Our D will be a freshman this fall. Should we get her an extra card that’s tacked onto our current Capital One card, or is there a card that’s specifically for college students and offers certain benefits? She’s never had a CC before. The plan is for her to pay for some of her own expenses while also getting an allowance from us. Thanks!
If she’s responsible give her a card with her name listed FIRST on it so she can establish credit. Just tacking her name after yours on your account doesn’t help her after graduation.
Get a card in their name with a low credit limit so they can establish credit. If they plan to go abroad, B of A has one that has no foreign exchange fees.
I’m a sophomore in college, and I love my Discover IT card.
I have a secured account, meaning I had to put up money to establish a credit line. Its only $200, but I think can go up to $1000. I (and my parents) like the compromise of the secured card. I put up the initial $200, and then we split the bill monthly.
I’m not sure our solution is “best”, but so far we are satisfied: After our daughter was admitted to school we determined which regional/national banks had an on-campus ATM, and then she opened her savings & checking account with that bank’s local branch near our home. After that she got a secured credit card from that same bank and now it’s all coordinated online where she can see her balances and pay her bills online with a single sign-in. She’s establishing her own credit history, and can do her banking easily whether home or away at school. With a secured card limit like $1000 (which is our case) you might also want to give your child a card on your account with a higher credit limit if they’ll need it for greater expenses like travel, or as emergency back up.
We started out son on our Capial One card when he was a senior in high school. He was very responsible with the card and really didn’t use it much for his personal purchases.
Then the summer before college he applied for a Discover card. He uses this card to establish credit.
Big purchases or emergency expenses that we would normally pickup he uses our Cap One card.
We never got credit cards for our older two when they went to college. I sort of wish we had with a very small credit limit ( $500 max ) They never needed one per se , but it would have been nice for them to have a little bit of credit built up on their own when it came to signing leases without a co-signer.
We might consider one for the youngest , but I am still on the fence. Maybe after she completes her first year of school.
I had , and still have my name of all of their checking accounts, so I can put money on their card instantly
If you have access to USAA, check out their Student Credit Card. Our very responsible college student had a great experience with it.
Mine have both types. They each have a card on our account that they have to ask before charging and is mostly for things we would pay for if they were home, like some gas, prescriptions, text books. They also each got a credit card after the first summer in HS that they worked a job and made some of their own income. These have pretty low credit limits. I like that they have one of ours for extreme emergencies. D1 had to have substantial work done on car while OOS and we let her put that on our card. In case of emergency I want them to be able to charge a plane ticket, etc.
As they show they are responsible, they have requested and received higher limits on their own cards.