Best CC for Blank CR

[MrCredit]

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@Anonymous wrote:

My cousin just turned 19, she has no credit whatsoever. Her report is completely void of any accounts. What CC will give her a shot? She is NOT a student.

By the way, have any of you noticed that since we have been coming to MyFICO to improve ourselves every person in our family asks us for advice? I feel like I should start charging

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Tell her to go to Macy's. Most peoples first credit card is from there. Mine was, (25) my wife is 23 and I started her credit file off with a Macys card. Go into the store, dont apply online, they will have you talk to a person on the phone in Macys, they will more than likely give you a 100 credit limit. Buy a pair of jeans, I dont usually shop at Macys too expensive but just something to get her credit going. Pay the pair of jeans off, repeat after paying, maybe with a shirt. The important thing is to buy one thing at a time due to the small CL. Every 3 months Macys gives a CLI. Call them at the 90 day mark exactly, they will ask you how much you want say $500. They will most likely grant if you paid on time thus far. Do this for about 6-12 months. You will see the offers for credit come in the mail. Be careful not to over apply for credit! Good luck.

 

After doing this, I would then advise going for a major CC like Cap One, but ALWAYS start off with a dept store card first. (if you dont want to go secured) Avoid "junk" lenders if you can First Premier etc. Crap One is ok, but more or less a stepping stone. When you get a major CC put your daily expenses on it, gas, groceries, cell phone bill, whatever, pay in full before the statement cuts. Repeat for three months. You will get auto CLIs, and the credit gardening begins. NEVER BE LATE AND GO OVER LIMIT. Hope this helps. 

Message Edited by MrCredit on 11-27-2008 03:53 AM

[Anonymous]

I would suggest one of regular (non-premium) cards from Citi. The reason I recommend Citi is:

1) They allow you to change product while maintaining history. So down the load, after your cousin builds some credit history, she can move to one of more premium card that Citi offers and keep the good and long account history on her CR. Other issuers may open up a new account in such cases and close out the old one, which is certainly not as good.

2) Opportunities for CLI. From my experience, Citi has been most generous with automatic CLI's.

Even though she's young and has no credit history, I'm pretty sure she can get a credit card. No credit can be better than bad payment history. She's likely to get the lowest CL (like $500), but as long as she uses her card well (i.e. use it frequently and pay it on time), she probably can get that increased to much higher limits in a couple of years.

Other options are store cards (like Macy's, Sears, or Target), which tend to have lower standard for qualification (although the obvious downside is that you have to buy stuff at their stores only). If you are still worried about her getting approved, secured card is always an option, although regular CCs since that's a better way to build credit for people with no credit (not to mention the possibilities of earning small rewards..) because of CLI opportunities down the road. Besides, having no credit, her credit certainly won't be "damaged" by getting declined for a CC, so why not try?

I remember getting approved for two CC's (Citi and AMEX) when I was 20 and had no credit whatsoever. I think they were the "college student" cards, and I still have the Citi card (changed product, but the same account) and the initial $500 CL is now 25K. 

Speaking of student CC, are you sure she doesn't want to apply for one of those? Those cards are designed exactly for people like her. i.e. young and no credit history.  I mean she's 19, and she doesn't have to be a 4 year university student. She can be taking courses part-time at a community college or online or a technical/vocational school. Heck, the whole "college student" CC smacks of marketing lingo. 

Message Edited by sungis on 11-27-2008 08:20 AM

Message Edited by sungis on 11-27-2008 08:25 AM

[haulingthescoreup]

Local credit union. She's more likely to get a decent CL with them, and it won't be an account that annoys the heck out of her 18 months from now, when she's in the low 700's and rising.

She will also have a good relationship started for future auto loans and so forth.

[Anonymous]

I am also having the same problem. I have just turned 18 this july, I have been doing research into my first credit card. The best thing I have come up with so far is to try at bank of america for the platinum plus visa. I have heard if you arent approved, they have the counter offer of the 99/500 card.