Changes Make It Rougher To Give Credit Cards To College Students

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Written by Jonathan Summers

Thursday, 11 March 2010 09:21

by JonathanSummers

Due to the latest credit card alterations that are starting up next year, card issuers will have a strenuous time getting teenagers on college campuses to apply for credit cards without their parents' knowledge. As students arrive on campus, card issuers will be there to meet them at many schools.

"Issuers will try to continue to market to college students between now and the time the legislation takes effect," said Bill Hardekopf, chief executive of LowCards.com, a site that tracks cards. That means educating them to budget and handle a checkbook and debit card in advance to having a credit card.

Card issuers main target goal are young adults because people tend to be attached to their first card, said Christine Lindstrom, U.S. Public Interest Research Group's higher-education program director. Plus, young adults are more expected to carry revolving debt and pay late, creating more interest and fees for the card issuers, she said.

Card issuers also will require a co-signers approval to increase credit limits of a cardholder younger than 21. And issuers won't be allowed to offer T-shirts or trinkets to entice students. Some credit experts say students need a card to start building a credit history and score.

But there's no need to rush this, and it can backlash if students mismanage cards. Young adults should worry less about their credit score and focus more on regulating good financial habits between ages 16 and 21, said Craig Watts, a spokesman for FICO, the company that created a broadly used credit score. "The credit score will take care of itself," he says.

A survey published in April by Sallie Mae suggests that many young adults aren't adept managers of credit. Undergraduates on average carried record card debt of $3,173, or 46 percent more than four years earlier.

Several schools, out of concern for students, don't admit marketers to pitch cards on campus. After a few years of living on their own, paying bills and managing credit, they can apply for a credit card under their own name when they turn 21. Never co-sign, advises Janet Bodnar, author of "Raising Money Smart Kids." Besides, she added, students are more likely to learn money skills if responsible for their own debt.

About the Author:

Mallory McGuinness is employed by a collections agency that works with a debt collection lawyer. She also writes pieces on business and finance, the credit industry and collections agencies.