i have a friend thats 22 and has never had a credit card.
So what im wondering is what a good card to start off with? i have a plane jane capitol one card @ 16 with a 400$ limit. So far i like my GM Card and the citizens bank CC the best.
what do you guys/ladies think?
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have him get one through his bank, that way he can get the lowest rate usually, if he has good credit with them
one with under 1000 limit.
anymore then that and its easy to get into debt over your head
tell him to max it out then forget about it.
I have plenty of credit cards. As long as you make your payments on time and have a low interest rate then get whatever you want.
Bank or credit union are best. If he doesn’t have much established credit he’ll get denied for anything that has a decent interest rate… and since settling for a sub-prime card is not optimal ( credit one, capital one, first premiere, household…etc ) a bank / credit union card is the best bet.
Bank of America’s credit card is pretty great if I remember. I’d try for that.
Edit:
Violator brings up a good point about responsibility, however I’m not sure that is in the scope of this thread.
mom was a co-signer for a car loan and that was 2 years ago and thats about it. other then that no established credit. its through 5-star bank
It probably be a good idea to have him pull his credit report and FICO scores just to see where he is at. He very well may not have a good score, just from inactivity and a lack of credit history. On the other hand, if his score was really high and the car loan didn’t have any negatives, he could aim for the stars.
person does not have a checking account either. so what about going to the bank opening up a checking account and a credit card in the same day?
Do him a favor. Tell him not to get one.
:word:
im 21 and have never had one, some people cant believe i havent gotten one yet. my thoughts are that i dont really have the need for one, if i want something, i save the money and spend cash. i also wouldnt trust myself, nor would i want to have to make payments.
you should ask his friend about his intention with the credit card.
if he’s gonna use it for use now-pay everything later, it’s ok. but, if he’s planning to be in debt with the company, like ShiftDead says, do him a favor by telling him not to get one.
anyway, my firs card was Amex. They, luckily, trusted me to have credit card for the first time. I remember it was $200 line of credit.
i have a student credit card, there is no interest, minimum payment is 10/month and the limit is $250. they recently bumped mine up to a limit of $800 without me telling them to(typical) but if i go over the 250 i have to start paying interest on it
Where can I find out my FICO score for free?
Im 19 with a 3k dollar student credit card through HSBC, and have never been late and owe about 3 dollars on it. It has to be better than if I didnt own a credit card.
not haveing a credit card is not a good move IMHO. Unless you are a complete dumbass with no responsibility, get it, use it, and pay it off on time. Sooner or later, you may need credit for something. It takes a LONG time to build it- and if you dont have a history, you may not be able to get it if you ever actually NEED it, or are going to pay out the ass for it even if you can. The “I dont have it because I dont need it” approach is very shortsighted.
I pulled the same shit for as long as I could, luckily I outgrew that philosophy in a hurry, and it helped BIG tme in the long term. Sooner or later, you will probably have no choice in the matter… better to have a history than not at that point. I have a particular friend who at almost 23 and never having a credit card, had been turned down by just about everyone when he tried to get one. Nothing negative, just no history! lucky for him, he didnt actually need it at the time, just wanted to build. Eventually, he found a company to help him build it- but if he had REALLY needed it, he would have been fucked on that one.
You need to learn to play the game. Jump from company to company when you find better rates, surge your credit line and pay it off quickly over a few months on purpose, roll balances at 0%, threaten to leave unless they raise the limits, etc… though you need the money and/or available credit to play that game first. As long as you pay your bills on time, everyone is happy. Keep the good cards with good rates, ditch the asshole companies and crap cards as soon as you find something better. Household, Capitol 1, Orchard… they are the worst companies I have dealt with, though the easiest to get started with. The best companies I deal with are Chase, Bank Of America, and American Express… Discover isnt bad either. By playing the game, within a few years you can build some serious credit and have quite a bit of available capital. From the age of 18 to 22, I multiplied my available credit over 200 fold, and brought my average APR to <9.00%, with quite a few rewards as well… they virtually pay for themselves, even when I have a spike in extended credit. You learn how to roll with credit very quickly when running a business however, so I would not expect the same results I have had in most cases.
BE RESPONSIBLE. Know your limit. If you are a “spending addict” or “extreme impulse buyer”, dont even go there with big credit… just get a small card, say 1 grand, and use it for all your small purchases and pay it back every month. Credit will put you over your head quicker than you can imagine.
Its good for credit and in case of an emergency. Even if you don’t need it its nice to have one for emergencys.
i’ve been w/ keybank since i was 16(checking) and 18(credit card). started off w/ $500 limit @ 24.99%, now i’m at $2500 limit @ 12.49%. i try to pay every bill in full and i’ve only missed one so far. i’m 21 now.
try to start out w/ a low limit credit card and use it for just gas to build up credit. if he makes decent money then start to up the limit and ask for a lower interest rate. your credit score will help u down the road when it comes time for a car loan or home loan.
Get a credit card with no annual fees, and no bullshit fees.
My brother had no credit, he signed up for this welfare type credit card with a 200 limit on it.
They charge him 6 bucks to make a fucking payment on the thing, to process it electronically, and the interest is like 30 percent.
I told him to cancel the shit immediately, and deal with a regular bank.
I deal with Citi, and American Express, have over 15 grand in limits, and a 0 balance on both.
I got a citi cash back one and pay it off every month.
So far I have recieved almost $500 cash back and not a single penny in fees
4 years ago capitol one let me have a starter card,$400 limit.
Now my limit is 16k.