Student Credit Cards

[djcyanide]

Hi, is it possible for a 17 year old who is going into 1st year university studies to get a secured/unsecured credit card without a co-signor? If so then whats the best no fee card to go for, preferably with some cashback and extended warranty on purchases? Thanks a lot guys :)

[netgeek]

As far as i know every credit card requires the holder to be at least 18 years of age or older.

[carabunny]

in my first year i applied to cibc student visa and BMO Mosiak mastercard, didn't have a job so cibc denied me but BMO accepted me so i got the cc from there. it does have cash back, 0.5% which is close to nothing, but no fees and what not. so it's pretty good, compared to the other visas/mc that give you absolutely nothing.

i now have the shoppers optimum visa and what the lady did for me at the counter was fill in my "other income" box with like my mother's income and it got approved. i don't know if that's what they're supposed to do... but i have an income of less than 15k but i still got approved. *shrug*

never had a parent co-sign for my credit card...

edit: probably because i as 18 when i entered uni... i dunno. i'm no help =(

[blink]

You have to be the age of majority (18-19 depending on province) to get a credit card in your own name, otherwise you will need a co-signer.

For a list of student credit cards, see http://www.fcac-acfc.gc.ca/eng/publications/ccc/0104/pdfs/Student-e.pdf

I recommend getting anything that gives you a reward (not many) and then 6-12 months later apply for the President's Choice mastercard (PCMC) which gives you 1% back for groceries, books, etc. The PCMC is not a student card but you should have no problems getting it if you have a good credit history. That was how I approached it when I first got my credit card.

[djcyanide]

muchos gracias guys. I'll turn 18 this january and already have an income over 1500$ as required by some student cards. Thanks for the info! :razz:

[z_squared]

May not be what you want to hear, but BE CAREFUL with any form of credit...

It's a system designed to take as much money as possible from you the consumer. Always live within your means.

Sincerely,
The Preacher

[djcyanide]

thanks for the advice , i'll be sure to keep it in mind. My only interest in getting a credit card is start establishing credit and to make life a little easier when making online purchases and such. I plan to pay off what ever i owe in full as soon as that bill lands in the mail box :D

[supernerd]

I have 2 'student' credit cards and never used them. I only signed up for free gifts :P I found that normal credit cards are just as easy to get, and they have much higher limits and more incentives. My personal favorite: PC financial MC. I started off with a 1500 limit, and increased to 3500 within 3 months. 3 years later, I'm at 10,000 limit :)
Combine this limit with the equivalent of 1% "cash back" at superstore/loblaws/etc, I save 50 bucks on my $5000 tuition -- plus I get an extra month or so to pay it off :)

[UrbanPoet]

I have 2 'student' credit cards and never used them. I only signed up for free gifts :P I found that normal credit cards are just as easy to get, and they have much higher limits and more incentives. My personal favorite: PC financial MC. I started off with a 1500 limit, and increased to 3500 within 3 months. 3 years later, I'm at 10,000 limit :)
Combine this limit with the equivalent of 1% "cash back" at superstore/loblaws/etc, I save 50 bucks on my $5000 tuition -- plus I get an extra month or so to pay it off :)

haha Nice. Just like the time i signed u pfor a sears card to get $10 off

[crowdpuller]

I have 2 'student' credit cards and never used them. I only signed up for free gifts :P I found that normal credit cards are just as easy to get, and they have much higher limits and more incentives. My personal favorite: PC financial MC. I started off with a 1500 limit, and increased to 3500 within 3 months. 3 years later, I'm at 10,000 limit :)
Combine this limit with the equivalent of 1% "cash back" at superstore/loblaws/etc, I save 50 bucks on my $5000 tuition -- plus I get an extra month or so to pay it off :)

Not many school accept credit as a mode of payment for tution.

[f00kie]

I've got the Royal Bank student Credit Card. Applied on my birthday, at 7am, right when I turned 18, and received the card a week later. You do have to be a university/college student to receive the card. I also think I wrote my income was around the $7000 range, which it is, if that helps.

Now, I use my credit card everywhere I can, as I have a very low balance on my Royal Bank debit card (that way I earn interest at INGDirect). What's good about credit cards? You pay for something without using up your own money and have between 20-50 days to pay it back, interest free. I love it.

[Tharyn]

Most major banks have "Student" Credit Cards which don't require a minimum personal income, or co-signor, all you need is to be enrolled in a post-secondary instituion.

Also you need to be 18.

I got the TD Student Visa, have been using that and recent applied and got accepted for the PC MasterCard, stocking up on PC POints for groceries is great, especially with school coming up.

First thing's first, just check with your current banking institution and see if there's anyhting they can do for you.

--Mark

[stooples_employee]

Not many school accept credit as a mode of payment for tution.
Seneca accepts credit card
its great.. i have a crappy Scotibank Moneyback Visa... so i get some money back.. for last yr i got $80, not much but still something.. thats after like spending... almost 10K

[eliteblaze]

unforunately most unviersities except maybe uoft and york (still doubful) do not accept CCs. Just too much money to throw away overall

[cuiyinghost]

unforunately most unviersities except maybe uoft and york (still doubful) do not accept CCs. Just too much money to throw away overall

U of T accept CCs? never konw

[f00kie]

U of T accept CCs? never konw

I think he meant the opposite. UofT doesn't except credit cards.

[gq_fuzion]

applied for a CIBC and TD visa on my 18th bday
recieved them a week later

a year later now, i'm upgrading my CIBC visa to a CIBC Dividend's card which gives up to 1% cashback

[cuiyinghost]

applied for a CIBC and TD visa on my 18th bday
recieved them a week later

a year later now, i'm upgrading my CIBC visa to a CIBC Dividend's card which gives up to 1% cashback


i just wanna konw like how you upgrade the visa card. I am w/ TD for abt 2 years and get nothing back. Time to upgrade :lol:

[stooples_employee]

Just a little heads up

Don't apply for too many credit cards at the same time, one or two is ok, but don't apply for like 4 or 5 in a short period time ie. 1 - 2 mths

(1) this affects your credit
(2) and in turn you could get denied the credit card

I applied for way too many credit cards and screwed up my credit a bit, it's getting better now tho....

[stooples_employee]

i just wanna konw like how you upgrade the visa card. I am w/ TD for abt 2 years and get nothing back. Time to upgrade :lol:
TD doesnt really offer cashback... you can change ur card to the GM one and collect points toward a purchase of a GM vehicle ... TD GM Visa (http://www.tdcanadatrust.com/tdvisa/gm.jsp)

if you have the money you can get this card, you earn 1% back TD Gold Elite Visa (http://www.tdcanadatrust.com/tdvisa/elite.jsp)

[canrocks]

Try MBNA cards - some of them offer great rewards, and they'll accept virtually anyone.

[minids]

in my first year i applied to cibc student visa and BMO Mosiak mastercard, didn't have a job so cibc denied me but BMO accepted me so i got the cc from there. it does have cash back, 0.5% which is close to nothing, but no fees and what not. so it's pretty good, compared to the other visas/mc that give you absolutely nothing.

i now have the shoppers optimum visa and what the lady did for me at the counter was fill in my "other income" box with like my mother's income and it got approved. i don't know if that's what they're supposed to do... but i have an income of less than 15k but i still got approved. *shrug*

never had a parent co-sign for my credit card...

edit: probably because i as 18 when i entered uni... i dunno. i'm no help =(

When i went to order some cheques at cibc, the lady at the counter offer to sign me up for cibc dividend cc but i just got my visa student card for three weeks so i respectfully decline. Wonder if that is a bad decision?

[pandaharo]

I was 18 when I got my student visa as the sole owner. I used the RBC one, 1000 max credit limit was too low since my university accepted CC, so I ended up signing up for other credit cards as well.

[supernerd]

Try MBNA cards - some of them offer great rewards, and they'll accept virtually anyone.

They'll also continually spam you, even after you cancel your cards and tell them to stop.

[jeeva86]

ya, i currently have the U of T MBNA MC..but i don't get any rewards for it..and i want a card that gives me something in return without having to pay any additional fees..i was looking at the NO fee Scotia Moneyback VISA..but in order to apply i have to go in person and do all that crap..and since i have no income other than OSAP pretty much, i donno if i'll get accepted to that..but this is how moneyback works at Scotia

"Cardholders have been automatically enrolled in this program to receive up to 1% Moneyback. Moneyback is calculated on card purchases, net of returns, and will be credited directly to the account on the July statement. Every month, you will be advised on your statement of the total purchases to date eligible for Moneyback.

You will receive 0.25% Moneyback on the first $1500.00 in net purchases, and 0.50% on the next $1500.00 in net purchases. On any net purchases exceeding $3000.00, Moneyback of 1.00% will be credited to your account."

So are there any good cards to get other than the PCMC..i don't want grocery money..nor the GM card..I only have a debit account at TD

[carabunny]

I think he meant the opposite. UofT doesn't except credit cards.

confirmed it doesn't... i sent an email yesterday wondering

Hello,


Sorry, the University does not take credit card payments. Please see our web site for full payment options.


Bonnie Vincze

Student Accounts
Financial Services Department, University of Toronto
215 Huron Street, 2nd floor, Toronto, Ontario. M5S 1A2

Telephone: (416) 978-2142, Fax: (416) 978-2610
Email:info.studentaccount@utoronto.ca
Student Accounts website: http://www.fees.utoronto.ca

[jeeva86]

ya, that's a ***** or else i would've got some good moneyback off them bitches..asking for 8000 for tuition..dammmm

so ppl..what is a good cc card you have or heard about that gives you moneyback..and something that you can get in very minimal time..perhaps online applications..

[Nuprapture]

I got an MBNA MC right when i turned 18 (a little after starting university). They accepted me with a 1500 limit altho i made just shy of 10,000 per year. I kept that for about a year and now i've gotten myself a shoppers optimum visa (cibc) which, with an income of about 20k now, gave me a 5k limit.

Those of u who apply for cards randomly, DONT! they really draw down ur credit and i've seen customers get refused for small borrowing products simply because they applied for too much credit within a short period of time. (each application does a credit bureau check when u initiate it).

I dont think the walmart card does a credit check, so thats a pretty safe bet that you'll get it. It's around 13% interest and is granted to pretty much anyone who applies for it as long as they're over 18. Give that a shot if ure having trouble getting a card.

[jeeva86]

ya, i have the MBNA MC too..but I want more..meaning something more for using the card..ok the PCMC card..when can you use it towards grocery purchases?

[Agent_J]

ya, i have the MBNA MC too..but I want more..meaning something more for using the card..ok the PCMC card..when can you use it towards grocery purchases?
http://www.pcmastercard.pcfinancial.ca/rocen/cardapp/index.htm

[2000fordfocus]

is better to stay away in the first place, haha

[blink]

ya, i have the MBNA MC too..but I want more..meaning something more for using the card..ok the PCMC card..when can you use it towards grocery purchases?

You can only take it out in $20 increments.
For groceries you can do this right at the till.
You can also buy chapters and famous players gift certificates for the same amount.
It is equal to a 1% rate of return this way.

I think you can also swap for Sears gift certificates for a 2% return but only if you have 300,000 points (for $600 Sears gift certificate) banked. Check out the RFD credit card article (http://www.redflagdeals.com/deals/main.php/articles/credit1/) for more info.

[q_hada]

I got an MBNA MC application with one of my UofT enrollment packages and they accepted me without a co-applicant (unlike PC, which rejected my MC application at around the same time). They gave me $1000 to start, and have slowly bumped it up to $2000 now (3 years in) without me asking for an increase. MBNA has absurd fees though, e.g. cash advances cost $7.50 or 1% of the advance, whichever is higher. My RBC student visa only charges ~$2. Neither has an annual fee.

[Siefer999]

i kept on applying and getting rejected bc i was under 18 and only for cibc to aprove me when i turned 17... only took me 12 times or so...

[eliteblaze]

yah I figured most universities wouldn't but some colleges would.

Usually tuition is huge at university (4-5 figures) so 3% is a larger chunk plus they have excellent enrollment:collection ratio as it is :)

Most students and most parents I imagine for example couldn't afford to creditwise put 5 figures on their credit card.

If UofT, Mcgill and York doesn't no other university should unless they process it through someplace like their bookstore where they have a good merchant account or something. The larger teh account, the lower the %. Standard is 3%, like at car dealerships, stores etc.

Legally I don't thikn CIBC should have accepted you at 17 but who knows what happened there. Someplaces might fudge the birthdate so you can activiate or something. Legally you could spend as much as you can and not pay CIBC and run without much legal recourse for CIBC

confirmed it doesn't... i sent an email yesterday wondering

[charger]

If your parents trust you, you could co-sign it with them. The only downside is that the statements all go to the primary card holder's address. So your parents will be able to see exactly what you are spending your money on.

Or get a TD green card, it is a pretty good compromise.

I love my credit cards. I have a PC points card and I put everything on it. Pay it all off. It's stuff I have to buy anyways, so if I can get wicked points all the better. My biggest boon to it is that I spend $800 a month at the pharmacy, but I get all the money back through my benefits package.

I never carry a balance and only put on the card the balance of my bank account or what I will have in my bank account with each paycheck.

If you are really concerned about spending get Quicken, it really gives you piece of mind knowing how much money you are spending and where it all goes. Enough of this though.

[Nyte]

If you are really concerned about spending get Quicken, it really gives you piece of mind knowing how much money you are spending and where it all goes. Enough of this though.

Or just look at where you're spending the money through online banking. Sure its not as detailed, but you don't have to do any work to get it either.

[chadder]

Check out the Citibank Enrich (http://www.citibank.com/canada/cards/english/overview_enr.htm) card. It gives a full 1% cashback, as opposed to the dividends cards which are usually tiered (0.25% on the first $3000, 0.50 on the second $3000, etc). If you don't want to be constrained to spending your reward at a certain store, this is a good option, since you just get cash back. A lot of the student cards don't really have any rewards, so they aren't that great.

There is another trick you can use to get a higher limit for your credit card. Someone at one of the card companies told me that they consider a job full time after 3 months. So most of you will be just finishing up 3-4 months of work for the summer, so apply for a card now and extrapolate your summer income over the year (or put in your monthly income if they ask for that). By doing this, I was approved for an $8000 gold visa when I am just a student.

[eliteblaze]

students can't obtain enrich. and lots of cc reps are kind of shady since they must be on comission or quotas but usually (with a few exceptions which are monthly) they ask for annual income and I don't thikn you can extrapolate

[Hellfire]

Under 18 = No credit card unless you get a co-sig, or a supplmentry card in your name, but on your parents account.

UofA lets you pay your tution online by Credit card :)

[eliteblaze]

they must have got a hell of a deal if they do that :)

[chadder]

students can't obtain enrich. and lots of cc reps are kind of shady since they must be on comission or quotas but usually (with a few exceptions which are monthly) they ask for annual income and I don't thikn you can extrapolate

I'm a student and I have an enrich card. When you apply online, just select the type of work you're doing as your occupation, not student. I'm studying software engineering, so on my co-op term after 3 months I applied online as a computer office worker or whatever the closest was, and gave my monthly co-op income and my SIN so they could verify it. Got the card a few weeks later with no problems.

[eliteblaze]

well technically then you agreed that:

"You meet the minimum annual income requirement of $15,000.00."

It also asks yearly income so I'm not sure how you told them monthly.. Unless your co-op pays godly amounts :D

But as far as student credit cards go the Scotia Student Moneyback (with annual fee waived with student account) or No fee Student moneyback might work out. You lose $19 for the first $2000 but after that it's equivalent to enrich. Also the RBC Student VISA Classic II (annual fee waived w/student account or $15. I think they can just waive if you ask nicely or something. It offers about 0.83% back if you take it in form of a gift certiifcate to futureshop or whatever :p

[blink]

Although it is not Enrich, I recently applied as a student for the Driver's Edge mastercard which gives 2% back for the purchase/lease of any new/used car.

Before that, I loved my Pres Choice mastercard.. who couldn't easily use their 1% towards groceries, books, movies, etc?

[ViperZ]

I am still using GM Visa that I got at UofT during my 1st year (6 years ago!).

[chadder]

well technically then you agreed that:

"You meet the minimum annual income requirement of $15,000.00."

It also asks yearly income so I'm not sure how you told them monthly.. Unless your co-op pays godly amounts :D

But as far as student credit cards go the Scotia Student Moneyback (with annual fee waived with student account) or No fee Student moneyback might work out. You lose $19 for the first $2000 but after that it's equivalent to enrich. Also the RBC Student VISA Classic II (annual fee waived w/student account or $15. I think they can just waive if you ask nicely or something. It offers about 0.83% back if you take it in form of a gift certiifcate to futureshop or whatever :p

Ya, I couldn't remember whether that card asked for monthly or yearly income. If they asked for yearly I just took my weekly income and multiplied by 52, I think it was just over $30,000 or something. I know it's technically not correct, but it seems to work for me.

I think I got accepted to the Scotiabank Moneyback as well, but it sucks cause you do lose that $19. You have to spend $3000 before you get the full 1%, and unless you're one of the students that can pay your tuition with visa, you're not likely to spend much more than that (I guess unless you buy a computer or something).

[Agent_J]

Ya, I couldn't remember whether that card asked for monthly or yearly income. If they asked for yearly I just took my weekly income and multiplied by 52, I think it was just over $30,000 or something. I know it's technically not correct, but it seems to work for me.

I think I got accepted to the Scotiabank Moneyback as well, but it sucks cause you do lose that $19. You have to spend $3000 before you get the full 1%, and unless you're one of the students that can pay your tuition with visa, you're not likely to spend much more than that (I guess unless you buy a computer or something).
Scotia has the ScotiaStar Network though where you can automatically earn rebates of up to 10%, in addition to the "up to 1% Moneyback reward", when you use your card at ScotiaStar Partners

[eliteblaze]

I find the star network to be too small to be a worthwhile place ot try and spend your but if you spend your money there anywayz then it's an awesome program

[chadder]

Yeah, that's what I like about the Enrich. There's no restrictions on where you earn or redeem your benefits. I find it a pain to keep track of which places you get your discount at and which ones you don't. It's just a flat 1% for everything everywhere.

[eliteblaze]

TD elite is also full 1%, current 2% promo. I htink I earned more than the annual fee in the past month :)

[chadder]

Wow, big spender :) .

As a student I'm too poor to worry about paying annual fees. Eventually I'd like to get something like that with the benefits of a Gold Visa as well.

[eliteblaze]

yah as a student gold is useless for hte most part.

If your parents have Gold Elite it covers you in roadside assistance until 23 years of age or something. Then you should get your own Gold card ;)

Unless your paying your tuition or something (and have really awesome credit) obviously the 2% isn't material. But if you can pay tuition this card is godly :) It's a full 2% so $5000= $100, $10000=$200 etc. :D

So in conclusion if your starting off

A) Scotia Moneymaster, RBC Classic II

Once your semi established

A) Citi Enrich B) Citi Auto Card

Fully Established

A) CITI Plat Enrich B) Plat Auto C) TD Gold Elite D) RBC GOLD (just for fun, looks really nice at no annual fee :))

[chadder]

Ya, I wish Waterloo let us pay our tuition with a credit card. I can only use bank payments though.. sucks.

[eliteblaze]

I actually odn't know of anywere that lets you pay tuition on cc but I think someone posted that alberta does or something

[chadder]

RBC GOLD (just for fun, looks really nice at no annual fee :))

Haha, I actually got that VISA just cause it looks awesome. But after a few months I wanted something that actually gave me some rewards, so I switched to the Enrich.