Student with no income but GOOD credit?

[Anonymous]

I’m a current college student over the age of 21. I’ve never had a credit card before and would like to get one to help build my credit card. Unfortunately, I’m finding it difficult to find a card that would approve me with no income. My internship is unpaid so my parents will be making payments for me until I get a paid job. Also, I can’t get a secured card because my score is 712 which is considered too good to get secured or even some student cards. Does anyone have any ideas? I also travel overseas often so a card with no foreign transaction fees and NO annual fees would be pretty good to have! Thanks.

[Medic981]

Welcome to the myFICO forums!

Unfortunately, good credit is worthless unless you have a way to pay back what you have borrowed.

I got a secured Discover with my FICO scores at 720. If you have no credit cards then you are a prime candidate for secured CCs.For some reason, which I haven't figured out, Discover did not want to give me an unsecured card so I applied of a secured CC. Now it is unsecured with a $3K CL.

As a student, I would apply for Discover's Student CC. Also, Citi Bank, Bank of America, Captial One, Wells Fargo all have student credit cards. Student CCs exist for individuals who have a limited income or depend on support from parents while in school. If not, a secured CC is the way to go without any income.

IMO, Discover it Secured is one of the best-secured CCs for poor credit, bad credit, and limited credit applicants—and one of the best gas CCs you can get with bad credit. Disco offers 2% cash back at restaurants and gas stations (one up to $1,000 in combined purchases each quarter) and 1% cash back on other purchases. You’ll need an up-front security deposit of at least $200 to apply for the Discover it Secured Card.

Capital One Secured CC requires a refundable security deposit of $49, $99 or $200 based on your creditworthiness. Make the minimum required security deposit and you'll get an initial credit line of $200. Plus, deposit more money before your account opens to get a higher credit line. Get access to a higher credit line after making your first 5 monthly payments on time.

Bank of America's BankAmericard Secured CC is designed to help establish, strengthen or rebuild credit for an annual fee of $39. A minimum refundable security deposit of $300 is required to open this account. Your maximum credit limit will be determined by the amount of the security deposit you provide, your income and your ability to pay the credit line established. If you provide a deposit that exceeds the calculated maximum amount based on your ability to pay, a will be returned to you for the difference. BoA periodically reviews your account and, based on your overall credit history (including your account with us and other credit cards and loans), you may qualify to have your security deposit returned. Not all customers will qualify.

[CreditInspired]

OP

Ask your parents to make you an AU on one of their CCs. At least you’ll have access to a CC until you get a job and can get your own.

[Anonymous]

Apply for Discover Student card! maybe they will start you with lower credit limit but trust me it will grow within a year.

All the best! Also, I would like to suggest you reach out to your primary banking institution and see what credit cards they offer with no annual fees and apply for it. That's how I got my freedom and travel rewards from chase and boa with no credit history. All the best   

[Bees18]

@vs23

if you are over the age of 21 and live with your parents I'm pretty sure you can use them as household income, as long as you have reasonable access to it.

[SBR249]

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@Bees18 wrote:

@Anonymous

if you are over the age of 21 and live with your parents I'm pretty sure you can use them as household income, as long as you have reasonable access to it.

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I'd be very leery of using the "reasonable access" reason in this case. Someone agreeing to support you and paying your bills is not necessarily the same thing as having "reasonable access" to their income. The "access" part would reasonably be construed as you having some measure of control over the funds and some independence in its disposition such as joint ownership in a deposit account, possession of debit card & PIN, etc. Being a dependent may not fully satisfy that requirement. If someone else such as a parent is responsible for paying the bills, the more appropriate thing to do would be to set up AU accounts. 

[Anonymous]

Capital One allows you to include money that someone else uses to pay your expenses as income. This may be the case for other credit card companies.
"I’m not sure how to answer the question about income. Can you help?
Here’s how to think about what to include:
...Shared Income: Money from somebody else that is regularly deposited into your individual account or into a joint account that person shares with you. ...

If somebody else pays my expenses, can I include that in my income amount?
Yes, as long as you are at least 21 years old and that income is regularly used to pay your expenses."

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Capital One allows you to include money that someone else uses to pay your expenses as income. This may be the case for other credit card companies.
"I’m not sure how to answer the question about income. Can you help?
Here’s how to think about what to include:
...Shared Income: Money from somebody else that is regularly deposited into your individual account or into a joint account that person shares with you. ...

If somebody else pays my expenses, can I include that in my income amount?
Yes, as long as you are at least 21 years old and that income is regularly used to pay your expenses."

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I've seen a lot of apps use the same language so just put the relative annual amount your parents provide you. Frankly most creditors wont care if you use your card for everyday expenses, pay every month and don't carry balances.

[Anonymous]

Definitely try for the discover student card and what I would do is claim an amount of income that reasonable to your spending. Have your parents put in writing that they argee to give you that X amount to spend on the card. I'm a college student in my early 20s, I have income due to disablity though. Getting the discover student card made a big difference when applying for better cards even with just 4 months history. I went out of the gate trying for chase and got denied. Now I just got approved for the freedom unlimted and will likely be able to get the Amazon VS card early next year. Also try your bank, for my auto loan the bank that I held the majority of my money with was the only way I was able to get approved for my car without having an outrageous interest rate(I think carmax offered me a rate of 18% lmao).

[Anonymous]

Shawk08033, woah, you got approved by Chase? Your profile is pretty similar to mine, I went for Chase Freedom and Chase Amazon Visa Signature out of the gate in 06/18 and got denied, then got approved for the Discover IT Student card with a $2k income the same day. They just bumped it to $3k this last statement (statement 4). I see you have deferred student loans, but I have no other credit history other than an old authorized user parent's card. FICO from Disco says 745, but I've only reported for 6 months so I can't unlock the detailed breakdown. Do you think I stand a shot? $20k ish income.

OP, I'd highly reccomend the Discover Student IT. I really like the cashback structure, and I've had nothing but good experiences with their customer support. I'm looking to move on once Q1 2019 rolls around, but getting 10% back on restaurants (Q3 2018) and Amazon (Q4 2018) is great. I'm very happy with it as a first card.