The reason to get a secured credit card is that you can’t get an unsecured one. Plenty of credit card companies will let you check what cards you might be preapproved for. Bear in mind that doing multiple credit applications lowers your credit score, so checking to see what you are preapproved for is helpful. My D1 didn’t get a college credit card, applied for an unsecured card once she had a job, and was turned down. She checked whether she could be preapproved for a Discover card, and they told her that she could only get a secured card — so that’s what she did. The nice thing about Discover is that after 8 months, they review your record; if you have paid on time they convert you to an unsecured card without you having to request a hard credit check. We knew when my D had good enough credit to apply for other cards because offers started arriving in the mail. Putting your kid down as an additional member on a credit card of yours may also help, but not all companies report additional card holders. Chase didn’t; Bank of America did.
When my daughter was still in college, we tried unsuccessfully to get her a credit card on line. We then went to the local BofA branch (she had accounts there) and the banker knew what answers to give to get her approved. Your son may need to go to the bank he uses in person and have them do the application with him so he gets approved.
@CIEE83 Chase reports authorized users. My D is on one of my Chase cards and one of my Citibank cards. Both report on her credit.
I put my kids on my gas card when they were teenagers. I’ve had that card since before they were born.
I charge approximately one gas tank per billing cycle and have it set on auto pay.
That gas card shows up on one kids credit report (I never asked the other but assume that it’s the same). The credit reporting bureau lists that card for the kid and credit history as longer than they’ve been alive.
@itsgettingreal17 The Chase card in question was an Amazon Visa and it most definitely did not make it onto D1’s credit report, not sure what the difference is or whether they have changed their policy, since this happened a few years ago.
@CIEE83 two years ago I did exactly as you described: got my daughter a card on my Chase Amazon Visa card. She had had a Discover card before. Her credit score jumped to match mine almost immediately.
My kids also have credit histories longer than they’ve been alive, since they’ve been gifted my credit history by getting joint CCs with me.
Interesting that credit history can be “inherited” so easily, conferring yet another birth lottery advantage or disadvantage* given by the parent without any action by kid to “deserve” it.
*The disadvantage occurs if the parent fails to pay that joint account on time and runs up a poor history that the kid “inherits”.
I actually had that thought myself. Until pretty recently my kids wouldn’t have benefited from my credit - I have worked hard to rebuild it post-divorce.
The particular card I have in mind adding him to has never been late, though, and is paid off in full always.
I recently discovered there is an entire industry around selling “tradelines”.
What we are doing for our kids, making them authorized users to help their credit, is something credit repair agencies also do. There are companies that match people with long, good credit to the company’s clients who need to improve their credit. The company arranges for their clients to be added as authorized users (clients never get the actual card, is just listed as a user) for a fee, and also pays the people with the good credit cards to do this.
Came across it on some financial blog/boards.
Recently checked my D’s credit report for her bc of a potential social security breach and lo and behold! My Amazon visa was listed on her report. Don’t know how I missed it in the past.
Credit reporting companies often decide that two different people are the same person, so there will be one credit report containing both people’s credit histories.
My daughter’s FICO score typically hovers around 780 or so and mine around 820. We recently went to Europe together and before we went I added a card for her on my travel credit card (no foreign transaction fees), so she could pay for things on our trip. I explicitly told the person on the phone just add her as a signer do not attach this to her credit background. They said, of course, no problem. Well, the following month her credit score shoots up to 820. Since then her rating has been around 800 each month (she has monthly free FICO reporting on her bank account).
Interesting. My credit monitoring service through my bank gives me a TransUnion (“Vantage”) score, not a FICO score. Roughly the same, I’m told, but still.
I put both of my kids on my platinum amex card and they got credit for my card (I’ve had the card before they were born).
@ucbalumnus - my daughter is an authorized user. I checked her credit history years ago and didn’t see the card on there. Maybe it’s not on all 3? Or maybe I don’t read very well!