Young adult first credit card

[nicolita3]

When I was buying a house and wanted to improve my credit my mom added me as an authorized user. I didn't even want the cards so she kept them and her cards showed on my credit score and made my score jump way up.

 

[JimMIA]

I had DD19 as an authorized user for a couple of years in HS, but in her senior year we opened up a checking account and credit card with Fidelity Investments. She pays nothing for the credit card, nothing for the checking account and no charge for either checks or electronic payments, and she gets 2% cash back on everything. I think they gave her a $5,000 credit line to start, which is ample.

Neither of us even know what her interest rate would be, because it's irrelevant to her. She pays it off in full each month. I think the experience of having the card for a year prior to college was very helpful, because it was one less thing to learn in college. In an average month at college, she spends about $700 and she does NOT use automatic pay. She reviews her credit card statement each month to be sure all charges are legit and pays it herself.

She doesn't work per se, but when she's home (all summer, YAY!) she does some figure skating coaching and all that money gets deposited to her checking account. During the school year, we make necessary deposits.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I'm not sure what you mean by it didn't count, and I don't know if being an AU will always mean you're approved for a CC right away. However, the child's credit history should be established on the date that CC was opened. If you opened a CC in 2010, added him in 2015 as an AU, that CC should still show up on his credit report as having been established in 2010. Was it a card that was used frequently? If it was a card that wasn't used much, there wouldn't have been that much to report to the credit bureaus in terms of on-time payments, etc.

DH has had the card for quite a while, and added DS when he went off to school (2019). - The bill still comes to DH, though. It's not DH's primary card, but he uses it occasionally, and DS quite a bit for small things. It is always paid right off.

The person DH talked to about getting DS his own said he needed something in his own name. - I definitely think we're applying through the wrong company!

 

[AuntieMe3]

DH has had the card for quite a while, and added DS when he went off to school (2019). - The bill still comes to DH, though. It's not DH's primary card, but he uses it occasionally, and DS quite a bit for small things. It is always paid right off.

The person DH talked to about getting DS his own said he needed something in his own name. - I definitely think we're applying through the wrong company!

Does he have his own bank account? DD stated getting offers from her bank about 6 months after she opened her own account. She got a better offer/card(reward) then I did when I got my own credit card through our bank. LoL Now she has even better credit than her dad and I.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Does he have his own bank account? DD stated getting offers from her bank about 6 months after she opened her own account. She got a better offer/card(reward) then I did when I got my own credit card through our bank. LoL Now she has even better credit than her dad and I.

Yes, he has more than one (two I am on, because they were established when he was a child, and another just in his name.) I think maybe DH just jumped the gun trying to get DS to apply before he had worked long enough.

 

[Travel60]

First credit card is a good time to teach that you DON'T carry a balance. If you pay off every month it doesn't matter if the interest rate is 50%>