Credit cards for students

jude1979

My 19 year old University student sister is after to a credit card for an emergency back up for going on holiday to cyprus with her mates this summer. She has applied for an egg card and was turned down, then she looked at marbles, goldfish, and capital one all of which advertise their student credit cards but you have to be 21 to apply!!! She works part time in and earns about 5K per year, and is after just a low limit on a credit card... any advice or suggestions please?

Thanks
Jude

cifpower

I would say Capital One or Barclaycard

Chadsman

Most (all???) of the major banks have a student CC. The bank most likely to accept someone would be the bank with whom they already have their current ac.

Bargain_Rzl

My dad mentioned last time I saw him that my brother (also 19 and a student) managed to get a platinum card out of somebody.... I'll try to find out who!

cifpower is right about Capital One though. They tend to accept virtually anybody, although with some terms and conditions to protect themselves if they consider you financially unstable (for example they may ask for a deposit).

crana999

I got a HSBC credit card with my student account, no problems. Whoever she has her student account with should be the best bet, assuming she has one - if not she could think about opening one.

If it's just for emergencies there's the option of using her overdraft facility and a debit card perhaps if she has those..

newfoundglory

Chadsman wrote:

Most (all???) of the major banks have a student CC. The bank most likely to accept someone would be the bank with whom they already have their current ac.

Yes, I agree with the above - go with the current bank first

If she doesn't have a debit + cheque guarantee card, she should obtain one if possible first from her bank before applying for a credit card. Some application forms will ask what facilities you have on your main bank account and you will score more points on the application for having a cheque card.

Ideally, you would want a Nationwide current account or credit card for travel (you wouldn't need any currency then, because the card exchange rates are so good)... however, having recommended close friends, I know a lot of students have got rejected for nationwide cards because they do not already bank there... or thats what it seems! The min. income is meant to be £6000 year/£500 a month for a Nationwide credit card.... but they must consider applications on an individual basis as my income was less than that at the time I applied - but then I already had a bank account with Nationwide!

Bargain_Rzl

Well I asked my brother, and he confirmed that his credit card came from Natwest, which is his bank. When I was a student I too had a CC from my bank (Lloyds TSB).

student100

I have an Accucard CC. I think they ask for minimum £5.5k income (this includes student loan and money from parents etc). It also has the nice bonus of 0.5% cashback if you set it up right.

Really if you're going abroad you want a Nationwide card, but they're not that easy to get; a year ago I applied for one and was rejected. I then applied for the Accucard (which I got) and after having the Accucard for a year I applied again for the Nationwide card (which I then got).