Credit advice from the experts

[favor4me2]

 My 20 year old daughter is in the process of establishing credit, she has a 600.0 Usbank student cc and a  student loan on her credit report. I pulled her Equifax score and it is 699. I know she needs more than two trade lines, What other cards should she apply for? she is in school and also has a pretty decent job, she wants to establish her credit so she can buy a car as well as optimize her score she is very responsible she pays he cc off every month. Thanks for your advise.

[Anonymous]

I would tell her to apply for the Citi Foward card. They are very generous with credit limits and have a pretty good promotion right now. If you spend $250 within 3 mths of openening the card, you get 6,000 reward points and an add'l 2,500 for paperless statements. That's good for $50 in cash back. The card earns 5 pts per $ spent at book stores, the movies, and restaurants. 1 pt per $ on everything else.

[BungalowMo]

I think it would be wise for her to join a credit union.  Establish a history now, while she's young, and they will serve her needs well....for a very long time.  Are you or your hubby members of a CU?  That may be a good place to start. 

Read up on the posts here regarding credit unions.  Find one she is eligible for & have her open an acct & app for a student card.  CU's are known for great rates & great limits.  I personally found this out with Navy Fed yesterday. 

[Anonymous]

Hi favor,

Sounds like you have a very responsible and intelligent daughter.  Must get it from the gene pool

Just a quick note - when you say she PIF's in full every month, is she aware of the reporting balance as well?  Probably so - just checking.

Oh, yeah.  And a +1 to Mo's advice on CU's.

[dizzier]

I got my first CC in college. It was a BofA Student Visa. BofA has been VERY VERY good to me ever since. They regularly give my APRDs and CLIs. Once I graduated from college they automatically graduated my card to the Platinum visa. As it stand now, the car has a 10.99% fixed APR and 10k CL. I've also been offered the Visa signature card. They are one of my oldest lines and most used ones. They give better rates, etc to people who already have checking/savings accounts with them, so I'd encourage your daughter to open a checking with them before any app for the card. I'd also recommend her going through a CU if she can. CUs are really fantastic. I'm in love with my new CU, Addison ave. Luckily for her, student cards are pretty easily to get, and all the major card companies offer them. The trick is for her to make sure she treats her cards well. If she does, they will mature with her.

[Creditaddict]

I would get in early with Amex with the new Zync or perhaps the Clear.  If she decides to close later and come back down the road, she will always be able to get the new accounts down the road to backdate to 2010.

[favor4me2]

Thank you all for the wonderful advice, I knew I could count on you guys ya'll have helped me soooo much over the years. I just closed recently on a new house in Sept, just in time to get the tax credit I might add thank you for the compliments, she is a very bright girl and most of all she listens to everything I tell her about her credit (I wish all my kids were so smart) she does leave a small bal on her cc every month and yes I joined Alliant cu when everyone else over a year ago, so that is an excellent idea. Her current cc is with USbank.