<p>My kids both got a low limit credit card through our bank, where they both have checking accounts and debit cards. DH and I both wanted them to have one when they were away at school. You never know if they’ll need emergency access to $$$ to buy a plane ticket, to pay for unexpected car repairs, or for some medical services not covered by insurance out of your service area. Better to have access to $1,000 without worrying about it. Neither one has ever abused their card use.</p>
<p>I would check with your bank to see if they offer such a card. Wells Fargo is our bank, and they offer a college student package of some sort that includes the credit card.</p>
<p>ETA: We thought it was a good idea for them to arrive at their schools with the cards already in their pocket and avoid any of the promotional cards being offered on campus that may have had higher interest rates, lower limits, etc. I have see a lot of those, “Sign up for this card and get a free stadium blanket” promotions to know that they’re often not worth it.</p>
<p>My kids both got credit cards and debit cards. The credit card is useful for ordering things (like books and airplane tickets) online. </p>
<p>When traveling, I use both credit cards and debit cards. I use my debit card to get money from ATM machines and pay hotel bills and local travel expenses with my credit card.</p>
<p>Oaklandmom, yes, my kids have used the debit cards in Europe; just be sure to let your bank know it will be used overseas. And since it is immediately linked to your bank balance, make sure there is enough in the account to cover purchases. I think I floated my kids a loan by placing $ in their accounts for emergencies and transferred it back when they arrived home.</p>
<p>Marite, the debit can be used online as well.</p>
<p>Oaklandmom, our D is studying abroad in Sweden this semester and has traveled to other countries in Europe as well. She has used both her debit and her credit cards with no problem. As mominva indicated, the key is making sure you talk to the bank/credit card company beforehand so they are aware of the travel plans and card usage there. Online banking and making payments on both cards is very easy.</p>
<p>wow these are all really great inputs :))
my initial reaction to this credit card for college freshmen stuff was that it wasnt really neccessary, but after reading all this, it does seem to be quite a good idea, and the building of credit/responsibility is just a great bonus too</p>
<p>we’re leaning towards amex and thats probably what we’re gonna get</p>
<p>My son was a freshman across the country and did not have a credit card his freshman year. He had a debit card and a checking account. We later added a BofA credit card. I like the BofA because it is tied to your other BofA accounts. He has a low limit card and pays online immediately. Charge something to the credit card, go home and transfer the funds from the checking account to pay off the card every time.</p>
<p>I got my D her own credit card on my account for emergencies. She also has her own debit card tied to her own bank account, which is what she uses for all purchases, except things we pay for (like plane tickets). She uses the credit card for that. It’s a huge relief to me that she has it because she has been doing a lot of traveling.</p>
<p>My D got a BofA credit card as part of her B of A Student account package. It didn’t have a large amount of credit attached at first ($500 perhaps), but worked its way up to $1500 limit. She charged a few things on it every month and paid off the bill every month.</p>
<p>She is now 1 year out of college and has been working. Her credit rating is pretty high and that will come in handy when she goes out and gets a car loan.</p>
<p>I didn’t qualify for an American Express card due to my nonexistent credit history. I ended up with a Capital One student card with a $300 limit, 0% interest for the first six months, and outrageously high interest thereafter. I mainly use it to avoid overdrafts on my checking account and to cover necessary purchases when I’m waiting for a paycheck (e.g. textbooks at the beginning of the term). I’m still in the six-month intro period and don’t have to worry about interest yet, but I use $100-200 of each paycheck to get the balance down and keep enough money in savings to pay off the card before it starts accruing interest. After that I hope I’ll qualify for something with a higher limit and an interest rate below 20%. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Edited to add that my score is apparently 655, which isn’t fantastic, but I’ve only had the card for three and a half months. I expect it’ll improve with time.</p>
<p>Liz Lemon,
I hope I am reading your post wrong and you are not carrying a balance on the card. Please do NOT get into credit card debt at your young age. You should pay the balance in full every month. If you don’t have enough money to pay the balance in full you shouldn’t buy whatever it is you bought with the card.
Don’t let the credit card company suck you in with a low interest for the first six months. Get the balance to zero right away and keep it there.</p>
<p>I have a $300 limit on the card; it’s a totally insignificant amount of money. More importantly, I have over $300 in a high-yield savings account. I could pay the bill in its entirety at any time, but I choose to leave the money in savings where it is earning some sort of interest for as long as I have a 0% interest rate on the card. I will pay the credit card bill in full before the introductory period expires and do not plan to carry a balance thereafter.</p>
<p>Edited to add that I am very careful not to let the amount I have in savings fall below my credit limit, as I’m terrified of credit card debt (or any consumer debt, really) and don’t want to end up with any.</p>
<p>In addition, you do build more credit when you hold a balance… </p>
<p>What I ended up doing was getting a BoA credit card summer before college, had a limit of $1000 and I used it for all of my purchases and always paid it off before the end of the month. I applied for the Amex Blue (not Student) about 12 months later and got approved… been using that ever since. Didn’t have the parents cosign for anything… not like they would anyway As long as you use whatever initial credit card you get and use it often enough (just on any purchases you would normally have taken) and pay it off on time you should build up enough credit quickly to get a decent credit card… most companies like to get customers hooked while they’re young anyhow. But yea, avoid the debt… it may seem easy to think “well I can pay it off with next month’s check” but that just isn’t a responsible way to live especially if you’re spending money on non-essentials.</p>
<p>if anyones interested, im most likely going to apply for the citi mtvu platinum card, seems pretty reknowned for being a good student credit card, so yeah.</p>
<p>If your student is going to be studying out of the country, make sure that there is someone else on the card in case there is a problem. My daughter had a credit card with a credit union. I was also on the account. I never looked at the bill or anything. I didn’t care what she purchased, as long as she paid for it. She did everything on line.</p>
<p>One day I received a call from the credit card department asking if she was in the Philippines. Of course she wasn’t, so they had to cancel the card. They sent the replacement to me, and I sent it off to her in France. They would have had a much harder time reaching her overseas than me.</p>
<p>I signed into my Capital One account today to find that my credit limit had arbitrarily increased from $300 to $750. I think I’m going to pretend that didn’t happen. I’m guessing that’s a sign my credit score is improving, though?</p>
<p>IMO, there are problems with debit cards that don’t occur with credit cards. I’ll try to summarize.</p>
<ol>
<li>You will want an ATM card that you can use for your own bank without fees. It will likely be a debit card as well, but I recommend you never use it as a debit card (see below).</li>
<li>Do not use the ATM card at other locations where you will be charged a fee. Learn to plan well enough to get cash free at your own ATM and not need to get it at some other ATM.</li>
<li>You <em>should</em> care about fees for whichever credit card you choose. Shop around.</li>
<li>You should NOT care about rates. Why? You should always pay your credit card off in full every month and never pay interest. In 40± years of having credit cards, I have never paid interest. I have no idea what the interest rates are on my cards and don’t care.</li>
<li>(corollary to #4) You should use your credit card on things that you need or want for which you have the money in your bank account. You should NOT use it for things you want but cannot currently afford. You will build good credit this way and you will NOT build debt.</li>
</ol>
<p>NOW TO THE PROBLEMS WITH DEBIT CARDS:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>With a credit card, if you are over your limit, your attempt to make a purchase will be denied. With a debit card, it will not. So you will pay interest on the amount you have now “borrowed” (the amount over the cash balance in your bank account) AND you will pay a penalty fee (sometimes hefty; I have heard of fees of $39) for EACH time you go over your balance. You can search this board to see instances of students who unwitting went over their balance 3 or 4 times in one trip to the mall: $39 * 4 - cha ching!!</p></li>
<li><p>With a credit card, if you are a victim of fraud, your losses are limited to $50… the bank eats any further losses… so long as you report the problem to the bank within 60 days.
With a debit card, if you are a victim of fraud, your losses can go as high as $500 or more and are limited ONLY if you notify the bank within 48 hours!! Often you would not even be aware of the fraud within 48 hours.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>My S used to use his debit card for almost everything. Then a major supermarket chain in our area suffered massive hacking into their checkout processing machines. Although we were not affected, thousands of people who had used credit cards were fine. Thousands who had used debit cards suffered $$ losses and huge inconvenience. It was a learning process for our entire metro area.</p>
</p>
As long as you use whatever initial credit card you get and use it often enough (just on any purchases you would normally have taken) and pay it off on time you should build up enough credit quickly to get a decent credit card… most companies like to get customers hooked while they’re young anyhow. But yea, avoid the debt… it may seem easy to think “well I can pay it off with next month’s check” but that just isn’t a responsible way to live especially if you’re spending money on non-essentials.</p>