Saturday, March 31, 2007

 

No Credit Credit Card - College Credit Card

No Credit Credit Card - College credit card

College credit cards are the credit cards that have been specially designed for college students. They are more popularly known as student credit cards. Student credit cards allow the students to experience the benefits of credit cards much earlier in their life. Through student credit cards, the college students are able to learn more about credit cards and their use. In fact, for most of the students, their student credit card is their first card and that acts as a gateway into the world of credit cards. Some other students might have previously used supplementary credit cards linked to their father’s card account; however, for such students , their college credit card is the first one that is truly theirs.

Student credit cards are not very different from other types of cards in the basic sense; they function in the same way as any credit card would. However, there are some differences, which basically arise from the fact that student credit cards are used by people who have no prior experience with credit cards and who perhaps don’t understand the concept of credit cards completely. Hence, the credit card supplier is at risk with issuing cards to such people whom he is not sure about. Most of the students don’t have a credit history either. In such a case, the supplier of the student credit card cannot be sure of receiving the bill payments in time (if even receiving them at all). To counter such risks, the supplier of college credit card requires the parent of the student to co-sign the application form as a guarantee. Moreover, the credit limit on student credit cards is generally around $500-$1000 per month, which is lower than what it is for other cards (this credit limit is generally sufficient to fulfil the typical needs of a student). Another risk mitigation instrument used by the card suppliers is the interest rate or APR. The APR on student credit cards is generally higher than that for other cards. Again, this is done to dissuade the students from overspending on their card and possibly not being able to pay off the accumulated debt.

However, if we were to look at these restrictions in a positive sense, we would find that these are actually in favor of the student (who is still getting trained to take on the real world of credit cards). Moreover, student credit cards also help the student in establishing a ( hopefully good) credit history which is another important benefit that becomes handy when the student needs any type of loan at a later stage in his/her life.

So, students credit cards are really something that every student should consider going for, after evaluating all the different offers and discussing it with their parent/co-signer.

Labels: , ,


Comments: Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]





<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

Subscribe to Posts [Atom]