Credit Cards for Kids

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@ScoreOrBeScored wrote:

My 12 year old is AU on my cards

capital one playstation visa 

QS

Venture

boa travel rewards

boa BBR

Sallie Mae

freedom

WF

best buy

walmart

macys

express

kohls.

All report except for express. My 12 year old gets CC offers in the mail and with firm offers of APR's citi offering him 12.99% Amex Green card offer... I put his info 

on chase prequalify and he was qualified for Slate,freedom , and CSP. All with the lowest APR terms.

so saying that a child can't be added, that's not true. I have him cards issued to all of the accounts listed. He doesn't know about them and of course i have 

all the cards.

OP, your best bet would be prepaid cards. I would suggest a Amex Serve Card. Many ways of loading money onto it free of charge.and put the amount you want on there.

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That's bananas dude.

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How?

[ecxpa]

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@SunriseEarth wrote:

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@ecxpa wrote:

Had no idea minor children could be AU's on a credit card but evidently according to Mr Google it is something a lot of folks do.

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It's something that's been done for years.  I remember back as a freshman in HS, one of my friends was an AU on her DM's MC.   Friend's DM wanted her to have it in case of emergency.

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the things I learn on this forum!

[ScoreOrBeScored]

@Nixon - because they allow it. Lol, and they report it for sure because he is getting solid offers,lol

of course I can't check CK because they require birthday and not old enough.

once he gets a lil older I will let him use a card when we go places together and teach him responsibility and then give 

pit back after wards. 

[longtime_lurker]

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@bch238 wrote:

A few ideas:

• Amex Serve card.  You would need to be the primary account holder, and each kid would get his own sub account card.  You can easily load the card with an Amex credit or charge card online or with a phone app.  My kids have them.
• AU on an Amex card.  You can specify lower limits on AU cards with Amex.
• AU on any Visa or MC, but all AUs have access to the entire limit.  My elder daughter (14 yo) is an AU on my CSP, but I generally hold on to the card.

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AU on AMEX card is my preference. CS and fraud liability have been great for me. Statement breaks down transactions per card. 

Cap One sounds like a really good option as well, if they can limit AU limits, but I don't have a card with them or any experience with them.

[longtimelurker]

My question would be more how merchants react to a 10 year old presenting a credit card.  Maybe not an issue in some places.

[leoment]

I found out it was possible for someone underaged to be an AU when I reviewed my Experian CR. My mom (not sure how or why) added me on her Amex Green way back when I was 3.

It shows that I have an AAoA of 11 years. I'm 24. Oddly enough, when she opened another Amex in 2007, I guess I was added (unknowingly) as an AU on that one as well, because all of my personal Amex cards have a MSD of 2007 instead of 2012 (when I opened my first card). All of my credit reports also reflect an opening date of 2007.

[Anonymous]

Look into the Target prepaid Redcard.  It's pay as you go and it's free to reload.

[Anonymous]

Quick update, Amex says you have to be 15, however Cap One did not have an age limit. So they have Cap One cards on the way, you can't limit the credit limit access that I can see, but it is a lower limit so not as concerned with that. Not sure if I want then on all of my accounts, but if it can help with AAoA and that is the one thing that only time can build I might look into that.

Thanks for all the info everyone.