Posts tagged: information_credit

Credit Unions That Offer Visa Credit Cards to Students

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First of all you should probably understand what a credit union is. Credit unions are what is known as a ‘co-op’ or cooperative. What does that mean? A cooperative is a business or organization owned by its members, as opposed to being owned by an individual or corporation. The single biggest difference between credit unions and banks is that banks are run for profit.

Other than being a non-profit entity, credit unions run pretty much the same way as banks. They offer checking and savings accounts, investments, mortgages and other types of debt tools -including credit cards.

Lots of people seem to prefer dealing with credit unions as opposed to banks, and a lot of students are looking to get credit cards from credit unions. The question is whether they can find any. The answer is, of course, yes.

Before I get into what credit cards a student could get through a credit union, let me explain a little about why people would rather belong to a credit union than a bank.

Credit Unions are dedicated to a philosophy of service to the members. Over 60 years ago the philosophy was outlined in the ‘Seven Cooperative Principles of Credit Unions’. Here they are:

  1. Voluntary Membership. Any person willing to accept the responsibilities of membership can become a member.
  2. Democratic Member Control. One member, one vote. Credit unions are owned and controlled by the membership.
  3. Members’ Economic Participation. Members make the decisions about the financial choices of the institution.
  4. Autonomy and Independence. Membership makes decisions about decisions that affect the co-op as a whole.
  5. Education Training and Information. Credit Unions want their membership to be well informed about what it means to be a member.
  6. Cooperation Among Cooperatives. Credit Unions seek to work in unison with other cooperatives, especially other credit unions.
  7. Concern for Community. Credit Unions were formed for the benefit and strengthening of communities in their financial lives.

Basically, credit unions are by the people and for the people. Seeing these seven governing principles you realize why credit unions are able to charge lower fees and interest rates on all their financial tools – they’re established and maintained by the people paying those fees and interest rates.

Here are a few examples of Credit Unions Offering Student Credit Cards:

  • The Student Credit Union Alternatives Visa Credit Card.
  • Fort Belvoir Federal Credit Union Student Visa Credit Card.
  • University of Wisconsin Student Visa Credit Card.
  • State Employees Credit Union (Maryland) Student Visa Credit Card.
  • Missouri Student Federal Credit Union Student Visa Credit Card.

There are a lot of government organizations and most universities will have a credit union. Any one of them should be able to help you get the student credit card that will get you on track to building credit history and raising your credit score.