Choosing the Best Credit Card for Students

Filed under: Credit Card Tips

With all the marketing ploys, gimmicks, and enticements sent to students from credit card companies, making the right choice can become confusing.  Yet, if you are a student embarking upon your first experience with credit, making the right choice is imperative.  Following, are a few suggestions that should help make your selection easier.

Closely scrutinize the initial APR of the card. This is generally a promotional rate designed to entice you to go with this company.  The card with the longest lasting promotional rate is one to strongly consider.  Look for a zero percent interest rate, some cards offer this promotion for the introductory six months.  This is beneficial to your goal to eliminate costs from carrying balances forward.

Now, you want to check where the rate climbs after the opening rate. This rate will always reflect an increase.  In the case of student offers this rate can rise dramatically.  You will want s card that raises this rate the least.

Forget all about free gifts and bonuses. Remember the old saying that “nothing in life is free?”  This was never truer than with credit card companies.  You pay for your rewards, gifts, or bonuses, with fees, interest, and membership rates.  Discount these offers entirely when choosing your credit card.

Consider the reputation of the credit card company. If the offer is from a well known, nationally recognize firm, your credit will establish itself more rapidly.  Offers from smaller banks are not as good in the duration.

If there is a cash back offer or credit for buying certain offers, this could be a positive point in your evaluation of that card.

Before you apply for a credit card, check your credit report. You can get a free copy of your credit report once annually.  Otherwise, you will have to pay for the information.  Have someone who knows about credit reports review it with you.  If you’re unfamiliar with them, you might not gain much insight.  Most importantly check your FICO score.  This number is essential in determining your acceptance and your credit limit.

Be smart about your credit card. You can make mistakes with this credit that will hound you for years to come, or you can create a leg up for yourself in life.  It all depends on how seriously you take the responsibility of your student credit card.

Remember that it is a tool for establishing a good credit report.  It does not represent free money since you will have to pay the bill every month anyway.

The idea of getting a new credit card is very exciting, when you are a student. But credit card companies are not distributing them as promotion. They do it for more profit and more business. So as a student, what to see in a credit card offer? How to pick up the best? Chintamani Abhyankar offers useful tips on right credit card for students.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/credit-articles/choosing-the-best-credit-card-for-students-1524166.html

About the Author

Chintamani Abhyankar, is a well known expert in the field of finance and taxation for last 25 years. He has written many books explaining inside secrets of the magic world of personal finance. His famous eBook Stop donating your money to IRS which is now running in its second edition, provides intricate knowledge and valuable tips on personal finance and income tax.

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What Parents Need To Know About College Student Credit Cards

Filed under: Credit Card Tips

Sending your child to college can be quite exhausting. If you have a child who studies on a college or university in another state, the distance between you and him/her means that you cannot always look out for his/her needs. You are aware that college studies are expensive nowadays yet you need to ensure that all the needs of your child are provided while he/she is attending college. Thus, such responsibility despite financial difficulties will compel you to do the best that you can to help him/her, and one of the effective ways to that would be getting him/her a college student credit card.

The issue regarding the use of credit cards for college students is not surprising. In fact, at the start of each semester of the academic year, there are many college students who receive spam emails saying that they are “pre-approved” for their college credit cards once they have decided to get one from these bogus credit card companies. Sometimes, they cannot resist on these marketing gimmicks.

As a parent, it is your responsibility to explain to your children the ins and outs of owning a college student credit card-the responsibilities and the consequences that they may face if they go over the limit of their college student credit card and failing to pay their financial obligations on time. It is time that you should be sitting down with your child and make them aware of the things that are attached with this type of credit cards.

So what are the best options for a college student credit card for your child? You may start on those credit cards with modest spending limit. Keep in mind that you will be the one to pay for their credit balances anyway, thus it is ideal if you will provide them college student credit cards with minimum credit limit.

Probably you want to take the option of getting lower APR or annual percentage rate instead of APR that are a little bit higher. However, it is recommended that you select a little bit higher APR so that you will be able to save substantial amounts of money later on. For instance, the introductory period for low APR will just last from 6 months to one year. After that, what’s next? Much higher APR, which can probably increase by as much as 100 to 150 percent of the introductory APR? If that will just be the case, it is much better to look for college student credit cards that have APR a little bit higher for the first year yet consistent on the succeeding years.

It will just be a disadvantage on your part if you will get college student credit card for your child that offers rewards or financial incentives. It will just entice your child to make more and more purchases using such card, which will result on financial burden of paying for high accumulated credit balances. In addition, it is better if you will get credit cards that can be managed online so that you will be able to see what your child is doing with his/her credit card and know if their credit account is now in trouble (the credit balance almost exceeds the prescribed credit limit).

Providing the needs of your child going to college is not as easy as giving them the college student credit card that they need. The most important thing here is the responsibility that comes in owning it. After all, you will make them realize that you are still the one who will pay for their credit card expenditures, isn’t it?

About the Author:  Roderick Rocha owns a website with information for those who want to find out about eucalyptus polyanthemos and eucalyptus seeds. Get tips from the Eucalyptus Plant website.

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Student Credit Cards – A Foreword

Filed under: Credit Card Tips

Just as the term itself suggests, student credit cards are credit cards meant exclusively for students, many of whom are yet to earn a documented income with employment. Credit card issuers are mindful of students and their credit challenges so they make accommodations for students when building student credit card offers specifically. Typically, the only constraint when applying for a student credit card is the age of the
student, and as mandated by the law of the country, which is typically 18 years old and above at the time of application. In many ways, a student credit card is very similar to traditional, run-of-the-mill credit cards. But the major difference, is the standard APR, or interest rate, levied for card purchases, which is relatively higher than a traditional credit card APR.

Credit Card Use & Credit Score

Student credit cards provide more financial flexibility for young students. But, while it may come in handy when paying the rent, paying tuition, purchasing books, and other necessary items like food and clothing, unbridled card swiping can sometimes lead to financial trouble, especially in the form of poor credit scores and damaged credit histories. To a certain
extent, this can be blamed on a lack of education or awareness as young people, often times, will not think too much about the concept of credit scoring or the idea of building a good credit history. As a result of this lack of awareness, they will typically not restrain themselves from using the credit card freely either.

The danger of poor credit scores will not become readily apparent, but will certainly become apparent when the student approaches a bank for credit at a later point in time. Credit profiling or credit scores, as determined by any of the three credit bureaus, represent an individual’s credit life history,
and black marks on credit histories, however they are acquired, will make it difficult, at worst, and more expensive, at best, to secure the lowest possible interest rate on the loan or financing. So, consequently, even if one manages to get the home loan or car loan, for instance, the interest rate, in order to
accommodate the increased credit risk perceived by the bank, will be higher than normal, and in turn, much more expensive for the borrower. The bottom line is that student credit cards represent a potential risk to future economic standing if the cards are not used judiciously.

Using Student Credit Cards

As previously mentioned, it is clear that uncontrolled use of a student credit card can easily damage an individuals budding credit scoring and credit history profile. But on the flip side, intelligent spending and timely payback can go a long way toward building a solid credit history and credit score. Using the card for necessary purchases that are well within his/her payback capabilities and making the payments well within the due date
can improve one’s credit rating tremendously.

Credit Bureau Reporting

The rules of credit bureaus are pretty straightforward. The amount of money that an individual borrows will be reflected in his or her credit report and the credit limits that each person can retain will be reflected in the amount of credit that the individual has previously “borrowed” and has paid back on time.  Simple, right?

One additional point of interest … the credit card company is supposed to report each transaction that is been done on a particular credit card account to the three major credit bureaus promptly. But this does not happen in every case. More specifically, secure student credit cards or prepaid cards, often times will not report transactions to the major credit
bureaus. Therefore, it is the user s responsibility to make sure that the credit card transaction history is indeed being reported to the credit bureaus and is being done done in a timely manner. Remember, an unnoticed credit transaction does not do any good to improve your credit history.

About the author:  Lucas Berg
Find tips about text bullying and emotional bullying at the Types Of Bullying
website.

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