Best credit card for student?

thepeganator

thepeganator

thepeganator

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Well I'm a uni student, and want a credit card for the protection/cashback.

Am good at paying things back, owe a little overdraft (0%, may as well use it :D ).

Something that will cover me well, earn rewards, build up some credit.

Do amex do a card that student can get?
Have to be earning 20,000pa on what I've looked at so far.
 
when I signed up for my HSBC student account, they gave me a credit card as part of their usual package (savings, current and credit card)
 
None exist! Don't bother, but if you do then whatever limit you receive cap it to something you KNOW you can afford!

Perhaps 500/1000 but still that doesn't mean you have to spend that amount.

Be Careful, Student/Credit don't mix well. Let alone anyone else for that matter but you get the idea....
 
Overdraft is on a debit card, I already have a £1000 one (which I have hit as my student loan didn't get into my account till after xmas).

After it mainly for buying online/linking to my paypal account etc, not as a source of credit, money is fine :)
 
J.B said:
I doubt it very much.

Personally I wouldnt bother with a credit card, its easy to get carried away when you're a student and lose track of these things.
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Nice sweeping statement.



As you are unlikely to get a cashback Amex, try capital one who also do cahsback I think. Otherwise just check who has freebies on offer, if interest rates won't affect you i.e. you can keep up with payments.
 
Best account that a student can get is Lloyds TSB, ive looked around all over and i settled on it. Got a bank card and a credit card.

You also get a free NUS card.
 
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If you can't keep control over your spending it's obviously a bad idea, I won't just try and take the moral highground by spouting "NOS DONT DO ITS".

If you can, it's a good idea. Many financially responsible people put loads on their CCs each month. If you pay it off in pull every month ou earn extra interest, get protection on your purchases from the CC company and will build up a positive credit rating. I've had 2 since I was 19 and have never had a problem.
 
I haven't told my bank I'm a student (deliberatley) so I have a 'normal' credit card without the impractical £500 ceiling that my friends seem to have.

I mean, what's the point of having a CC if you can't safely buy expensive things on it! (flights, holidays, toys, car stuff etc)

Any bank should give you a CC but your current bank are most likely to - call them up and ask, or go into a branch - the tellers are *always* looking to sell whatever they can to whoever they can :)
 
I'm with abbey atm, have a student account, have for ages.

I can curb my spending, I've been messed around so much by the student loans company I've had to learn to.

Was mainly looking for advice on where would be best to look, best rewards, cashback, best protection etc.

Wouldn't really use it much, just for the more risky things and to build up some credit.
 
am interested in this to get the credit rating. I am a prude so have no trouble dealing with money. What credit cards would let me have one if I don't have a job or income? I just use my student loan. I am in overdraft at the moment, not sure if that will effect me but theoretically the overdraft was "free" money so i put it in an ISA and so I still have the money but I'm making money on it (just! given the god awful interest rates). So are there any cc's out there for someone like me?
 
Skeeter said:
£2750 Interest free Student Overdraft from Halifax and the Student loan.
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What's the point. I despise banks who have such ridiculous student overdrafts because it's human nature to perceive it as free money and pretty much all students end up £2,750 in debt. Fantastic when you're living the life at uni, god awful when you start a job and the bank laugh in your face and tell you that you're not a student anymore and it HAS to be paid back immediately.

As for Amex, be realistic. That's like a 17 year old asking if they can get insured on an Enzo.
 
FrostedNipple said:
am interested in this to get the credit rating. I am a prude so have no trouble dealing with money. What credit cards would let me have one if I don't have a job or income? I just use my student loan. I am in overdraft at the moment, not sure if that will effect me but theoretically the overdraft was "free" money so i put it in an ISA and so I still have the money but I'm making money on it (just! given the god awful interest rates). So are there any cc's out there for someone like me?
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Just sign up to something like a Next directory card (pretty much is a credit card) and that'll build it safely, unless you actually plan to use a CC.
 
scott212 said:
What's the point. I despise banks who have such ridiculous student overdrafts because it's human nature to perceive it as free money and pretty much all students end up £2,750 in debt. Fantastic when you're living the life at uni, god awful when you start a job and the bank laugh in your face and tell you that you're not a student anymore and it HAS to be paid back immediately.

As for Amex, be realistic. That's like a 17 year old asking if they can get insured on an Enzo.
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i have a 3k overdraft and it went straight into an ISA. It is not free money, but it is a free loan, you may as well take advantage. Also I have a year after I leave uni to pay mine off. If you are not capable of handling money responsibly at 18 then you shouldn't be at university.
 
scott212 said:
What's the point. I despise banks who have such ridiculous student overdrafts because it's human nature to perceive it as free money and pretty much all students end up £2,750 in debt. Fantastic when you're living the life at uni, god awful when you start a job and the bank laugh in your face and tell you that you're not a student anymore and it HAS to be paid back immediately.
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Not to have a got at you specifically but I think this illustrates two things that are wrong with people's perception in this country.

1. Hate for the banks as if they want you to get into debt. The overdraft is interest free, the banks lose money on it. Yes, it's an incentive and in their interest to lure customers in but it's not like they make a huge amount of money from you borrowing their money for free.

2. The blame someone else culture. I have never perceived a credit card or overdraft as free money. I view my money status in terms of what I actually have/expect to have. Idiot students who instantly blow their "free money" are exactly the kind of morons that shouldn't be at university in the first place. Either that or basic "life lessons" should be taught from primary school age to prepare people for the real world.
 
FrostedNipple said:
....If you are not capable of handling money responsibly at 18 then you shouldn't be at university.
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Johnny Girth said:
....Idiot students who instantly blow their "free money" are exactly the kind of morons that shouldn't be at university in the first place. Either that or basic "life lessons" should be taught from primary school age to prepare people for the real world.
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great minds and all that :p
 
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