The new rules restricting aggressive credit card marketing on campus, included in the CARD Act of 2009, seem to have reduced the practice, says a report from Credit.com.
The report cited a study from the Federal Reserve that showed, for instance, that the total of new credit card accounts opened by students decreased 17 percent from 2009 to 2010.
But while some of the more overt on-campus marketing ploys (like offering free T-shirts and pizza to students who sign up for cards) are no longer allowed, a quick online search shows that card offers aimed at students are still plentiful. The credit card comparison site CardHub.com recently analyzed roughly 1,000 cards to see which ones offered the best deal. Since most students are on a budget, the cards recommended all come without annual fees. Typically, the student cards start out with low credit lines — $300 to $500, if the student does not have a previous credit history — but can increase over time. If students are careful and pay their bills on time, the cards can help build a credit record that will help after graduation, CardHub’s chief executive, Odysseas Papadimitriou, said.
Students who can pay their card balance in full each month, CardHub advised, should hunt for cards that offer at least 1 percent cash back, on average, on all purchases. One to consider is the Citi Dividend Platinum Select Card for college students, offering 5 percent back on supermarket, drugstore, gas station and utility charges for the first six months, and 1 percent after that. The card also gives 2 percent back on rotating categories, and 1 percent on everything else.
The Journey Student Rewards card from Capital One offers 1.25 percent cash back on all purchases when the bill is paid on time, and no foreign transaction fees — a help for those spending a semester studying abroad.
Students who may need extra time to pay for expensive items bought at the start of the year, like textbooks, should consider a zero percent card to avoid costly finance charges. The Discover Student More card currently offers the longest period without a finance charge: nine months.
If you’ve already run up credit card debt, transferring the balance to a student balance-transfer card can lower your cost and make it easier to pay off the debt. The Pentagon Federal Credit Union Platinum Cash Rewards Card for Studentsoffers an interest rate of 4.99 percent for balance transfers for 24 months, (You do have to be a credit union member, and that is possible even if you do not have a military affiliation, for an annual fee, according to PenFed’s Web site). The Elks College Rewards Visa Credit Card offers zero percent interest on both purchases and transfers for six months. Both cards charge a 3 percent transfer fee.
Do you think it makes sense for college students to have credit cards?
Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=dac59cb05da375c9a362673b17045b93
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