Tips on getting my first credit card?

[flot]

[/quote]

Its called dispute resolution and fraud prevention. Familiar with the concepts?

-PAB[/quote]


Not really. Even though I use credit cards like they're going out of style, and probably charge ~10,000-15,000 a year - I've never used either of those features on my credit cards. And of the handful of people I know who have - in almost all cases they are using the cards because they intentionally did something stupid. IE bought something that they didn't think was going to do what they wanted - and then got in a dispute when it didn't, or they used the feature to take advantage of an odd situation.

Credit cards are great. There's nothing wrong with using them - but the "usefulness" imo is mainly their ability to extend credit. That's why they call them credit cards, not buyer protection cards.

 

[MrChicken]

"Its called dispute resolution and fraud prevention. Familiar with the concepts?"

BofA offers this on their check cards now.

 

[Nutcase99]

I have the same problem as alot of other people in this thread. I have applied for creidt cards but they keep getting rejected. I don't understand why, I have no credit history maybe that would be why. How do I go about getteing a Secure credit card? Go to my bank and talk to them about it? I just got a debit card this past Sept and that has really saved me alot of hassle. The only reason I want a credit card is so I can build my history.

I think a good way to build history is to get a credit card with a low limit and make small purchase such as something for $50 or so and then for a couple of months just pay the minimum balance, then just pay it off. Do that again a few more times and that way they realize you can pay your bills on time and you will pay off your debits. I know alot of you are going to say why don't you just pay it off? well the answer is because if you just pay it off and the end of each month you don't build credit.

 

[PsychoAndy]

Originally posted by: flot

Its called dispute resolution and fraud prevention. Familiar with the concepts?

-PAB[/quote]


Not really. Even though I use credit cards like they're going out of style, and probably charge ~10,000-15,000 a year - I've never used either of those features on my credit cards. And of the handful of people I know who have - in almost all cases they are using the cards because they intentionally did something stupid. IE bought something that they didn't think was going to do what they wanted - and then got in a dispute when it didn't, or they used the feature to take advantage of an odd situation.

Credit cards are great. There's nothing wrong with using them - but the "usefulness" imo is mainly their ability to extend credit. That's why they call them credit cards, not buyer protection cards.[/quote]

I've spent....tons. Lets leave it at that. And I've had billing screwups large enough to give me a migrane, so the ability to NOT be responsible for a charge until resolution is complete is a VERY VERY useful item.

The problem with debit cards is that if you need to dispute a charge, your money is gone until the resolution is closed. That has the liablity of sending your finances to the shitter. Someone gets a hold of your CC nubmer and rings up $20,000, you call the CC issuer and have them take care of it. You have $20,000 in your bank account that is used fraudulently, you are SOL until everyone can get their ducks in a row. Lets face it: have we ever seen a bank work fast? Didnt think so.

-PAB

 

[chemos]

Originally posted by: PsychoAndy


I've spent....tons. Lets leave it at that. And I've had billing screwups large enough to give me a migrane, so the ability to NOT be responsible for a charge until resolution is complete is a VERY VERY useful item.

The problem with debit cards is that if you need to dispute a charge, your money is gone until the resolution is closed. That has the liablity of sending your finances to the shitter. Someone gets a hold of your CC nubmer and rings up $20,000, you call the CC issuer and have them take care of it. You have $20,000 in your bank account that is used fraudulently, you are SOL until everyone can get their ducks in a row. Lets face it: have we ever seen a bank work fast? Didnt think so.

-PAB

Of course, the chances of someone getting their credit card number are far less than the chances of a teenager spending too much and running him/herself into debt. You should really take this into consideration as well, at least if we're talking "first" credit cards for teenagers. For some reason, you seem to think everyone out there is so incredibly responsible that debit cards are a bad idea.

 

[PsychoAndy]

Originally posted by: chemos

Originally posted by: PsychoAndy


I've spent....tons. Lets leave it at that. And I've had billing screwups large enough to give me a migrane, so the ability to NOT be responsible for a charge until resolution is complete is a VERY VERY useful item.

The problem with debit cards is that if you need to dispute a charge, your money is gone until the resolution is closed. That has the liablity of sending your finances to the shitter. Someone gets a hold of your CC nubmer and rings up $20,000, you call the CC issuer and have them take care of it. You have $20,000 in your bank account that is used fraudulently, you are SOL until everyone can get their ducks in a row. Lets face it: have we ever seen a bank work fast? Didnt think so.

-PAB

Of course, the chances of someone getting their credit card number are far less than the chances of a teenager spending too much and running him/herself into debt. You should really take this into consideration as well, at least if we're talking "first" credit cards for teenagers. For some reason, you seem to think everyone out there is so incredibly responsible that debit cards are a bad idea.

Nonetheless, there is still a chance of an online vendor with an unsecure database. That or they lose their wallet.

I strongly think that the chances are that they'd lose the CC before a vendor got hacked or they went into bad debt territory.

Its not so much its a bad idea as the potential ramifications can be damaging.

-PAB

 

[QueHuong]

OK, I was going to apply for the Discover Student card but decided to hold off.

It asked me if I have a banking account, I don't. It also asked me for my salary, I haven't had a job yet so I don't have any money.

Do you think I can still get a student card considering the above?

Also, can I use my scholarships as a "salary"?

 

[Jzero]

If you can pay off the card every month, great. Cynically speaking here, if you do that you will either lose money in fees, or they will cancel you, or both.

If you can follow that simple rule of yours, the check card is still a better way to go, unless you are trying to build credit.

Why would a credit card cancel you for paying off? They're still making money off you since they hit the merchant both for the right to accept their card AND a percentage of each transaction. Not like they're losing money on you.

 

[bolido2000]

I don't see the point of using a check card unless you have zero self control. Besides getting cash back, you can buy something today and pay it next month, instead of having deducted right away as in a check card. That way you can buy something before you receive your pay check. I don't see any advantages of using a check card.

I remember when I was 18 I applied to the student associates bank CC. I got 2 letters from them...one was a rejection and the other one was my credit card

 

[duhh]

my suggestions:
1) only buy cheap things u already have money to pay for. this builds ur credit up nicely.

2) if u buy online, make sure u got something like amex and discover offer where it generates a one time use number. I know I got spanked for $4k

3) keep your limit low. dont ask to increase it. if u ever need to buy a car or a house, they do not care about what the balance of the card is, they care about the limit of the card, higher the limit, the more trouble the customer can get into, so bank considders them more of a risk

 

[MrChicken]

"Why would a credit card cancel you for paying off? They're still making money off you since they hit the merchant both for the right to accept their card AND a percentage of each transaction. Not like they're losing money on you. "

I dont know their reasons, but I can speculate.

Buying a couple of things a month, particularly if the are not high dollar itmes, is not going to get them alot of money. they make their money off of interest and fees. You are not worth the trouble of keeping up with, generating staements and such, unless you hit a money making threshold for them. If you have a yearly fee, then that is probably good enough.

 

[CaesarX]

You guys are unbelievable... try to stay on topic!

 

[QueHuong]

Can someone answer my question now?

OK, I was going to apply for the Discover Student card but decided to hold off.

It asked me if I have a banking account, I don't. It also asked me for my salary, I haven't had a job yet so I don't have any money.

Do you think I can still get a student card considering the above?

Also, can I use my scholarships as a "salary"?



If you guys prefer, I can always make a new thread...

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: MrChicken
"Why would a credit card cancel you for paying off? They're still making money off you since they hit the merchant both for the right to accept their card AND a percentage of each transaction. Not like they're losing money on you. "

I dont know their reasons, but I can speculate.

Buying a couple of things a month, particularly if the are not high dollar itmes, is not going to get them alot of money. they make their money off of interest and fees. You are not worth the trouble of keeping up with, generating staements and such, unless you hit a money making threshold for them. If you have a yearly fee, then that is probably good enough.

I don't buy that. Have you had this happen to you? I have a CitiBank card that I have had for 3 years now and NEVER used. Ever. I never even activated it, yet that account is still open. There's no fee, no nothing. I have never made a purchase on it.

They have never closed the account.

 

[MrChicken]

"I don't buy that. Have you had this happen to you? I have a CitiBank card that I have had for 3 years now and NEVER used. Ever. I never even activated it, yet that account is still open. There's no fee, no nothing. I have never made a purchase on it.

They have never closed the account."

I've never had an account cancelled on me. I am the perfect customer, carry a high balance, and pay late occaisonally. CC companies fight to get me to sign up.

I have had a discover card for years, that I dont remember applying for, have never activated any of the cards and they still send me mail about the great benefits of the card.

Years ago, I forgot who told me that they had a card cancelled for not buying enough, strangely it was after they had raised the limit a few times.

This week a coworker told me they had a family member find out their card was cancelled for lack of use when they went to use it. That is different than not buying enough, but it does show how the cc companies work.