Credit Cards for High School students, 18 yrs old??

[thetaz]

Hey all,
I've got a friend who is in High School at my job, just recently turned 18 and is trying to get his credit jump started. I never really had any trouble with getting my credit going, but I did wait until I was in college to get it started (and it seemed like the credit card companies were giving them away like paper in college)

Well, he's applied for a Sears card, got turned down (insufficient credit history) - funny thing is, he works at Sears. He also went for the Capital One High School student card (same thing, insufficient credit history).

Perhaps someone knows of a credit card company that will give him a credit card? I know he's going to be good about paying the thing, but getting one is the hard part. He's looking more at getting one with the big name companies, visa, mastercard, discover, amex..etc. He said he was going to do a Target card as well, if he had to...but wanted to find out if anyone that I was in touch with online knew of a place to get one of the bigger name credit cards..so he can use it anywhere, and really get his credit going.

Sounds like he is ok with an annual fee if he had to but would really prefer no annual fee, since he won't be charging that much..just here and there and pay the bill in full every month.

 

[AZGamer]

Perhaps he could get a secured card, where a deposit is made towards the credit?

I know Providian offers these.

 

[randomlinh]

cap one student turned him down?!? that's a strange one... i had no credit history and got one no prob, $300 limit, but something to start with (altho.. it's only up to $400 after two years, never missed or late... altho i have others that are higher so i don't really bother).

heh, oh yeah, forgot to add that he should try a secure card.. but that got posted too fast

 

[thetaz]

<< cap one student turned him down?!? that's a strange one... i had no credit history and got one no prob, $300 limit, but something to start with (altho.. it's only up to $400 after two years, never missed or late... altho i have others that are higher so i don't really bother).

heh, oh yeah, forgot to add that he should try a secure card.. but that got posted too fast >>



Did you get it under a guarantor? He did not, I guess. If you do it with a guarantor, do you know if that would go under his own credit record (and not the guarantor's?) when he makes payments? He was curious about that, but sounded like he didn't have a chance to call capital one yet to find out. He applied without guarantor and got turned down, though.

Thanks for speedy replies!

 

[kranky]

Try a gas or department store card for starters.

 

[CStroman]

I have a Visa checkcard. Will purchases made with that card go on my credit report?

 

[Jugernot]

I had a VISA Platinum when I was 16, of course I also owned a small business for the last two years of high school probably helped. I started out with a $14K limit and maxed it out almost every month and paid it off at the end of every month. Within 4 months, they raised it to $19K which it has stayed at since I closed the business.

I recently ran a credit report on myself and found out that I am in the top 5% credit bracket of the U.S. and I'm just 20 years old.

I'm just lucky I guess...

 

[dullard]

<< I have a Visa checkcard. Will purchases made with that card go on my credit report? >>



I don't think so. Sure I could attach a Visa sticker to my checks/cash/student ID card but that won't affect my credit rating either. The point of a credit report is to show if you repaid money that you borrowed. A checkcard never borrows money (it just reduces your money stored in the bank). A real credit card issues a loan with every purchase - you borrow small amounts of money. When you get your bill you pay off that loan - and it will be included in a credit report that you are a good customer paying off your loans.

Just because a Visa sticker is on the piece of plastic doesn't mean you are using a Visa card.

 

[randomlinh]

guarantor? What exactly is this? All i know is i got spam from cap one and i replied to one.. i think days after my 18th birthday w/in a month, i got a card in the mail... and like all my friends, it has the lightning logo

 

[RossMAN]

What is a guarantor?

Which local bank does your friend hold his checking/savings accounts with?



<< Perhaps he could get a secured card, where a deposit is made towards the credit?

I know Providian offers these. >>



That's what I was going to suggest. Have your friend visit his local branch and apply for a SECURED CREDIT CARD either VISA or MASTERCARD will do. He will need to deposit a minimum of around $500 into a savings account or CD which the bank will freeze while the credit card is open. A SECURED CREDIT CARD is the best way to go because you're virtually guaranteed approval because the bank has frozen your assets so if you stop paying your credit card they unfreeze your account, withdraw the funds and payoff your remaining balance there is no risk involved for them. Your friend should use his credit card and make payments on time, after 1 year of use he will have established enough credit history to get his $500 back, turn his card into a regular credit card and start applying for other credit cards.

Go with a secured credit card, it's the best way to go. Tell him to stop applying for every damn credit card known to man kind, everytime he applies whether he's approved or declined it has a negative effect on his credit history because of all the INQUIRIES.

Lots of inquiries = Bad
Zero or few inquiries = Good

 

[fr]

When I was 17, CapitalOne sent me an offer for a card with a $500 limit. I signed up and had no problems.

 

[thetaz]

The guarantor is someone who agrees to pay the account off should the student account holder not pay the card off.

However, who knows if capital one puts this onto the credit report or not, under the student account holder's name if they are paying on time or not... that'd be the way to go, but he still hasn't called capital one to ask how it works. Their website is kind of shady on it, they do not really say if it reflects on the guarantor's record or the student's record.

As for a secured credit card, it seems a lot of companies want a pricey annual fee, which he wants to stay away from. he just wants to establish credit, that's all. he is not going to be charging everything he buys, he likes to use his visa check card.

 

[SgtZulu]

try the Mafia they'll loan to anyone but if you value your kneecaps be sure to pay up on time