College Student Credit Card-what Every Parent Should Know
College Student Credit Card-what Every Parent Should Know
Sending your child to college can be quite exhausting. If you have a child who studies on a college or university in another state, the distance between you and him/her means that you cannot always look out for his/her needs. You are aware that college studies are expensive nowadays yet you need to ensure that all the needs of your child are provided while he/she is attending college. Thus, such responsibility despite financial difficulties will compel you to do the best that you can to help him/her, and one of the effective ways to that would be getting him/her a college student credit card.
The issue regarding the use of credit cards for college students is not surprising. In fact, at the start of each semester of the academic year, there are many college students who receive spam emails saying that they are “pre-approved” for their college credit cards once they have decided to get one from these bogus credit card companies. Sometimes, they cannot resist on these marketing gimmicks.
As a parent, it is your responsibility to explain to your children the ins and outs of owning a college student credit card-the responsibilities and the consequences that they may face if they go over the limit of their college student credit card and failing to pay their financial obligations on time. It is time that you should be sitting down with your child and make them aware of the things that are attached with this type of credit cards.
So what are the best options for a college student credit card for your child? You may start on those credit cards with modest spending limit. Keep in mind that you will be the one to pay for their credit balances anyway, thus it is ideal if you will provide them college student credit cards with minimum credit limit.
Probably you want to take the option of getting lower APR or annual percentage rate instead of APR that are a little bit higher. However, it is recommended that you select a little bit higher APR so that you will be able to save substantial amounts of money later on. For instance, the introductory period for low APR will just last from 6 months to one year. After that, what’s next? Much higher APR, which can probably increase by as much as 100 to 150 percent of the introductory APR? If that will just be the case, it is much better to look for college student credit cards that have APR a little bit higher for the first year yet consistent on the succeeding years.
It will just be a disadvantage on your part if you will get college student credit card for your child that offers rewards or financial incentives. It will just entice your child to make more and more purchases using such card, which will result on financial burden of paying for high accumulated credit balances. In addition, it is better if you will get credit cards that can be managed online so that you will be able to see what your child is doing with his/her credit card and know if their credit account is now in trouble (the credit balance almost exceeds the prescribed credit limit).
Providing the needs of your child going to college is not as easy as giving them the college student credit card that they need. The most important thing here is the responsibility that comes in owning it. After all, you will make them realize that you are still the one who will pay for their credit card expenditures, isn’t it?
