topic Re: Recently Turned 18, looking for my best options for a credit card! in Credit Cards

Recently Turned 18, looking for my best options for a credit card!

NEWKID11084 — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 15:29:10 GMT

Hey everyone!

I recently turned 18, and have been an AU on family members cards for almost about a year, and have Fico 8 scores@ EQ-683 EX-733 TU-702. I am a college student and I have family support to pay the monthly payment, I am curious what cards or card would be best, as I am trying to reach the 800s by the end of the year! Thanks so much in advance for your input and recommendations!

Re: Recently Turned 18, looking for my best options for a credit card!

RSX — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 17:01:22 GMT

welcome!

i would try for a Cap1 or Discover card to start you off

good luck on your credit progress!

Re: Recently Turned 18, looking for my best options for a credit card!

JNA1 — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 17:07:23 GMT

Disco all the way. My daughter turned 18 in June, and like you, she had been an AU on a couple of my cards for over a year. They gave her the Student Cash back card, $1500 unsecured starting line. It has the same cash back structure as the regular Discover It card.

I imagine she might have got a $300-$500 limit card through Cap 1 that would likely never grow much, based on others experience.

You can do a prequalification on Disco's site with no damage to your credit score. Their prequals are pretty solid if you get prequalified.

Re: Recently Turned 18, looking for my best options for a credit card!

RSX — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 17:19:34 GMT

i always list Cap1 as an option, as they were my starting cards - i still have one that is 11 years old, my oldest, and it is at $16750

i also had the Cap1 Plat (now closed) that grew from $300- $6950 over a 5/6 year period

so i continue to recommend them in addition to Disco

Re: Recently Turned 18, looking for my best options for a credit card!

Anonymous — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 17:53:53 GMT

Based on personal experience, I'd have to agree with @RSX regarding Capital One. My QS started as a Platinum and it's my 2nd oldest account at 14+ years. It took years to grow the CL, but it's worth it to me.

@JNA1's vote for Discover is an excellent option too. I sometimes regret that I didn't apply for an account with them when I started with credit cards, as I've (continually) read tons of good things about them.

Re: Recently Turned 18, looking for my best options for a credit card!

JNA1 — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 18:55:01 GMT

I respect you guy's opinions/thoughts on the Cap 1 cards - It's just that the starter cards don't seem to grow like they used to, based on our experience and a ton of other people here in recent years. They also typically start out way lower than Disco.

My Dad had an old Cap 1 card that had a huge limit and it served him well, as he didn't chase rewards or anything like that.

The bottom line for us is that I started my journey with a Disco and we started DW's with a Cap 1 QS, and the QS is sock drawered, and we still use the Disco card regularly.

Both would be fine for building credit though. I would just personally would recommend the Disco over the Cap 1.

Re: Recently Turned 18, looking for my best options for a credit card!

Aim_High — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 19:53:02 GMT

Welcome to My Fico Forums, @NEWKID11084!

I think the perfect solution for you would be a dedicated "STUDENT" credit card. Many of the major lenders offer them, they include cash back rewards, and they love approving students like you for them so they can build a lending relationship with a new customer as they begin their adult financial life. I suggested some options below. Unlike the "bucketed" low-limit cards mentioned above for building/rebuilding (ie Capital One), I believe the student cards would not be as inhibited. (Disclaimer: I never had a student card.) The nice thing about student cards is that lenders have different expectations for approvals regarding factors such as income/employment which takes into consideration the different lifestyle and needs of students. And with some time and payment history, they may send you a preselected offer for one of their regular cards or agree to do a product-conversion of your student card to a mainstream version.

You also might consider where you do your banking as whether it's a national bank, regional bank, or credit union, they may be more credit-friendly to a thin credit profile with deposit accounts.

I would stay away from "secured" cards. They shouldn't be necessary since your credit is just thin, not bad or recovering from adverse information. I would also stay away from the banks that target "subprime" profiles like Credit One Bank or Merrick Bank. Subprime cards have additional fees such as application, monthly, or annual fees; lower if any rewards; lower-than-average credit limits; and higher-than-average APRs. Again, if your credit is 683-733 range, you shouldn't need to go with these type of lenders.

Here are some good national lenders who offer student-oriented cards. All of these cards (except for the lower APR Bankamericard) offer some type of cash back rewards program paying at least 1%.

With your credit scores from the AU cards and if you have some income to report, you may qualify for some of the non-student mainstream cards like a regular Quicksilver, Freedom, or Discover but I think the student version is a safer place to start. Good luck!

Chase

Freedom Student Visa

Bank of America

Customized Cash Rewards for Students Visa
Unlimited Cash Rewards for Students Visa
Travel Rewards for Students Visa
BankAmericard for Students Visa

Capital One

Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Visa
SavorOne Student Cash Rewards Visa
Journey Student Rewards Visa

Discover

Discover IT Student Cashback card
Discover IT Student Chrome card

Re: Recently Turned 18, looking for my best options for a credit card!

Trini88 — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 20:13:16 GMT

My sister started off with a Chase Student and it grew ALOT. I told my other sister to start off with a Discover Student and hers grew a lot as well. I personally like Capital One, I have 3 credit cards from them but I don't recommend their student credit card if you're looking for growth, Capital One won't get them there. If I had started my journey early I would have personally gone for the Bank Of America student credit card.

Re: Recently Turned 18, looking for my best options for a credit card!

folks19 — Fri, 10 Sep 2021 03:30:30 GMT

@NEWKID11084 wrote:
Hey everyone!
I recently turned 18, and have been an AU on family members cards for almost about a year, and have Fico 8 scores@ EQ-683 EX-733 TU-702. I am a college student and I have family support to pay the monthly payment, I am curious what cards or card would be best, as I am trying to reach the 800s by the end of the year! Thanks so much in advance for your input and recommendations!

Check out the Bank Of America student card. It gives 3% on a category of your choice, and 1% on everything else. It is a card any student with minimal income can qualify for as long as you don't have any negatives on your report.

Re: Recently Turned 18, looking for my best options for a credit card!

Anonymous — Fri, 10 Sep 2021 04:00:34 GMT

@folks19 wrote:
@NEWKID11084 wrote:
Hey everyone!
I recently turned 18, and have been an AU on family members cards for almost about a year, and have Fico 8 scores@ EQ-683 EX-733 TU-702. I am a college student and I have family support to pay the monthly payment, I am curious what cards or card would be best, as I am trying to reach the 800s by the end of the year! Thanks so much in advance for your input and recommendations!
Check out the Bank Of America student card. It gives 3% on a category of your choice, and 1% on everything else. It is a card any student with minimal income can qualify for as long as you don't have any negatives on your report.

discover student card. don't be under the impression that a student card can't grow

Re: Recently Turned 18, looking for my best options for a credit card!

Anonymous — Fri, 10 Sep 2021 12:31:12 GMT

@NEWKID11084 wrote:
Hey everyone!
I recently turned 18, and have been an AU on family members cards for almost about a year, and have Fico 8 scores@ EQ-683 EX-733 TU-702. I am a college student and I have family support to pay the monthly payment, I am curious what cards or card would be best, as I am trying to reach the 800s by the end of the year! Thanks so much in advance for your input and recommendations!

You say that you have family support to pay the monthly payment.. Yes, credit card companies always want their money back regardless of who pays it, but when it comes to extending credit then they don't lend based on someone's support/income, rather it would be based on your ability to pay back..

Do you have any kind of income? If you have no income whatsoever, it would be extremely difficult to get a credit card in your own name unless you want to get a card with $200 or $300 CL. My college-going 18 yrs old gf works part-time at her college campus..She applied for a Chase Freedom two months ago and got approved for $5700 SL at branch. She has an account with Chase for a while, I guess. If I were you, I would apply for a credit card only when I start working for a while. And not to disappoint you, but achieving 800 score is kinda impossible for any 18 yrs old because length of accounts is also one of the factors that contributes towards scoring which is impossible for a 18 yrs old.

And I know that some people have suggested a card from Capital One, but I wouldn't get that card even though I myself started out with that card. But I was naive and not knowing anything about credit. This card has no growth whatever except for very few people. Besides, I would never want to get a card for $300-$500 CL anyway. Rather than getting a card with this much credit limit, I would rather be better off with getting a secured card with other lender with a very healthy CL. I would never even thought of Capital One. Find a job (if you can, or wait until you start working), save some money and get a good secured card...Keep them for a year or two and then you would establish a good credit in no time. Good luck....

Re: Recently Turned 18, looking for my best options for a credit card!

HHH71 — Sat, 11 Sep 2021 08:34:45 GMT

When my son started college I put him as an AU on my discover card. His sophomore year we checked his credit and it was 742. His first card was Cap One, he got approved with a $1500 cl. About 7 months later we applied him for a Chase Feedom Unlimited, he was approved for $2400 cl. his credit is now 756. My plan is to have him apply every six months for a credit card until he graduates. This will have him with 6 credit cards and give him the ability to do whatever he wants once he enters the workforce. Buy house, car, rental property, etc.

We listed my sons income as $22,000. This is the small amount he makes from me doing odd jobs and his scholorship. I told him is job now is to maintain his academic scholorship which pays way more than apart time job. He currently has a 3.87 gpa and no college debt.

I've also been teaching him use his credit cards like a bank card. Only spend it if you have it. So, his utilization is often around 1%-4%, but usually zero. Taught him to pay off before statement created to keep utilization down.

I wish my parents had done this for me. What a headstart he is going to have; one I never did.

Re: Recently Turned 18, looking for my best options for a credit card!

mrpuffrabbit — Sat, 11 Sep 2021 09:24:17 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@folks19 wrote:
@NEWKID11084 wrote:
Hey everyone!
I recently turned 18, and have been an AU on family members cards for almost about a year, and have Fico 8 scores@ EQ-683 EX-733 TU-702. I am a college student and I have family support to pay the monthly payment, I am curious what cards or card would be best, as I am trying to reach the 800s by the end of the year! Thanks so much in advance for your input and recommendations!
Check out the Bank Of America student card. It gives 3% on a category of your choice, and 1% on everything else. It is a card any student with minimal income can qualify for as long as you don't have any negatives on your report.
discover student card. don't be under the impression that a student card can't grow

I can attest to that, happy with the Discover IT student card. I had it during my university days. I had a 1.2k starting limit and that grew to 11k from exclusive use in 6 years; they're nice about CLIs, and some were even automatic. Now I don't use it exclusively and just take advantage of the 5% categories.