D got her own Capital One Journey card her freshman year. She uses it for all her travel expenses (she travels alot during breaks and over the summer) and her gas. She pays it in full every month. After 6 months they offered her an increase which she took. I think her credit limit is now $2500 which is plenty. We are now trying to decide which card would be a good second one, one that will give some type of travel benefits as she’ll be moving to the west coast and will most likely be traveling coast to coast 3-4 times each year. I think a Southwest card would be good, I use two of them all the time and fly free usually when I vacation but we are just now looking to see what is best. She also has a debit card.
I just added DD as an authorized user. She’s 16 (skipped a grade) so since the bank will put it on her credit report I’ll let her benefit from my credit rating before she applies for her own card when she turns 18 and has a summer of work under her belt.
Each kid was giving a card on our account(s) when they started driving.
Adult son still has two cards - one being a true chip and pin for international travel and the other - simply because there is no extra charge to keep him on the account.
Adult and married daughter recently chose to pay a $75 free to be added to our Chase Sapphire Reserve card. Now when she travels she can us Priority Pass lounges.
Never had a problem with either kiddle misusing the cards.
Hello ALL:
OP here…thanks for the informative replies…
Based on feedback, will look to get our D her own CC and/or have her added to one of our CC accounts (for emergency purposes only). D is very responsible, but I understand the issue of CC fraud/lost/stolen, etc.
Some CCard companies issue each authorized user their own card #, so if a card is lost/stolen/used fraudulently, the others using their own numbers can continue to use their own numbers while the person having the problem is re-issued a new card. That can be the best of both worlds and the person can have a lower limit on their card.
We got our oldest a card on our acct the summer before he left for college. I made sure it was one that reported authorized users to the credit bureaus. He was told to put everthing on it. Didn’t want him using his debit card. At the end of the billing cycle Hubby would send son an Email telling him what he owed and he would mail us a physical check to pay his part. (we paid if it was school related or extra groceries but he had to pay extra eating out and activities) He was never late with his payment. I wanted him to get use to paying a bill. After his 2nd year he had a pretty good paying internship for the summer and he used that income on application for his own card. He still puts all his expenses on his creit card and pays it in full every month on his own. The Mom in me was still asking him every month if he was paying on time. He told me to stop asking - said his reminder is set 10 days before his due date and he pays then. It all worked out.
When DS went to college in Boston, we got a Jet Blue credit card. It was a family account, 4 cards. Mostly we just used it for DS’s flights and a few items that we pre-approved for kid purchase. Imagine my surprise when DD (older) graduated from college and had a great credit score from it… not having paid a dime of the bill herself. It was a good thing, just not planned that way.
Had a recent chuckle with S about this topic. We gave S two cards when he started college. He was considered an authorized user. He never abused the privilege. As we have high credit scores, S was able to piggyback onto our scores (ie he also has our high scores). Although we no longer give him the cards when we get new ones, he’s still listed as an authorized user on these cards and our spending limits still show up as part of his credit report. S told us that he/DIL are going to buy house soon. I kiddingly said hopefully we’ll continue to pay our bills in a timely manner and keep our good credit score. He kiddingly (I think) told me that if we were expecting help in a nicer nursing home in years ahead, we need to make sure we keep up our scores. In fact he said if you have a problem paying bills while he/DIL are house hunting, I should let him know, he’ll pay them.
Are we the only folks here who made the kids earn their own credit scores? 
^
In giving S cards, only intent was to help if problem/emergency arose… wasnt til years later that we learned the effect on S’s credit scores.
We didn’t really plan to give our kids our excellent credit scores, but it eased my mind to know they had a card with a credit limit that could pay for any towing charge or airplane ticket if needed.
It happened that naming the kids as authorized users on accounts I opened did give them great credit scores, that they have maintained.
We didn’t plan either for kids to benefit from our credit scores. But I gotta say the result was kindof nice. Happy surprise - we did not have to cosign for DD’s first post-graduation apartment, even though in college her preference had been to use only debit card.
We too had no idea our kids would benefit from being authorized users on our credit cards. Nice side benefit but wasn’t necessary. Interesting how some are saying their good credit didn’t transfer to their kids and others (like me) found it did.
Our kids received credit cards when they began to drive. Capital One is our “family card” because each of us has one with a distinct number so (1) the bill lists charges separately and (2) if anyone loses theirs, only their number is shut down. Even though our kids are adults and independent at this point, there are still times the ‘family card’ is helpful although, now that we all have venmo, not as critical.
We also have several cards and would never travel with only one card. We have been traveling and there’s been fraud and our card was deactivated. Very happy to have had that second card for the remainder of the trip.
We never even considered putting our oldest on our credit card. No need. She has her own bank account, and has a debit card/cc associated with it. We are on her bank account so we can transfer money to her if she needed it. I want her to take one of those Discover cc apps that keep showing up here and fill it out and start her own credit. She is a freshman in college right now.
My daughter wasn’t on any of my credit cards and her score wasn’t that great coming out of college (650 or so). During the first 5 months, as she applied for credit, hers went up and down. Now, 6 months later, it is steadily going up and will soon be over 750.
Obviously not a big deal to establish credit and get the score to rise quickly. The only issue is that her first card only had a $500 limit so she was always going over the 30% of balance rule, and that dinged her a few times. After a few months they raised her limit to $1500 and now she’s fine.
These threads are a good place for learning. We had lots of other concerns during the college years, and I actually didn’t think very hard on the need for them to establish credit scores. I recommended a credit card, but when they preferred debit card (to avoid risk of overspending) … I didn’t push.
I told my kids not to use debit card except for taking out cash at atm machine. It is too risky when there is problem with a purchase or if information is stolen.
The “Feds uncover admissions test cheating plot” thread is devolving into another _hole so I’ll post here. DD got her (my) credit card Saturday just in time for her 17th bday while her brothers (also celebrating their sweet 17) got other gifts and side-eyed hers. I told her that she could use the card for emergencies and lunch off campus. No charges on the card this week…She’s the responsible one!
Debit cards have more risks than credit cards. If fraud is discovered you can be out the funds from your bank until the fraud is investigate. Most banks give more coverage than they are required to, but of course can revoke those coverages at any time since they aren’t required by law.
My daughter also uses her debit card for everything, swiping away at Starbucks and Forever 21 and lots of other places. She’s had her card compromised 4 or 5 times, and it involves writing to the bank, getting the charges removed, getting a new card (which can take days), etc. I rarely use my debit card, even at ATMs, and I’ve never had a problem. Same bank.
I am more aware of debit card now than I was 10 years ago. But… the kids were more savvy and strived to keep minimum amounts in checking/debit accounts (transferring from savings as needed).