Told our college kid to do the research themself - been using nothing but a debit card, understands $10 pizza rolls today would be $15 next month if you carry a balance,etc. but wants to start establishing some credit history. My only 2 requirements - no annual fee and some sort of cash back. Interested to see if she comes up with the ones I found or that TexAgs suggests.

I would say Amex Blue Cash everyday but if they are denied then Discover IT secured credit card and keep spending under 10% and pay it off in full every month to build up their credit

Citi double cash is a good catch all card but I don't know if they approve thin files that much.

Would you be co-signing to help them qualify?

I would probably choose Wells Fargo Active Cash or Chase Freedom. I'm not an expert at all, but they seem well regarded, and they're Visa, so almost universally accepted in contrast to AmEx and Discover.

Probably in the minority but don't think college kids need a credit card.

If you don't teach your kids how credit works the banks will and their lessons will be biased to make them the most money. My first roommate in college graduated with a higher paying degree than me but because he never built up his credit he had to pay huge deposits for his utilities and cell phone and paid a much higher interest rate on his first car loan.

You can save your kids a lot of money by establishing good credit and habits early on. Mistakes in college will cost them a few hundred bucks but mistakes after that could easily be thousands.

I agree the chase freedom is a better card than the ones I suggested, but unless you bank with them it's very unlikely you will get approved with a thin file

If he needs to establish credit, just add him as an authorized user on one of your cards. It will show up on his credit report as if it's his card. That's what I've done with my daughter since she was in high school (now in college). She just uses it for gas or any other expenses that her mom and I have told her we will pay. She uses her debit card for everything else.

there are also some credit cards where you can put an app on your phone that tells you every time the credit card is used.

Wells Fargo has a decent cash back credit card I believe

jtraggie99 said:

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If he needs to establish credit, just add him as an authorized user on one of your cards. It will show up on his credit report as if it's his card. That's what I've done with my daughter since she was in high school (now in college). She just uses it for gas or any other expenses that her mom and I have told her we will pay. She uses her debit card for everything else.

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I do this, except I use my kid's credit card for everything. He is not in possession of it as he has his own debit card.

Big Al 1992 said:

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Told our college kid to do the research themself - been using nothing but a debit card, understands $10 pizza rolls today would be $15 next month if you carry a balance,etc. but wants to start establishing some credit history. My only 2 requirements - no annual fee and some sort of cash back. Interested to see if she comes up with the ones I found or that TexAgs suggests.

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I'd be interested for you to follow-up and let us know how this turned out for you and your daughter.

My son just finished the process in December. He turned 18 in Oct, graduates HS in May. I wanted him to apply for a credit card and earn it on his own record. If all else failed, I would co-sign for a card or extend a card to him off my account.

Started with Wells Fargo. I opened an account for him before age 1. The local branch rep stated that since he's been a client for 18 years he will be approved for a Wells credit card on "status" alone. He applied for their best Wells card, no annual fee, 2% back, etc. and was rejected. He holds a part-time job and earns $800/month. This particular Wells credit card starts at $1,000 credit. Since his income did not meet the minimum monthly credit established for the card he was rejected. He has over six figures on deposit with Wells (in his SS#) and there was no consideration for amount or longevity as a client. ~ Kind of weird I thought, but I don't let that Wells decision sway my opinion about Wells. I am pro-Wells.

Next stop, CapitalOne, check their website out or have your daughter check it out. They have something for everyone. He applied for the Platinum Card, it's no annual fee and I think it may have cash back but not sure. After completing the online application a follow up letter from CapitalOne requesting copies of a lot of personal information and he complied. He succeeded and received a card with a $300 line of credit. He will use it for college, gas, vehicle maintenance, treats, etc.

I'm a firm believer in getting your children credit, on their own, not tied to the parent as a card extension or co-signer. I was the same for my wife in the early 80's when it was not popular for females to have their own credit line, especially if they were married. You never know what is ahead in life and trying to establish credit when there is no previous record is hard to do. Things have changed over the decades. I have relatives and acquaintances that should have never been issued a credit card. I have seen credit card applications flood mailboxes to folks who were in unrecoverable debt. I thought my son's application would be a lay-up considering how I perceived credit cards being handed out to some unworthy folks. It was not as easy of a lay up that I thought it would be.

The cards that request a deposit by the cardholder, basically send them $300 and once you spend down the $300 on the credit card you send them $300 more. I'm not for that type of card, but it's a last resort if you are trying to establish credit at an early age and have zero credit history....better than nothing.

Good luck!

Again, I'd be interested to hear from you how this turns out.

IslandAg76 said:

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there are also some credit cards where you can put an app on your phone that tells you every time the credit card is used.

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FYI - All cards I have allow you to set up text messages for spending alert over "x.xx". Just put in $0.00

I went with Chase Freedom for my first card when I was 22. My parents never helped me establish a credit line so I was starting with no history at that point. Chase said they don't usually approve people with no credit history but since I had 5 years of good banking history with them they went ahead and approved me.

If you're willing to co-sign to get her credit history started then you can't go wrong with Chase Freedom.

Farmer @ Johnsongrass, TX said:

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Big Al 1992 said:

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Told our college kid to do the research themself - been using nothing but a debit card, understands $10 pizza rolls today would be $15 next month if you carry a balance,etc. but wants to start establishing some credit history. My only 2 requirements - no annual fee and some sort of cash back. Interested to see if she comes up with the ones I found or that TexAgs suggests.

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I wanted him to apply for a credit card and earn it on his own record. If all else failed, I would co-sign for a card or extend a card to him off my account.

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Just curious, but why does earning it on his own record matter? The reality is that in order to get credit these days, usually, you need a credit history. A student who has never had credit before and no credit history is going to have a harder time getting something. That has nothing to do with their actual worthiness or ability to use a credit card responsibly. You're simply trying to help them establish an initial credit history so they can get credit accounts on their own in the future, be it a credit card, car loan, or whatever.

Why does it matter via their own record? It means more to any self-respecting individual that they accomplish something on their own versus having it handed to them and this goes well beyond obtaining a credit card.

My son did not have a previous credit history and succeeded in obtaining a credit card through his own efforts. He knows what it took to achieve this goal and he could have easily given up after the Wells event. He understands that his current assets/longevity had no impact on Well's decision - as it was based on income/month versus credit limit/per month. A very easy numbers exercise, basic and good logic/reasoning for the decision rendered. To me, his desire to try again and apply elsewhere is a more satisfying result than obtaining the card. "You've been rejected" was not an acceptable answer to him.

As to worthiness, or ability, to use a credit card responsibly, that training comes well before completing a credit card application - start that process as early as possible in their young life. If the person (child or adult) never has to work, earn, save, and make the determination if a purchase is worth their money, it will be much more difficult for that person to exert control over pulling out a credit card in the future because "they want". The consequences from that lack of early training can potentially be financially devastating later in life.

Farmer @ Johnsongrass, TX said:

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Why does it matter via their own record? It means more to any self-respecting individual that they accomplish something on their own versus having it handed to them and this goes well beyond obtaining a credit card.

My son did not have a previous credit history and succeeded in obtaining a credit card through his own efforts. He knows what it took to achieve this goal and he could have easily given up after the Wells event. He understands that his current assets/longevity had no impact on Well's decision - as it was based on income/month versus credit limit/per month. A very easy numbers exercise, basic and good logic/reasoning for the decision rendered. To me, his desire to try again and apply elsewhere is a more satisfying result than obtaining the card. "You've been rejected" was not an acceptable answer to him.

As to worthiness, or ability, to use a credit card responsibly, that training comes well before completing a credit card application - start that process as early as possible in their young life. If the person (child or adult) never has to work, earn, save, and make the determination if a purchase is worth their money, it will be much more difficult for that person to exert control over pulling out a credit card in the future because "they want". The consequences from that lack of early training can potentially be financially devastating later in life.

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Differing perspective I guess. I just don't see a young person getting a credit card as any type of milestone or accomplishment or a "yay, good for you, you finally did it and all on your own!" moment. Credit is simply a tool that we use often in life. A young person without credit is simply a young person without credit. Helping your child establish credit is not "having it handed to them", in my opinion. It's just helping them get started using the tools we do in life. That's all. Just my thoughts

When I was a freshman back in 2000, I recalled hearing a conversation between two friends near the mailboxes at Commons.

Long story short, the kid racked up a several thousand dollar bill with his new CCs. TV, DVD player (yeah I'm showing my age), dates with women to impress them, a nice vacation, etc. The friend asked how he was going to pay for the bill, and the simple answer was "my dad will cover for me".

This kid was spoiled, uneducated and more of an extreme case. Every 18 year old should have a mandatory personal finance class before they are allowed to do things.

Carlo4 said:

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When I was a freshman back in 2000, I recalled hearing a conversation between two friends near the mailboxes at Commons.

Long story short, the kid racked up a several thousand dollar bill with his new CCs. TV, DVD player (yeah I'm showing my age), dates with women to impress them, a nice vacation, etc. The friend asked how he was going to pay for the bill, and the simple answer was "my dad will cover for me".

This kid was spoiled, uneducated and more of an extreme case. Every 18 year old should have a mandatory personal finance class before they are allowed to do things.

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I don't know about other schools, but my daughter graduated from Plano West. They offered an elective class in personal finance. We made her take it. It's one thing to hear something from your parents regularly. It's another to have to study it and take tests over it. She's never been a big spender though. She's had part time jobs since she started driving and it came to my attention last fall that she had close to 10k in savings, just from part-time work and anything she received as gifts. I'm pretty proud of the mindset she's developed.

Man, personal finance classes at West? Things sure have changed since the BMW and Mercedes days when I was there

TAMU has a Money Education Center which offers advising, free online scheduled presentations, even a 3 hour credit course (AGLS 235) on personal finance.

https://money.tamu.edu/

Fidelity credit card is hard to beat, you earn 2% cash back on everything and it's deposited into your brokerage account. Transfer the rewards once a year into a Roth IRA index fund and go earn 8% tax free for the next 40 years.

https://www.fidelity.com/cash-management/fidelity-visa-signature-card?imm_pid=700000001009123&immid=100779&imm_eid=ep50445829766&gclid=Cj0KCQiAuP-OBhDqARIsAD4XHpdr8rTHfn0KUPsOHW6XZg5VBiTQq5vvBDFBmcra6a2mRnIZxWqVWZ4aAglrEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds&version=v2&s_tnt=144972:1:0