credit card for college kid?

[luvmyfam444]

which do you recommend? mainly used to build credit....I see Apple has one - anyone have that?

 

[tvguy]

My kids started with a special College Financial Account with Wells Fargo. It included Savings Account, Checking Account and Visa card. However, credit can be hard to build. My daughter had a flawless payment record after 9 years, but she tended to pay cash for everything, or pay off her credit card each month. She couldn't qualify for a mortgage due to that. So she had a finance a car........a car she could have paid cash for......at a higher than the lowest rate and keep that loan for 8 months before paying it off to "establish" the credit history. Then she was able to get a mortgage, and at the lowest rate.

 

[Buzz Rules]

which do you recommend? mainly used to build credit....I see Apple has one - anyone have that?

You can check with your local bank.

 

[MillauFr]

I had my daughter open a Fidelity account and she was approved for a Fidelity Visa. 2% cash back. Works great as you don't have to open / close bank accounts when you move cities.

 

[tvguy]

I had my daughter open a Fidelity account and she was approved for a Fidelity Visa. 2% cash back. Works great as you don't have to open / close bank accounts when you move cities.

That's what I liked about the Wells Fargo program. My daughter went to College for a year in the UK and her accounts were all accessible there and all across Europe during her school break trips.

 

[kymom99]

My son has a 5/3 MC. It has no fees for international transactions which is why we got it.

 

[QueenIsabella]

My only issue with Wells Fargo--might not be an issue for everyone--is that the account is in the child's name alone. There's no way for the parent to monitor it. When my oldest started college, we went with TD Bank, which was where we did our regular banking, and it was a joint card. She's now 27, and it's still a joint card (that she only uses for airplane tickets home or other, approved expenses). She had no problem getting a separate card on her own after she graduated.

For DD19, she has a Wells Fargo with a low limit on her own. She uses the ap to track purchases, and she pays it off right away. I also added her as a user on my Target card--she uses that one more, and it has a much higher limit in case of emergencies. She always lets me know when she uses the Target card (which is actually a Mastercard).

 

[Pea-n-Me]

My daughter is wishing she got a Southwest card now, lol. But back when she got her [own] credit card, she went with our regular bank where she had accounts already. They started her off with a $500 limit and told her to go ahead and use it for everyday things in a significant amount monthly, but make sure to pay it off every month and to pay it on time in order to build her credit, which she did. When she later asked for an increase they at first said it would take a few days to process, but then saw she was a nurse and it went through within a few minutes. Her credit score is great now and she’s saving to buy a home. DS did the same thing. DD’s boyfriend won’t get one, I’m not sure why.

 

[ICF]

find a no fee CC that earns some sort of rewards

 

[luvmyfam444]

My kids started with a special College Financial Account with Wells Fargo. It included Savings Account, Checking Account and Visa card. However, credit can be hard to build. My daughter had a flawless payment record after 9 years, but she tended to pay cash for everything, or pay off her credit card each month. She couldn't qualify for a mortgage due to that. So she had a finance a car........a car she could have paid cash for......at a higher than the lowest rate and keep that loan for 8 months before paying it off to "establish" the credit history. Then she was able to get a mortgage, and at the lowest rate.

well that's frustrating!

 

[luvmyfam444]

yeah she needs to open one in her college town - she has one here & just uses Apply Pay or Venmo for everything

 

[Nolcrest]

Back when our daughter was in college we just added her as an authorized user on one of ours. She had her own card and own number however we could see the transactions and it built up her credit for when she applied for credit on her own. Luckily for us, she rarely used it and always told us when she was going too.

 

[tvguy]

My only issue with Wells Fargo--might not be an issue for everyone--is that the account is in the child's name alone. There's no way for the parent to monitor it. When my oldest started college, we went with TD Bank, which was where we did our regular banking, and it was a joint card. She's now 27, and it's still a joint card (that she only uses for airplane tickets home or other, approved expenses). She had no problem getting a separate card on her own after she graduated.

For DD19, she has a Wells Fargo with a low limit on her own. She uses the ap to track purchases, and she pays it off right away. I also added her as a user on my Target card--she uses that one more, and it has a much higher limit in case of emergencies. She always lets me know when she uses the Target card (which is actually a Mastercard).

My wife and I both had access to our daughter's accounts. That was a huge help especially when she in the U.K. That's a standard part of the Wells Fargo College Account program.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

My college kid got a Discover card. He applied for several types, but Discover was the only one that would accept him. Now that he's had it for a few years, graduated and has been working, he's going to apply for a Visa or Mastercard with cash back or some type of rewards.

 

[barkley]

yeah she needs to open one in her college town

closest town(s) to me are both college towns. i've banked at a variety of institutions but the ones that seem to work best for the students and their out of area parents are the credit unions that have a local (in college town) brick and mortar location. most belong to national associations with other financial institutions so parents out of area can easily make deposits/pay credit card bills/help with issues from a local to the parent location. no fee for accounts/no fee credit card/many discounts and perks to businesses local to the college that make it advantageous to the students.

 

[Southernmiss]

Our kids had credit union accounts with a shared branch in their college towns.

With electronic banking and venmo and PayPal and other means, they never stepped into the branch.

They each applied for credit cards themselves and manage their own financial affairs without us.

Way before college we instilled money management basics in them.

Their credit union savings/checking statements still come to the house. Once in a while I look at the statements just to be sure they're not broke.

They're all doing fine.


Our 2nd oldest just got his first professional job, so we're now helping him through understanding 401k, retirement savings and balancing those with today's needs/wants, budgets, savings and paying down student loans and understanding health insurance plans.

 

[slo]

Back when our daughter was in college we just added her as an authorized user on one of ours. She had her own card and own number however we could see the transactions and it built up her credit for when she applied for credit on her own. Luckily for us, she rarely used it and always told us when she was going too.

This is exactly what we did.
My DD18 is leaving for her first semester next month and she’ll use our CC for gas and emergencies. For every day spending I’m depositing cash in her checking account every 2 weeks and she’ll need to budget accordingly. She’s not a big money spender on frivolous items, so I’m not worried about her running out of money.

 

[luvsvacation]

My kids both applied for and got their own credit cards at 18. DD went through our nationwide bank that we and she have all of our accounts through. DS wanted a cool Apple Card so he got one of those. He had gotten a CC through our bank at 16 with me on it also so by 18 he had built up a bit of credit to get his own Apple Card.

They are 20 and almost 19 now and also both have car payments in their own names, DH is a secondary on the car loans as they couldn’t make the purchases at 18 & 19 without having a secondary. They both make their car payments and pay off their credit cards every month on their own (I think they have it set up as autopay so they don’t have to remember).

 

[cvjw]

My only issue with Wells Fargo--might not be an issue for everyone--is that the account is in the child's name alone. There's no way for the parent to monitor it. When my oldest started college, we went with TD Bank, which was where we did our regular banking, and it was a joint card. She's now 27, and it's still a joint card (that she only uses for airplane tickets home or other, approved expenses). She had no problem getting a separate card on her own after she graduated.

For DD19, she has a Wells Fargo with a low limit on her own. She uses the ap to track purchases, and she pays it off right away. I also added her as a user on my Target card--she uses that one more, and it has a much higher limit in case of emergencies. She always lets me know when she uses the Target card (which is actually a Mastercard).

Both my boys started out with Wells Fargo. The checking account, savings account and credit card. They could get them at age 18. I was listed on all of their accounts, not sure why you weren’t.

We also had them as authorized users on our chase visa from age 16 - when they started driving.

Older son purchased a house and a car in 2020 at 2% interest for both - his credit was so good from being on our card and paying off his Wells Fargo card each month.

When younger son applied for his Wells Fargo credit card when he turned 18, his credit score was over 800 just from being an authorized user on our chase card.

Boys are now 26 and almost 23 and still use their Wells Fargo accounts.

 

[QueenIsabella]

Both my boys started out with Wells Fargo. The checking account, savings account and credit card. They could get them at age 18. I was listed on all of their accounts, not sure why you weren’t.

We also had them as authorized users on our chase visa from age 16 - when they started driving.

Older son purchased a house and a car in 2020 at 2% interest for both - his credit was so good from being on our card and paying off his Wells Fargo card each month.

When younger son applied for his Wells Fargo credit card when he turned 18, his credit score was over 800 just from being an authorized user on our chase card.

Boys are now 26 and almost 23 and still use their Wells Fargo accounts.

I don't know, that's just what they told me when she applied. The statements come in her name only. I CAN view DS16's checking at the ATM, and his savings (no credit card for him, yet!) It's not a huge deal--she goes to college locally, and while she lives on campus, stops by 3-4 times a week during the school year. Plus, she's very open/chatty about everything (this actually drives me nuts, but I do try to make sure her finances are on track). The Target card, the statements come to me.