College Credit Card Info
Credit Card Overview
Credit Card Help
Dispute a Credit Card Charge
College Credit Card Tips
Choosing a Student Credit Card
Managing Your Credit Card Balance
Credit Education
|
Student Credit Card BenefitsRead this article on Student Credit Card Benefits to learn how having a student credit card can get you started on building life long credit. Learn about financial ease, what a credit score is, and some additional benefits offered with some credit cards. There are both short-term and long term advantages to having a credit card. This article reviews some of the top draws for making this choice. Financial Ease If you’ve ever gone to the grocery store with $30.00 and had your total come out to $32.21, you know from experience one reason why credit cards can make life easier: you don’t always have to have the correct amount of cash or carry a checkbook. And have you ever seen the perfect shoes in a situation in which you weren’t expecting to make a purchase and/or in a place which you rarely frequent. Even if this is a reasonable, planned purchases, Having a credit card can allow you to make the purchase on the spot, rather than having to return at a later time. Need to buy a used textbook online to save over the campus bookstore cost? Run out of meal points unexpectedly so that only part of your dinner is covered? These are both times when a credit card can help make purchasing easier. Your Credit Score Have you heard of a credit score - the FICO score of 300–850 that goes a large way towards determining your financial opportunities by judging how "creditworthy" you are? FICO is an acronym for Fair Isaac’s way of rating borrowers. Having a good credit score can help you overcome old credit problems, obtain loans more quickly, have access to more credit when you need it - for example, when you want to buy a home, and borrow at lower rates. (For more information, go to fairisaac.com and search for the credit scoring booklet that you can download as a pdf file free of charge). Having a student credit card can help you achieve a high FICO score. How? Two ways. First, experts say that having several credit cards with a good history is one factor that contributes to a higher FICO score. Second, experts add that having a history of about 30 years and accounts that you’ve held for about 20 years are other factors that go towards a high score. And clearly, if you start this long process when you’re in college, you’ll get a head start towards your 20 and 30 year marks. Card Benefits With all the opportunities for various types of rewards, most people can find something to interest them. Game time on World of Warcraft or a Major League Baseball jersey may be fun rewards to receive, but if you have to make purchases, and can do it on a no-fee or low-fee card, you may also accrue a more substantial or important kind of benefit. Here are some details:
If you have good grades, also keep an eye out for cards that reward you for your grade point average. In July, 2008, CitiBank had an mtvUÔ Platinum Select VISA card for college students that offered such a benefit. Related Article: Student Credit Cards 101 >>
|
Top Resources |