<p>D1 just started working. She never had a credit card in her name while in school, and recently i told her it was time for her to get her own credit card(and stop using mine). </p>
<p>She got around doing it last week by walking into her bank’s branch, she said it took less than half an hour. I thought I heard it wrong when she told me the credit limit. I asked her if it was 1800, not 18,000. She was very nonchalant about it, she said, “maybe it’s 1800.” she just got her card and it is the higher amount. I told her not to use it. She said, “I won’t, I’ll use yours.”</p>
<p>Where is the credit crunch? I checked her credit report few months ago, she had decent credit score, but didn’t have any much of credit information.</p>
<p>She probably got a high credit limit because she has little to no debt. In a world where millions of people are upside down on their homes, she probably looks like a safer risk.</p>
<p>“She had no credit history. She never had a credit card in her name while in school, and recently i told her it was time for her to get her own credit card(and stop using mine).” </p>
<p>Actually she did have a credit history, if she shared an account with you and had a card with her name on it.
Your good credit rubbed off on her, since her name was listed on your account . And if her new credit card account is with the same CC operation or bank - then that makes her look like even less of a" risk" to them, since they had no prior credit problems when she was using your account.
Same thing happened to DS when he opened his own bank acct and credit card. He was already “golden”.</p>
<p>This could be a great line for one of those “priceless” commercials. I find it fabulous. </p>
<p>PS Oldfort, you see, I CAN say nice things in a diplomatic manner.
PPS I agree about the credit crunch. Although it was a few years ago, I opened an account to deposit scholarship and tuition money, and the bank issued me a debit card and a credit card with a small limit. Within three months, they raised it twice all the way to $16,000. They did, however, lowered it later to a more reasonable $10,000 because I was not using it. Or perhaps, they figured out I was two years away from graduation.</p>
<p>"Are we saying we could pass our good credit score to our kids? "</p>
<p>Not directly, but if her name was on your acct, for a period of years, and no problems ever came up, then the bank is not going to be as “doubtful” of a young persons ability to pay as they might be with someone who has absolutely no record or association with a good credit history whatsoever.</p>
<p>This is essentially what we were told by our Chase banker, when DS opened up his own CC and bank acct there, after being associated with our accts for 4 years.</p>
<p>Xiggi - I may write a recommendation letter to thumper1’s daughter on your behalf. </p>
<p>D1 doesn’t have a lot of asset. I am just amazed a bank would be so easy with their credit. I think D1 is fairly responsible, she will not spend more than what she has, but it could be pretty tempting to a lot of young people.</p>
<p>Yes, you certainly can, if you add your child as an authorized user on the card. Therefore, your good credit score will be passed on to your child.</p>
<p>My understanding is that it can work this way. However, you have to wonder why, when so many people are having financial difficulties, they would just go ahead and give her that big of a credit line from the get go?? I don’t think banks are very bright…</p>
<p>^ :). I get that but that’s a tremendously large credit line for someone with no real credit history and just out of college. My guess is they don’t really review the application, instead rely solely on the credit report, which was really Oldfort’s credit score. I can’t see how that is a good business decision. Theoretically, she could go out tomorrow and run up $18,000 of debt and never pay a penny. How do they know she won’t? That kind of loose credit policy is what got us into the financial mess we are in as a country right now. Rather scary to think the banks are still not paying much attention to what they are doing.</p>
<p>My sophomore son has been getting credit card offers here at the house. Has never held a job in his life. I’m curious now to see how much they are offering him. We usually toss the letters straight in the trash.</p>
<p>If you put your child as an authorized user, then basically your credit score will become your child’s credit score.</p>
<p>How do you think they review credit card applications? They only look at your credit report, score, and nothing else. They wouldn’t know if you are a college dropout or just graduated from college.</p>
<p>If she goes out tomorrow, spends $18,000, and never pays a penny, then her credit score will be in the gutter and might have to go bankrupt. </p>
<p>It is important for young people to establish credit and have a good credit score because a lot of employers check that when they interview you. Employers don’t want employees with bad credit scores because they feel they will think too much about their debt.</p>
<p>I must be the meanest parent on the planet (I’m sure it’s because I was a teacher). My kids had their own VERY low limit credit cards (I think when they started it was $300). I was quite upfront with them that I would NOT bail them out if they overspent in college. So far as I know, they never did.</p>
<p>DD doesn’t have a credit card right now at all. We had a fraud issue with Bank of America. We’ll see if she will be able to get a credit card at all when she gets back from the Peace Corps. If not, she will have to continue to live in a cash economy.</p>
<p>Oldfort, your daughter is an excellent credit risk. She has a good job, and no debt. What could be better for a bank?</p>
<p>The last time I was pulling credit reports for DH and myself, I requested D’s as well, just for the heck of it. I was startled to find that she had one! – dating from the moment that we added her as an authorized signer to our credit card. The advice I’ve always heard is that college students should get their own card so they can establish credit. This way is easier, and apparently just as effective.</p>
<p>oldfort, if you’re uncomfortable with her $18K credit limit (I know I would be), could you suggest that she call and request it be dropped to a more reasonable level? I don’t even know if they do such things.</p>
<p>That wouldn’t be a wise thing to do because one of the components of your credit score is your debt to credit ratio. It is always better to have more credit than less credit, that is of course if you always pay off your balance in full every month.</p>
<p>There’s no problem with a high limit as long as she plans to pay off her card in full each month and doesn’t charge more than she will be able to pay. Sometimes a high limit can be a real advantage if the card has perks like cash back or frequent flyer points – it gives her a lot of flexibility if she has expenses that her employer will reimburse her for. It’s also kind of nice to know that you never have to worry about a card being declined because its’ over limit, which can happen when limits are too low. </p>
<p>I’m not sure if those limits mean much anyway, because the banks can and will reduce them whenever they feel like it. I have excellent credit, never a missed payment, but I had high end limits reduced on cards a couple of years ago when the credit crunch started — I didn’t pay any attention at the time because the limits were way beyond anything I ever use. I think I had a card with a $23k limit and they cut it back to $17K… and it was pretty rare that I charged more than about $600/month to that card. </p>
<p>So as long as your d. knows that everything she charges has to be paid back… it doesn’t really matter how high the limit is over her monthly budget.</p>
<p>I’m sure your D will be responsible, but that 18k might come in handy in a big emergency, in which case you could just help her out.</p>
<p>My D got a credit card at the beginning of college, only 3K. However, upon graduation/job, it went to 12K. She laughed, but she is 1,200 miles away, and in an emergency it could be good.</p>
<p>OT-thumper, are you going to visit D soon? So wish I could be retired.</p>
<p>She should be getting a credit card from her firm if she is going to be doing any traveling or entertaining.</p>
<p>It just occurred to be that this bank could be taking up all of her credit limit. Whenever we apply for a new credit (card, mortgage, car…), they look at our total credit limit on each credit card, not just balance on it. If she has 18K on that card, it may have some impact on her when she wants to apply for another card.</p>
