Can students get credit cards?

College students and those who are new to credit are eligible for student-specific credit cards, with $0 annual fees, at least 1% cashback on all purchases, and report to the three major credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) each month. The goal of these credit cards is to allow students to build their credit history while saving as much money as possible. 

Students must meet the following criteria to be eligible for a credit card:

• Must be above 18 years of age 
• Have enough independent income to payment monthly credit bills (minimum amount around $10 for student cards)

Types of Student Cards

There are two main types of student credit cards: unsecured student credit cards and secured credit cards. As long as the student meets the above conditions, both types should be relatively easy to obtain. 

Within these two types, student credit cards could be further classified based on the features they offer such as those with travel rewards, varying cashback amounts, 0% APR credit cards, etc. 

Pre-Approval

Before even submitting an application for a student credit card, students can be checked for pre-approval. This is to help students determine their odds of approval without affecting their credit standing or history. Since most college students apply with little to no credit history, the pre-approval process will simply confirm the already high approval odds. 

Benefits

Student credit cards tend to offer better features, such as easy approval, low fees, credit-building, and better rewards, since students tend to be young and don’t have much credit history. Credit cards seek to establish long-term relationships and entice younger customers with these features. 

However, while interest rates start low with introductory 0% APR rates, after a certain amount of time after account opening, the average APR on a student credit card increases to over 16%.

Conclusion

College students are eligible to apply for specific student credit cards as long as they are 18 years old or above and have a consistent income to pay monthly credit bills. Credit card companies tend to offer generous terms to get students to establish long lasting partnerships with them.