Student Credit Cards - Benefits and Pitfalls

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Student Credit Cards - Benefits and Pitfalls
Credit cards for students have both advantages and disadvantages. Parents and students should be aware of the pros and cons of student credit cards. Some of the merits and demerits of using a student credit card are discussed below.

Easy solution to cash crunch: If you are staying away from your parents or living in a boarding school or in hostel, the student credit card will be very he... Read credit cards article



Student Credit Cards - Benefits and Pitfalls
Credit cards for students have both advantages and disadvantages. Parents and students should be aware of the pros and cons of student credit cards. Some of the merits and demerits of using a student credit card are discussed below.

Easy solution to cash crunch: If you are staying away from your parents or living in a boarding school or in hostel, the student credit card will be very he... Read credit cards article



Student Credit Cards - Benefits and Pitfalls
Credit cards for students have both advantages and disadvantages. Parents and students should be aware of the pros and cons of student credit cards. Some of the merits and demerits of using a student credit card are discussed below.

Easy solution to cash crunch: If you are staying away from your parents or living in a boarding school or in hostel, the student credit card will be very helpful. It is an easy solution to an unexpected cash crunch and becomes invaluable in times of emergency. The credit card can make you more self-dependent and free from worry of funds. It is like all time money.

Put a limit on spending: Student credit cards generally have very low credit limits and this will place a restriction on the total spending, forcing the student to think and plan their expenses. It will make users/students understand budgeting and let them think what is necessary and how money can be spent judiciously.

Parents can monitor children's expenditure: If the student credit card is opened on joint ownership between student and parents, the bill will come to both of them. This way parents can know what way their son/daughter is spending. If parents find any unnecessary expenses, they can guide their children accordingly. It will help both the parents and students.

Incentives: Student Credit card providers woo students with various lucrative offers like rebates, cash back etc on the things students buy most, like books, CDs and clothes. You can take advantages of these offers. Moreover, student cards usually have very low APRs and other fees.

Credit record: Student credit cards are great opportunities for students to start building a good credit history. If you use your card wisely then you will build up a credit history that will help you to secure loans and mortgages more easily in future life.

Safe shopping: A student credit card enables you to shop safely and securely online. It is easy to carry and there will be no fear of losing money or becoming a victim of theft if you carry a credit card to the market. Even if you lose your credit card somewhere, you can inform the card company immediately and that will be made invalid. Later you can ask the company to issue another card in your account.

Easy to obtain: The other advantages of student cards are that they are fairly easy to obtain. There are hundred of banks and lenders offering credit cards without any charge. Moreover, the card providers do not ask for credit history of the applicants. Simply apply and the card providers will do everything till you get the card at your place.

Credit card can put you under debt trap: If misused, the credit card can put you under debt trap. If you do not pay your balance, then you will be charged high levels of interest and quickly create debt for yourself. These rates on student credit cards are often higher than that on other credit cards, and can outweigh the discounts and benefits you get.

Over-spending: There is also the danger that you will just spend too much money, and put yourself into debt that will harm your credit rating rather than improve it. Once you come under the debt trap, it would be difficult to manage your finances and this would harm your studies as well as put an unnecessary burden on your normal personal life.

Therefore, if you think there is any chance that you will not be able to handle the responsibility associated with a credit card, then, probably a student credit card would not be the best idea for you.

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0 Percent APR Offers Are Not Always Good

Credit card companies are getting out of their ways to be ahead of the competition. A lot of incentives which are truly enticing are being offered. With this stiff competition going on, better deals are available for consumers. However, you should still give it careful thought and consideration before committing to one credit card.

The annual percent rate or APR is the most widely used in credit card marketing strategies. Essentially, APR determines how much interest a credit card user needs to pay given a certain principal amount. The lower the APR, the better the deal is. Some companies may even offer 0% APR which means that borrowers only need to pay for the amount they actually borrowed.

This is definitely too good to be true. Banks are not charitable institutions but are for-profit organizations. They would definitely compensate for loss profits brought about by 0% APR in some other ways.

Usually these ways are hidden behind the fine print. Without reading and fully understanding every terms and conditions associated with signing up for a 0% APR credit card, a customer might get into financial trouble. The law only specifies that all fees and other terms and conditions be posted for customer's information. It does not require banks to print these in larger letters.

These 0% APR offers are actually just plain marketing strategies, They don't last very long - usually only for 90days to about a year. And when that introductory period is over, high APR charges would start to apply on your purchases. These would definitely lose you the money you had saved during the 0% APR period.

Also, when you try to read the fine print, you'll find out that most of these 0% APR offers may not apply to balance transfers. That means, in order for you to take advantage of this limited offer, you would have to make new purchases using your new card. This condition might be okay for those who are new credit card holders and don't have existing credit card balances from other banks. However, for most of us who are looking for ways to minimize the interest rates charged on our credit card balances, this condition does not sound good especially if we find out all about it after we have signed up for the card.

Another trick that banks use to make up for the 0% APR is by charging exorbitant application and annual fees. They might even add transfer rate charges, and if balances are not paid on time, the 0% APR offer is voided. Sometimes a penalty APR might apply for these late payments.

A lot of other things can be written on the small print too. Some application forms may state that the bank may send you another card if you don't qualify for or if the card you initially applied for is not available. Usually, these new credit cards won't have the 0% APR offer that you are interested in.

There are also instances when 0% APR offers are exclusively applicable to balance transfers. When you have paid enough to pay for the transferred balance, high APR is charged to new card purchases.

The 0% APR credit card is not as good as it seems. Reading the fine prints would enable you to avoid the marketing tricks applied. If you know how to weed out these unfavorable conditions, you would be able to take full advantage of these 0% APR credit cards.




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Student Credit Cards - Benefits and Pitfalls
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