Ask Terry Questions credit card for college age daughter with no credit history

credit card for college age daughter with no credit history

By Terry Savage on October 17, 2014 | Credit/Debt

How can my college age daughter who really has no credit history…(.she currently works very part time at the university and has just started this school year renting an apartment and paying an electric bill) obtain a credit card?
She applied last school year and was rejected.
Thanks

Terry Says:  Oh, that’s an easy one to answer.  Just go to www.Bankrate.com, and click on “secured cards.”  These are traditional Visa and MasterCards, but they are secured with a deposit to a savings account.  The amount of the “deposit” is your “line of credit.”  That way the issuing bank has security for someone who has no credit history.  You can use the card at any location that accepts Visa or MC, and withdraw cash.  Tell your daughter to charge moderately, and PAY OFF IN FULL AND ON TIME ever month.  That record of payments will be reported to the credit bureaus.  Then she will be inundated with regular credit card offers.  So be sure to get her started in the right way, and remind her that when a card offer comes with a $5,000 line of credit, it does not mean she should spend that full amount!!

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