Posts tagged: student_credit_card

American Express Student Credit Cards

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American Express has some of the best credit card commercials on tv right now. They’re really working the snob angle with all these celebrities talking about how their “card is American Express.” I’m partial to Shawn White’s commercial, being a snowboarder myself.

Some of you might want to join that elite club of American Express card holders. If you’re a college kid now I’d recommend getting started with an American Express student credit card. If you form the relationship with AMEX while you’re young, someday you might work your way into owning a Black Card. We’ll talk about what that is some other time.

Here are some of the benefits of American Express student credit cards:

  1. Online account management: check your statements and pay your bills online.
  2. Account alerts delivered to your inbox: they’ll send you reminders so you’re never late or miss out on special card holder opportunities.
  3. Automatic Bill Pay Program: a great way to build credit history by using your card consistently. Protects you against ever being late with your bills.
  4. Membership Rewards Program: a points system that allows you to buy promotional items. You can also apply points to airline travel. They’ll give you double points through over 100 different online retailers.
  5. Benefits through American Express Travel: when you’re going to travel you can earn double points by booking through American Express Travel.
  6. Insurance against rental car damage and loss: One more reason to beat up on your rental car. They insure it for you!
  7. Purchase Protection Plan: protects items you purchae against damage or theft for a period of time (can be up to three months). American Express will reimburse up to $1000 on an item, up to $50,000 total in a year. This is a pretty amazing benefit.
  8. Fraud Protection: They’ll cover any fraudulent charges on your student credit card, whether you made the purchase online or off.
  9. Buyer’s Assurance Plan: for items you buy with warranties, American Express will cover extend the warranty up to one year on items costing less than $10,000.
  10. American Express Selects: there’s a long list of benefits for cardholders traveling inside and outside the United States. Check out the website for more details.

There’s a price to pay if you’re going to be a member. American Express cards almost always have annual fees, and their interest rates could be called less than competitive. You don’t want to carry a balance on an AMEX.

Other than that, this is a credit card company known for taking care of its card holders. Membership brings a certain status and the VIP treatment. Get in now; you’ll be in good company.

Secured Student Credit Cards

One of the best things that any college student can do is get a credit card. There are a lot of options out there where you can go get credit cards. Some of you might have some difficult history in your past when it comes to credit. That is fine because there are still avenues for you to take a look at. One of the best ways to improve your current credit is to go get a secured student credit card.

Next you want to see what type of interest rates you can get. Usually if you have had a bad past with credit, your interest rate is going to be anywhere from 15% and up to 25%. There could be an initial lower interest rate, but make sure you read all of the terms and conditions of the contract. Be aware that there can be changes very quickly in your contract with the interest rate. It can take them only a 15 day notice before they make a change in the APR and bump it up.

Prepaid Student Credit Cards

When you get a secured credit card, you need to decide what type of credit limit you are looking to get. It usually isn’t more than a couple thousand dollars as a possibility, but more than likely a few hundred dollars. Usually the deposit will be about the same as the credit limit, but it could be less or more depending on the credit card company. It might be 50% of the credit limit or it could be up to 150%. You should search around to find a secured credit card that will allow for a smaller deposit.

With these cards, you can build a lot of credit during your younger years. You need to make some improvements to your credit and getting a secured credit card can be a great way to get you back into good graces with credit bureaus. Also with the deposit you might find yourself taking more notice and responsibility for your credit then what maybe you have done before in the past. This could also be a good option if you simply have no credit history at all. Find a lot of options before you make a decision so that you are not caught with a lot of fees and high interest rates.

Another choice you can look at is getting a family member to cosign on a line of credit to get your foot in the door, if a prepaid student credit card appears to much for you to handle. If that doesn’t work out then look to work through a debit card with a checking account and start building a good recognizable history that way.

Fixed Rate Student Credit Cards (That Even Allow Balance Transfers!)

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Before we talk about fixed rate student credit cards, we should talk about fixed rate credit cards in general. A fixed rate credit card isn’t such a common thing. Why?

Because interest rates change, that’s why. Think about it – every so often you hear an announcement that the Fed is raising or lowering interest rates. When they do that, all interest rates change with the ripple effect. It’s a good thing and a bad thing for all of us that use the financial institutions (which is pretty much everybody).

For example, when rates go up theirs an upside and a downside. On the downside, it gets more expensive to borrow money. Auto loans, mortgages and credit cards all hike their rates to reflect what the Fed did. On the upside banks will usually pay more interest on savings accounts and other deposits. Any of you that have an ING Direct savings account know what I’m talking about. As interest rates have climbed, I’ve seen them raise the rate they pay on my online savings account to over 5%. Not a bad deal.

Now, in some cases credit card companies will offer a fixed rate on a credit card for as long as you have the card open (for example: Prime + 3.99%). They do it to entice people who don’t like the idea of having a credit card at 18% or 21%. If you’re going to get a fixed rate credit card, though, you probably need a pretty good credit score and some credit history.

So What About Fixed Rate Student Credit Cards?

I found IndexCreditCards.com, which gives a long list of student credit card offers. Only two on the list mentioned a fixed interest rate:

  • AmTrust Bank (formerly Ohio Savings Bank) Student Credit Card – offers a fixed rate of 7.9% or 13.99%, depending on your credit worthiness.
  • Sovereign Bank Student Credit Card – 9.9% or 15.99%, also based on credit worthiness.

The reality is it’s tough for students to get fixed rate credit cards because they’re still a risk to the credit card company. If you can’t get one of the two I’ve listed above you may have to use a variable (high) rate card until you’ve proven you can handle a credit card.

Student Credit Cards With College Logos

These cards can be very cool to purchase. It is always nice to have a card from your alma mater to toss around to show your appreciation for your experience there. There are a lot of colleges that offer this type of service. You can contact your college’s financial office to see if this is something they personally offer. You might have to go to a bank that is near the school or on campus that will provide you with a school card and a Visa or MasterCard logo.

If you can not find it there, then I would go check online to find your school’s logo and the credit card of your choice. I suggest that you are better off getting a card that can’t get your school’s logo on it with better rates, then going with the card from your school that might not be as good of a deal.

Now realize that this probably doesn’t mean that if you use this then it will be like a airline credit card where they offer a free mile in the air for every dollar spent. They are not going to give you a dollar off tuition. Nice try though. They might offer you deals on clothing products or memorabilia. This can be fine if you are a fanatic about your school. I don’t feel that way about my college I attended, although I enjoyed the experience.

If they do provide offers then you might be required to give an annual fee of some kind to cover all of the materials that they are giving out and simply to build a business. I wouldn’t worry about this if you really like the card. This is definitely more of a novelty item than anything else. I have to say that I have had student credit cards before and they aren’t that impressive. You are probably better getting a student credit card with a company that offers you good value like an airline company or some other company that is going to give you value that you could use for a long time. I don’t know if you want to get a credit card from a school unless you want to create a shrine.

Just make sure that you take the time to check interest rates and see what type of fees you have to pay. I think that there are a lot of ways you can show your appreciation other than just getting the school’s logo on your credit card, but if it helps you to spend your cards often followed by paying it off in a timely manner, then this can be a great way to help with your credit and show your pride.

Discover Card Student Credit Cards

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Discover Card might be viewed by some as the little brother of the major credit card providers. Visa is everywhere you want to be (at least that’s what they used to say), MasterCard is for everything that’s not priceless, and Discover…well, I’m not even sure. They’re trying though. I have to give them that.

As Discover tries to build its brand and compete with the heavy hitters of the credit world, it looks to tap into a potentially huge and lucrative market – college students. Tens of millions of kids go to college every year. We’re talking about tomorrow’s earners, and consequently tomorrow’s big spenders.

They’re watching mom and dad sink deeper into credit card debt every year, and as the saying goes, the apple generally heads down the same path as the tree and racks up a bunch of debt on the way. Or something like that.

Anyway, Discover knows that if they can get you on board while you’re in school you’re likely to stick with them for a long time. My parents have had a Discover card for over 20 years. I think they might have the first one.

In order to impress you Discover has put together a ‘Credit 101′ course on their website designed to educate and persuade you – to open a Discover Card Student Credit Card. They put great questions on there such as: What is a credit card? and What is a credit report? and How can you build your credit history?

The quiz is multiple choice, but they’re not actually trying to insult your intelligence. I guess the thought process is if they can educate you and keep you on their website you’ll probably fill out an application. Of course they’re hoping you’ll get approved, run up a balance, and make minimum payments for the rest of your life.

But you are way too smart for that. If you open one of these cards you’re going to use it to build credit score and credit history while making your monthly payments on time and never paying interest. Good for you.

  • Here are a few of the benefits of the card:
  • Six months introductory APR of 0%.
  • They won’t make you pay an annual fee.
  • You can get 1% to 5% cash back, depending on the type of purchase you’re making.

Along with those they give you the standards for most student credit cards – online account management, email bill reminders, etc. It looks like Discover will take good care of you if you pick up their student credit card.

Credit Cards for Students in the UK

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Students in the UK need to establish credit history as much as students in the US. Far be it from credit card companies in the UK to pass up on this lucrative market. Here is a quick review of three cards you could pick up while you’re away at university.

Barclaycard Student Credit Card

Barclaycard is a well known credit provider in the UK. Their student credit card offers some decent benefits, but before you apply they want you to fit a few qualifications:

  • Credit history without major blemishes (as in bankruptcy or multiple missed payments on credit lines).
  • You can’t be a current Barclaycard credit card holder.
  • You have to have a permanent address in the UK.
  • You have to be at least 18 years old, and you you have to be heading into college.

If you meet those requirements, you should apply and you’ll be entitled to some good benefits. They offer 20% discounts with certain retailers, 2 for 1 leisure vouchers (not sure what that is), and prize draws for cardholders.

Their interest rates are reasonable – coming in around 14.9%.

Graduate Barclaycard Credit Card

They’re looking for you to have all the same requirements as the normal student credit card, but they also want you to have at least 10,000 pounds annual income.

If you qualify, here are a few benefits:

  • There’s no annual fee.
  • They offer fraud protection.
  • Purchase Delivery Protection which ensures your mail order or online purchases against loss or damage until they get to you.
  • Online account management.
  • Text notification of payment due dates (if you want them).

This isn’t a bad card for the graduating student to pick up as you leave college and enter the workforce.

Natwest Student Credit Card

A prominent UK credit provider gives students a great offer for what may be their first credit card. Here’s a brief summary of the benefits:

  • Great discounts with online retailers.
  • A grace period that may last as long as 56 days.
  • Daily cash advance limit of up to 300 pounds.
  • No annual fee.
  • Use your card worldwide when you travel.

The final benefit I see is they offer a maximum credit limit of 500 pounds. This will keep you from getting yourself in trouble while you’re working toward your degree.

Which reminds me, I have a few recommendations for any student getting a credit card. The most important one is to understand what a credit card is, and what it isn’t. A credit card isn’t free money. They’re going to make you pay them back, and if you’re late or if you even carry a balance your best case scenario is paying high interest rates, you’re worst case scenario is paying high interest rates and high fees. Sounds good right?

It doesn’t have to go that way though. You can use the cards wisely and your credit card will be your best friend. Enjoy those rewards!

Guaranteed Student Credit Cards Applications

There are many offers out there for young college students to get credit cards. You need to be careful not to run into problems and understand what your obligations and potential results are with any credit company no matter how good their history is. A guaranteed student credit card is more often then not a secured credit card that is going to require some type of financial deposit. Usually it will be a deposit around the same price as the amount of credit that you are getting extended.

For many college and high school students it is all about building credit history. It is best to probably initially team up with a well known bank with a good background. Wells Fargo has a good plan as far as student accounts go and I am sure the same can be said for other national banks. There are options online, but I suggest that you are truly careful and I would recommend going to local banks or at least calling them to get an idea as far as fees, interest rates, initial deposits and other requirements that they will ask for.

Make sure if you are to go and apply for a card that you bring two forms of identification and also your social security number. This will make it a lot easier for you to fill out any forms. You will usually find bankers helpful for your initial credit card. If you do it online it might be good to have an adult that has a good long history with credit cards present. You want to make sure that your first experience is a good one. Especially if you want to build credit to buy a car or eventually a home.

Credit Card’s Application For College Students

Always be careful about your credit cards that you apply for as a college student. You might get a little riskier and want to start impressing people by using a companies money like it is your own. Listen to what I am about to say…don’t! Use your money and don’t spend what you don’t have. Use your credit card as an extension of your debit card. It is a simple process and it won’t create a lot of stress and bad habits. You want to start doing it right the first time.

Now you might get excited about things that you read like a low interest rate or a fixed interest rate. Well make sure to read the fine print. Go over your Terms and Conditions. You might see a place there where it says “Change in Terms”. This means really, “What you see is not eventually what you are probably going to get.” Read these terms because as long as the credit provider gives you a 15 day advanced notice, they can change the interest rates on you. This can be done potentially each month. If you miss on a payment or two then expect your rates to double or maybe even rise from 10% to 25%. That is not fun. So play it safe with your credit cards and pay them off often to avoid the crushing blow of low credit.