50 dollar fee for an overdraw).</p>
<p>Before you apply for a bank-issued credit (or debit or check) card, determine:</p>
<p>1) Which credit/debit/check card(s) your college accepts </p>
<p>2) That your prospective bank is in stable financial shape</p>
<p>3) That ATMs are located on/near campus and near home</p>
<p>4) If your parents can make deposits/payments to your account</p>
<p>It is most important that you make sure your school accepts the sort of credit/debit/check card issued to you. (Don’t rely upon your prospective bank to provide this information.) My daughter, her Other Parent, and I didn’t adequately research this before my daughter opened a checking account at a nationwide bank with a branch office located less than a block away from her dorm. A week after my daughter opened her checking account–which provided her with an “XYZ” debit card she intended to use to make online tuition payments–she discovered that her school specifically refuses to accept all “XYZ” instruments, and also refuses to accept debit cards and check cards of any other kind. My daughter must now make tuition and other school-related payments in cash, by personal (paper) check, or by e-check; her “XYZ” debit card is useless to her on campus.</p>
<p>I think #4 is important.</p>
<p>I am going to make a plug for AmEx again.</p>
<p>My daughter just called to let me know that she’s lost her iPhone last night. She was in tears, but offered to pay for a new one herself or use her old phone. I tried calling AT&T to get her phone suspended, but they are going through software upgrade, so they couldn’t do it until next week(what luck). She tried to call the bus company and anyone she was with last night, no luck.</p>
<p>It occurred to me that AmEx has a Purchase Protection Plan. I called them to see if the phone was covered. They said, “Yes, it wouldn’t have been if it was a week later, it would have passed 90 days protection period.” The only good news we got today. She’ll get a new phone tomorrow.</p>
<p>The average college student won’t be able to get an AMEX (especially now).</p>
<p>The credit limit on most college student credit cards is likely going to be quite low such that any of the normal ‘bonus’ features on cards (eg miles, cash back) won’t really return much benefit. For example, to get any real benefit from an airline miles credit card you’ve got to push thousands a month across the card… most college student cards will have tiny credit limits (many less than $1,000). For a first card for a college student it’s being responsible and paying the bill in full every month that matters far more than what kind of card it is. </p>
<p>With the recent (in my opinion good) crack down on the ease of getting credit, it’s unlikely that a college student with little or no income and little or no assets will be able to get a ‘decent’ credit card. I would approach ones bank (where you hopefully have a track record of being a good, responsible customer) and ask them to give you a card. A traditional card issuer will simply look at stats (eg credit score, income, assets, job, are you a home owner) all of which will be very bad for a college student. </p>
<p>However, if you’ve been a good customer your bank could overlook those things and issue you a card and then increase your limit as you demonstrate your ability to pay on time each month. For a college student, having a massive credit limit isn’t really what’s important… it’s just starting the ‘game’ of establishing credit so that when they graduate they have some credit history.</p>
<p>Probably not. It was the first card I got right out of college.</p>
<p>At the same time I wonder. It is paid off on a monthly basis, unlike visa or master card.</p>
<p>American Express Blue for Students.</p>
<p>No annual fee, reasonable interest rate, and the Membership Rewards program is pretty good. Plus AmEx is the only credit card company that ever treats me right. I was considering the jetBlue or Asiana Amex but I don’t fly jetBlue enough to truly benefit, and the Asiana card’s offered by Bank of America, and I truly despise BoA.</p>
<p>The only downside is it’s pretty hard to get. I was denied 3 times before they approved me.</p>
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A debit card is less safe IN GENERAL than a credit card. I learned this when a major grocery chain active in our area had its systems hacked into, putting many customers at risk:</p>
<p>I don’t know if I can find the authoritative wording to provide a link. But the gist is this (exact time frames may be off, but the relative difference is accurate).</p>
<p>If your debit card is used fraudulently, you are not responsible so long as you report it <em>within 48 hours.</em> Otherwise, you are at risk up to (I believe) $500. Note that many people do not check their accounts every day or every two days and might not notice fraudulent activity for a lot longer than that. For someone like a college student, with a debit card tied to their bank account, this could wipe out what they have.</p>
<p>If your credit card is used fraudulently, you are at risk for no more than $50 so long as you report the issue <em>within 60 days.</em> That is a LOT more protection and a lot more realistic in terms of your noticing a problem.</p>
<p>When we learned this, I had my son immediately stop using his debit card and he got a credit card. Took a while for him to be approved (bank VISA card), possibly because his income is not much (few thousand $$ from summer jobs), but he got it.</p>
<p>Debit card vs. credit card safety wrt fraudulent use </p>
<p>Okay, here is the information that was posted when a number of stores and customers in our area were victimized.
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