I didn’t have a credit card when I was in college. I think the idea that I should have a credit card probably would have caused my parents to faint from fear. However, today there are credit cards designed specifically for college students. If you haven’t yet given your child a credit card or if you think it might be time for a new one.
Here are three you should consider.
Capital One®’s Journey Student Rewards
This is an excellent credit card as it will actually teach your child how to be responsible by giving them rewards for on-time payments.. Your child would get 1% cash back on all of his or her purchases plus a bonus of 25% cash back accumulated over the month when he or she makes a payment on time. The Journey Student Rewards card is one of the best cards available for credit building. College cardholders get their credit scores monthly. It requires no annual fee and its points never expire.
DiscoverIt TM Card for students
The DiscoverIt Card’s one of the newest this year and also one that provides the most rewards. It offers 5% cash back on rotating categories that college students prefer such as restaurants and movies. This 5% cash back is good only through March 31 but students will earn 1% on all the other purchases they make. Like the Capital One card, Discovery requires no yearly fee. If your child is late in making a payment, Discover waives its standard $35 fee the first time and will not raise the APR. And students can even choose their due dates.
Citi® Dividend® Card for College Students
Like the DiscoverIt card and the Journey Student Rewards card, Citi’s card gives student cardholders generous rewards. There is s 5% cash back bonus on the purchases made on Zappos.com, as well as drugstores and fitness clubs. Cardholders earn 1% cash back on their other purchases. Citi says that students can easily manage their finances from smart phones and tablets. The card has no annual fee and doesn’t require a co-signer. Unfortunately, the APR is a bit more than the other student credit cards at 13.99% to 23.99% APR variable.
When debt goes wild
Of course, none of these credit cards can keep college students from getting into trouble with debt. One way to do this is by giving them a secured card instead of a credit card. For example, I have friends who have two kids in college. They’ve given each a secured card that they $200 into a month. Their children have learned the hard way that when the $200 is gone, that’s it. I understand that they both went through some tough times until they learned how to better manage their finances – which, of course, was the idea in the first place.
Adults can have problems, too
Students aren’t the only ones who can end up in a sinkhole of debt. It can happen to adults as well. If this happens to you, it might not even be your fault. Maybe you had to run up a lot of credit card debt due to an accident or serious illness. The only good news of being heavily in debt is that there are ways to handle it.
The big advantage of debt settlement
While many families have used debt consolidation, credit counseling, refinancing, or even bankruptcy to manage their debts, the better option is debt settlement. This is because only debt settlement will reduce your debts and without leaving as big a stain on their credit reports as declaring bankruptcy. Our debt counselors are seasoned pros that have helped their clients save thousands of dollars and become debt free in two to four years. Call us today to learn if debt settlement could work for you.
