best credit card for college student

[lurkernj]

DS is going to be a college freshman next week. We added him to my southwest visa last year so he'd have it for emergencies and gas and he has been very responsible with it. Sometimes he uses it for personal things, but he pays me back. I hardly ever use this card unless traveling, so it's mostly just his stuff.

He also has a debit card which is his alone, but I don't encourage him to use the debit card except to get money out of the atm. I've had at least 5 occasions where my credit cards have had fraud on them and I don't want to risk his money in the bank being accessed.

Eventually we'll look into getting him his own card, but for now we pay for a lot of his expenses and it's just easier for me to see the bill and pay it.

 

[Happyjen27]

Time to let that birdie fly on her own.

I had my own CC in college, no cosigner required. No bailing out either, just good common sense and responsibility.

Discover isn't great for international travel, stick with visa.

 

[Theaberdeenkid]

Just my 2cents. How about BlueBird by Amex. It's prepaid and will keep your bustling student from charging himself into debt. Well at least not government approved debt like student loans.

 

[SpaceGirl]

Time to let that birdie fly on her own.

I had my own CC in college, no cosigner required. No bailing out either, just good common sense and responsibility.

Discover isn't great for international travel, stick with visa.

The Credit Card Companies got so out of control on Campus giving young college students credit cards with offers of free gifts and outrageous interest rates that the government passed new laws in 2009 the Credit CARD Act of 2009 makes it hard for anyone under 21 to get a credit card.

This is the reason that parents are so interested in assisting their young (soon to be adult) children finding the best cards, rates and cards with best options for them. They want to make sure their children have more information then we did just starting out.

 

[barbmouse]

The Credit Card Companies got so out of control on Campus giving young college students credit cards with offers of free gifts and outrageous interest rates that the government passed new laws in 2009 the Credit CARD Act of 2009 makes it hard for anyone under 21 to get a credit card.

This is the reason that parents are so interested in assisting their young (soon to be adult) children finding the best cards, rates and cards with best options for them. They want to make sure their children have more information then we did just starting out.

This is why I was asking for advice! I have checked with our Credit union and bank where my dd also has accounts and we will need to sign since she is not 21.
Thanks!

 

[SpaceGirl]

This is why I was asking for advice! I have checked with our Credit union and bank where my dd also has accounts and we will need to sign since she is not 21.
Thanks!

I know this can be overwhelming you want to help without being over protective, you want her to have a card for emergences yet you worry about her having debt. You need to protect your credit and score while assisting her establishing hers. Building good credit is so important because it effects all aspects of our lives from employers to insurance rates.

 

[ScottOKW2K]

One of the previous posters mentioned the southwest card, which is a Chase card. We have several cards through them and one feature I do enjoy is how quickly the charges show up in the account. I have made purchases, immediately logged into the chase account and saw the pending transaction. I have also had only positive experiences when I have called them.
I am personally not a fan of debit cards. I don't want to take the chance of someone having that direct an access to my money

 

[Happyjen27]

The Credit Card Companies got so out of control on Campus giving young college students credit cards with offers of free gifts and outrageous interest rates that the government passed new laws in 2009 the Credit CARD Act of 2009 makes it hard for anyone under 21 to get a credit card.

This is the reason that parents are so interested in assisting their young (soon to be adult) children finding the best cards, rates and cards with best options for them. They want to make sure their children have more information then we did just starting out.

Thanks for this info, I had no idea.

Horrid, actually, that a person that age can decide to protect us and potentially lay their life down for our great country and enlist, but they can't be trusted to fill up their gas tank with a credit card.

Although, admittedly I'm not sure if 19 year olds need a parent's sign off for enlisting. Do they?

By 19 my parents had married, bought a house and had their first child. I can't imagine how insulting it is to be young in this day and age and be so stunted.

 

[elgerber]

My son has a Citi rewards card that is designed for college students. He got the offer in the mail right after he started community college. He applied, was approved, and has been using the card for two years. It has no fee, and he learned from me, he uses it for everything, gas, fast food, books etc, and has it scheduled to auto-pay the full balance every month, so he pays no interest.

 

[eyor44]

We just added DS to DH's Visa account. He will be across the country from us and we wanted him to have something for emergencies. The rule is emergencies only and must have permission first. Just a way for him to pay for car repairs mainly should he need to.

 

[chanson2]

We did the same as many here, and added DD as a user of our Southwest Visa. For those traveling abroad, we have the Signature card, which has no foreign transaction fees - DD used it in several countries this summer with no problems. It does not have the chip in it that European cards have, but still worked fine. Just be aware smaller venues aren't as credit card friendly so your student should always have some cash on hand!

The Southwest signature card does cost $95 yearly, but they give you 6000 points yearly, which is basically break even, IMO.

 

[georgina]

Same here - sent DS on study abroad with an authorized user card on our SW Visa. US cards without the chip are generally accepted at hotels and restaurants, but will not work in autopay machines at train stations, grocery store, etc in Europe. My other kids have a card on our LL Bean Visa, which I prefer because they all have different account numbers, so if they lose it, the entire account does not need to be cancelled, just their card.

 

[AnneInMN]

I didn't see anyone mention this and I read most of the posts so just thought it might help anyone whose had this happen.

My kid had a rough patch and bounced a few checks and got on ChexSystems, which pretty much got him booted out of his bank account. I won't mention any names, but it was one of the big ones.

Anyhow the bank said he could reapply in about 5 years because that's how long its in their systems. He had one of his friends have the same thing and told him to go to here, 2ndchancebank.com and he got an account that day.

He said it's a fully FDIC insured checking account and came with a Mastercard. It's a debit card though not a credit card, but he can still use it pretty much the same except he can't rent cars with it.