For most college students, credit cards are not important in the priority list. In the end, students with loans can directly debit their bank accounts to pay the expenses, as can students whose parents help financially.
The simple fact is that most students do not consider credit cards, so when they need credit cards, they will eventually be eager to choose a credit card that is not suitable for their needs, or worse credit cards will ultimately be detrimental to them.
What should students who apply for credit cards do? Very simple, they need to study! Let’s look at the advantages and disadvantages of various student credit cards. While choosing to make you comfortable and meet your requirements well, it will not bring you too many setbacks.
What characteristics are you looking for? Well, when you find the perfect student credit card, there are a few things you must remember.
cost
Some credit cards charge annual membership fees when they are used. I would like to advise students to stay away from this type of credit card. Because in general, their advantages are not enough to exceed the fact that you have to pay. You already have good tuition, textbooks, accommodation, and many other things to worry about. It’s meaningless to add one more thing.
Credit cards that charge annual membership fees are more designed for business people who spend more money and have high disposable income than for students who have a fixed budget. Therefore, most student credit cards do not come with this fee. But if they do, before you register, consider whether you really need the benefits of that particular credit card.
Expenditure Limits
When I started my first year of undergraduate study, the credit limit of the first credit card I applied for was $500, which exceeded my needs at that time. With the increase of general expenses in college, the limit was finally increased to 1000 dollars, and a second credit card was added at 1500 dollars. This is mainly because I want to get the biggest discount in the credit card bonus plan, so I want to use it when buying textbooks or paying tuition fees. But this is a good example of making full use of credit cards.
reward
Rewards are bonuses that companies attach to student credit cards to attract more people to register. A good example of this is as follows. Cash return “; credit card, the part you write on the credit card will be returned to you.
The popular credit card among my friends is the food store credit card, which is issued by a chain of food stores where we live. They did not return cash directly, but provided store credit twice as high as most cash return plans at that time, which attracted many students.
interest rate
Ideally, this should not be a problem. Because you can repay your balance every month and never accumulate interest in your account. But in fact, this is not always the case. Therefore, interest should also be concerned.
The industry average annual interest rate of credit card is 19-23%, compounded monthly. But as a student, you should make full use of the existing discounts. If you do research, you should be able to find cards that meet your requirements. The student discount rate is in the range of 10-15%.
Although 10% seems small, the attention will increase rapidly in case of job loss, resignation or other unexpected events that affect the finance. One way to prevent this from happening in part is to look for lower interest rates first if you have a purpose.
