When my oldest daughter graduated in ChemE, she had a company fly her out to California for an interview and they set up a rental car for her which they were going to reimburse her for, but she didn’t have a credit card (never needed one before and the rental car company wouldn’t take a debit card, only some do) so she ended up Ubering around. She applied for a CC after that but it was it had a $300 credit limit (no credit history, even though her job paid $70K+). I applied my middle daughter for the same card so when she graduated she could have a decent credit history and her card is now up to a $1000 limit. My last DD just graduated from high school, and turned 18 this months so I tried the same thing, no dice. Capital One along with everyone else said no ( most likely do to age and no credit history, and I don’t do annual fees or secured cards), except for Discover. They asked for her college acceptance letter so I uploaded a copy and they started her out with a $1000 limit. Anyway something to think about before they graduate and need a credit card for car rentals and anything else that might require one. Not pitching Discover card here they were just the only one to give her one.
Was it a Visa/Mastcard debit card, with the logo on it?
Not sure if it has the logo or not. They car rental place wouldn’t accept it though.
I own a small business, so maybe this isn’t an option for everyone. But I just added my kids as employees when they reached high school. They have access to the whole $20,000 credit line, same as I do. I’m not sure if you can do this with a personal account or not. They also know that there are very strict limits on what they can use the card for, and that I look at the bill every month. Basically I only let them put on things that I would pay for anyway, like gas for their cars and occasional meals where I would otherwise give them cash to cover. They call me occassionally to get permission to use the card.
I assume that this is building their credit, as I had to give their name, SSN and I think birthday to have them listed on the card. I guess even if it doesn’t, it keeps them covered until they are able to get one on their own. I suppose this could be dangerous, but so far they seems to be doing well in being responsible and not abusing the privilege. (I do have the card set so I get an email anytime anyone charges $100 or more).
I’ve had my kids on three different personal cards - Visa and Master - from 3 different banks. They do have access to the entire credit line, but my kids are fully trustworthy. This isn’t an option for everyone. I know I’m lucky.
I know for certain that you only build credit when you are the primary credit card account holder. IOW it can’t be another card for a child for which you are the primary account holder.
When DS graduated from college he walked into the bank he had been using for checking since the summer before he started college. Sat down with one of the bankers there and opened a credit card with $1,500 limit. They new he was starting grad school but the fact that he had the 4 year relationship with them made the card simple to get. Now 2 years later his credit limit has been bumped to $6,000.
I think if an 18 yr old opens a student checking account, it might make it easier to get a credit card sooner, maybe even at the same time.
Is this recent?
Each one of my kids had credit cards with me and my husband as primary card holders since high school. They never had any trouble with their FICO scores (when needed) or getting their own credit cards after college. I just assumed their credit history was built from those credit cards.
^ agree. There’s no way my kids would have had a terrific credit score right out of college (and their very first jobs), if the only way to build credit was as a primary card holder. They got the benefit of ours…
Everyone has there own specific credit report, if they don’t have any accounts then they cannot have a credit score (a good one at least), and they don’t get the “benefit” of their parents scores or accounts. As adults, the credit card company has no way of coming after you if your child defaults. They must have gotten there credit worthiness through some other means, but it was definitely not through your accounts.
Our kids each got a credit card with me when they were starting college. They each had no trouble getting their own CC when they applied. D applied even when she had no job and was a student. The Costco staff member said to consider all the funds we gave her for tuition and living expenses as her income. She got instant approval, $3500 credit limit. She has it on auto pay.
S had at least 2 dozen CCards and a credit score of about 800 or so. Both kiddos have all the credit they want and no debt. Neither kid has ever been turned down for a CC.
Costco AmEx was the first CC D applied for on her own, when we were shopping as a favor to the Costco guy who begged her to apply.
Each of our kids got a basic free Fidelity Investments checking/sweep account when starting college. It comes with a debit card. They used it all through college and we could transfer $ for books, whatever from our account to theirs when needed. The debit card attached to it also has no ATM fees. Any ATM fees you get charged get reimbursed back to you, even international, so you can truly use it free anywhere.
Upon graduating last year and transitioning to full time employment, older child decided to carry a credit card in addition to a debit card to build credit and applied for Fidelity’s Rewards Visa Card (zero fees, 2% back). Applied online, instant approval, credit line of $1200 to start. Easy peasy.(OH, and salary is below that of the OP’s child).
Just mentioning as an option to consider as it is also a very easy, no cost way to bank online.
Yes, Schwab also gives a debit card when you have an account with them. You are reimbursed for ALL ATM fees, in the US or anywhere. I don’t know if they have a Schwab CC as well, haven’t researched. The 2% cash back fidelity is a nice CC, tho we don’t have it.
Actually I use Schwab for some banking and investments, and I have a checking account with the debit card, but didn’t apply for a CC with Schwab. Anyway the real point is to build credit for your child before they graduate so there not stuck with a low limit.
My son had a checking account with Bank of America from the time he was 14. Money went in but seldom came out. Last summer he was 18 and had about $7k from summer jobs in it. He applied without a cosigner and received a Visa with a $600 limit. He pays it off every month. They’ve since expanded his credit to $2500 but he better not use it. He has a car at college so he mostly buys gas with it. Bank of America has pretty good plans for students.
Exactly…just didn’t do it for my first which caused a problem.
I think having that banking relationship for the student, no matter what place you choose, makes it easier to get approval on that first card. Having a lower credit limit isn’t necessarily a bad thing to start. Good to be prudent. 
My daughter got a debit card in HS to go with her Bank of America free student account. Midway through college she got her own credit card also. She applied at a BofA branch with the bank rep filling in the application (we had tried a few online applications and they rejected her). At the time my daugher was a full-time student with no job. They somehow included parent support in the application (don’t know specifics) and she ended up with about a $600 credit limit - fine for that time. My daughter has since graduated, gotten a full time job, now has a credit score in the 700’s, a higher credit limit and a discover card also.
Our D’s $3500 credit limit has never been needed. She generally doesn’t have more than a few hundred charged in any statement, but I’m glad her limit is as high as it is, so she could buy a plane ticket or get her car repaired as needed. I don’t see any great need for her to have a higher limit, especially since she doesn’t have a full-time job yet. I have no idea what S’s credit limits are, but suspect they are extremely high as his income is high and he has no debt and has perfect credit, as he always pays everything in full and on time and never uses a fraction of the credit he has available.
Both of my kids got credit cards from our credit union when they graduated from high school (I wanted them to have cards in college). We had no problem. My D got it just by showing employment and my S got a secured one until he had a job.