If your parents are USAA members you may qualify for their college start credit card. You have to be enrolled in a four year college and be 18 or over.
Credit union is the worse, my kid was rejected there because she didn’t have 6 month of employment, but got Bof A credit card.
My friend had the same issue – he was rejected because he had no credit!! I thought it would be impossible to find any credit card… he found some weird mastercard that allowed him to obtain it once they saw that he has a steady job and decent income from working at a local pharmacy. Sometimes if you just do some digging, get a sort of substandard card, use it to build up credit, you can then get a good card with great rewards!
UPDATE Got a letter from Discover today with an invitation code to apply for the Chrome Student Card with cash back and no interest for first 6 months. I applied and entered the amount of financial aid I was going to receive to pay for housing and personal expenses as yearly income. Guess what? I was approved!!! Yay! So excited!
Things must’ve changed since I got my first CC (2006). At 18 and in the military (so, full-time “job” with a steady paycheck) and I had to start with a $500 limit CC from my local credit union, of which I’d been a member since I was 11 years old (Started with a “kiddie” savings account collecting quarters and depositing them $5 booklets at a time), and that was only AFTER my father (also a credit union member) co-signed. Then again, credit unions and national-level banks have different incentives and offer products differently as such.
Annual fees for CCs? Dafuq? $29 may not certainly be worth it to build credit, since value is subjective, but okay.
I am a bit older (25) and I got my first credit card at 24… Nobody ever cosigned for me. Before that I had limited work experience because I was always off the books. I didn’t have any record of income. (the money was good but working off the books hurted me). My first loan was an installment loan - I bought a motorcycle and the only reason the bank accepted me was because I brought proof that I had more than enough money to pay off the loan (I paid $1000/month until it was paid off). So while my situation is unique - maybe you can take away something from it (as in working on the books!).
After a few months I was approved for a Capital One Journey card. They started me at $500 limit. I really like that credit card! No annual fee, low interest rate, and 1% cash back on all purchases. I swipe everything on that card and pay it off before it incurs any interest (this is good! dont listen to anyone that says you shouldnt pay it off right away!!!). After a few months I have $100 in rewards sitting there. Also after 6 months they raised me to a $4000 limit. I can recommend that card.
First step is always a checking account and don’t EVER overdraft it. One more time - DONT OVERDRAFT IT. That will hurt you.
Open up a savings and a checking account. You don’t want to keep all your money in your checking account. One time my account was compromised and lost $3000. Keep your money in a savings account and only transfer to your checking to pay bills, but you have to becareful of fees (having under $100 etc.) You can talk to a representative at the bank and have them waive any fees because apparently Capital One had the power to do that for me.
Applying for credit many times also will hurt you.
Installment loans are a different debt than credit card debt. I think it is beneficial to leverage both kinds of debt (of course if you have the funds to do so).
Well that is my experience with credit - hope it helps.
@turtlerock there were major credit card changes around 2008/2009 that made it much, much harder for young people to get credit cards. It really was for the best. The practices that banks used to use to attract college students were predatory at best.