topic Re: Credit Card for a teen with controls? in Credit Cards

Credit Card for a teen with controls?

BaseKetball — Wed, 15 May 2024 00:14:44 GMT

Thanks in advance for any advice here. I have lurked on this forum for years and love all of the great info that has helped out my family with lots of great recommendations. I have a teenager that will soon be driving and I want to make sure they are covered when needed within limits and controls that I hopefully would be able to set for them as a AU. I have looked at most of my cards (Amex, Chase,Citi and CU) cards without any real world options. I am looking to help set them up for good credit history in the future as a AU, but also want the flexibilty of having a high credit limit access to a card with guard rails as an emergency card. General use of the card will only be for gas only for the time being.

Ideally I would like a couple of the following options if at all possible:

1) Control credit limit (example, if card has 10-20K limit be able to portion out 2K and open up more if needed in a emergency)

2) Get active alerts for purchases if #1 can't be accomplished. And if #1 can't be accomplished then I am not sure what to do outside of current debit card. But the end result is in case of a major expense needed in a emergency.

Hope all of this makes sense and I am sure I am not the only one that would love these features for a teenager and more coming up soon.

Re: Credit Card for a teen with controls?

keekers — Wed, 15 May 2024 02:30:10 GMT

I was in a similar situation a couple years ago with my oldest. I added him as an AU to my NFCU cards and I was able to set his CL. I can't recall if I was able to get purchase alerts also or not but I think I did.

Re: Credit Card for a teen with controls?

crednub — Wed, 15 May 2024 09:52:43 GMT

Amex let's you set a CL on AU cards as well as freeze/unfreeze them entirely. That's what I ended up doing for one of my kids when he moved long distance with a friend so he would have an emergency fallback.

Thankfully, I can't comment on alerts from the AU card since everything has worked out for him so far and he hasn't had to use it!

Re: Credit Card for a teen with controls?

tcbofade — Thu, 16 May 2024 13:17:33 GMT

If memory serves, American Express and Capital One both offer this option...

Re: Credit Card for a teen with controls?

BaseKetball — Thu, 16 May 2024 20:03:50 GMT

Thanks for the reply! I will look into it.

Re: Credit Card for a teen with controls?

dlister70 — Fri, 17 May 2024 13:03:36 GMT

American Express has been my first experience with authorized users, and I've set up everything from the website. It has options for setting a max limit per month, as well as getting email alerts when they spend over whatever threshold you set. The website also shows their initials next to the purchase if the authorized user made the purchase so you can easily see what you're spending vs. what they are spending. You can also freeze the authorized card if you need to.

Re: Credit Card for a teen with controls?

BaseKetball — Fri, 17 May 2024 13:15:35 GMT

Thanks so much for the information and extra "Show and Tell". I will look at my Amex Plat card and add my teen to that one. It seems very cool that I can see the difference with their info attached to the transaction. The primary use will be gas and maybe some misc items. Just knowing that I can unlock more spend if needed in emergency is more of the concern. I looked at some of my sock drawer cards, but some of them are too high CL's and risk of doing stupid sometimes on pulse isn;t something I want them to risk at this age. Guard rails and learning experiances with credit for them starting out before they get there own in about 4 years going off to college with help from us as a backup card or things that we have agreed to pay for until they have their first job.

Thanks Again and of course a shout out to everyone (@dlister70 @tcbofade @crednub @keekers) else for info that was suggested above.

Re: Credit Card for a teen with controls?

ptatohed — Fri, 17 May 2024 14:50:08 GMT

I did a quick check of my citi cards and Cap One cards. I can't see any controls other than allowing them web login or not. I looked at Chase and, good golly, I can't find anything at all regarding AUs on the website. Those AmEx options look pretty impressive.