Yes! My parents added me to their main credit card when I was in high school. When I looked at my credit report a few years later for the first time, it said I had a credit history since the year I was born. 
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We have 2 cards we use both opened when we were in our early 20ās, and our credit score is very good. I think Iām adding my twins, will let my daughter take it with her to college, keep my sonās for now, and ask my daughter not to mention that she is applying for a credit card to her brother.
Try to find one without foreign transaction fees if traveling is on the menu.
AMEX isnāt accepted everywhere.
Iāve been playing with the X1 card. Neat features.
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My daughter was added to my Amex account (because I wanted her to have high limits in case of domestic/overseas emergencies). So, between actively using that for quite āeverythingā, her subsidized loan she somehow qualified for (which we never could figure out) for 1 year, that sheāll be āridingā interest free through grad school, and the apartment rentals since freshman year,ā¦ she checked her credit score recently and it was decent.
Iām not sure that adding revolving credit with low limits would have made much difference.
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One day when D (age 20+) was at Costco with us with no purse and no ID, she felt sorry for the poor guy trying to get folks to get CCards so on a lark agreed to apply. She was instantly approved and got a higher credit limit that the guy trying to get people to sign up! That was her 1st independent CC. Sheās since gotten an amazon one too.
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I added both of my kids to several of my cards long ago. My oldest graduated in ā21 and the last I checked, her FICO was 825, with a 20+ year credit history and an average age of 13+ years 
. With her first job, she was able to get her own cards that supposedly required a strong credit history with no problem.
I think it was Discover that required an additional card member to be 13 - no one else had any constraint. So add your kids to your cards, and put the cards in the safe.
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Discover seems to be the first/easiest for a college kid to get on their own.
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My S21ās first card was whatever I got the biggest bonus for referring him for 
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Weāve had only an AMEX card for decades and made our son an authorized user when he was in high school. The Army issued AMEX cards to all cadets, so thatās what he uses.
To quote our son, āIf they donāt take AMEX, I donāt buy it.ā
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Thanks everyone, she applied to discover after making some comparisons, got a $2000 limit. Today we are adding both kids to one of our cards.
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Iād recommend the Barclay Arrival Plus World Elite MCā¦hereās why
ā¢ Each user on the account gets assigned their own account number. That way, if a card is lost or stolen or compromised only that individual card needs to be replaced. No need to shut down everyone else and have them wait for new cards. It also makes it easy to track spending. You see on each statement which user made which charges. No need to ask the family 'is this your charge on Amazon???"
ā¢ The card has no international transaction or currency conversion fees.
ā¢ It is a TRUE chip and PIN card vs chip and sign. This is super important for international travel. If the college student has any plans to travel abroad or study abroad they would want a card with this feature. Ask me how I knowā¦well DH and I were in Australia and needed to buy bus tickets. The machine required a chip and pin card. We didnāt have one at the time and had to panic search for the a live human to assist us.
We had each of our kids on this card during college. They also applied for their own card thru their bank. Each was approved but had very low limits. The system worked well. Now, as adults, they are still authorized users on my Barclay card because one does still travel and has it in his wallet as a backup.
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Well it looks like itās too late Barclaycard Arrival Plus Review: Closed to Applicants, but Flexible if You Have It - NerdWallet.
+1 for Discover. It was the only card that didnāt decline a 19 year old student with part time job.
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darn.
When our kids got credit cards, we definitely gave them quite a bit of guidance. Yes, itās a good way to build credit, but you donāt build credit by racking up a balance and by not paying it off. And Iāve known parents whoāve had to loan their kids money to pay off credit card debtā¦if you think your kid may have trouble, I would definitely sit down and talk about what can happen if you get into credit card debtā¦
Could their kids have had poor spending habits?
Just called the bank to get our 20 year olds on our cards, only 1 will get possession of it. He understands very well how credit cards work (and paid fees with his debit card several times), but he canāt save a nickel (in spite of working for 6 years summers and part time during the school year). He wants to move out (commutes 10 minutes away), but until he can pay $1000 a month for a room in a shared apartment, he canāt (although heās working as a lifeguard on campus this summer with a free room in an on campus apartment), hoping he likes it and it will be an inventive (his 4 siblings have apartments, $ with roommates).
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Just no credit history basically. They got credit cards after college with very low amounts on them. Where my kids and others started low then built up over the years and built up their credit ratings etc. Hope I am being clear. My niece and nephew are going through this now after college,where my kids and others are light years ahead on credit ratings etc. Never had to cosign on apartments etc for my kids where some of their room mates always needed the parents to cosign etc
I put my S22 on my AMEX at the end of last summer so he can build some credit. He has been very responsible with it - really just uses it for books and medical expenses. He uses his own debit card for personal expenses.
But, but the debit card wonāt build credit. That is what my niece and nephew were doing. Let him use his credit card and just pay it off monthly to build credit. They can just send a reminder on the app and just pay it right there and then.
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