My 19 year old daughter recently bought her first vehicle as a ghost (no credit) thanks to a smart finance guy at the local ford dealership who took her to Chase here locally. She was then promptly given a Capital One card with a $300 limit; a Wells Fargo Visa (unsecured) with a $1000 limit and an Ann Taylor Loft card for $250. Any other suggestions? Besides keeping her cards in my drawer... How long will it take her to get an Amex or Citi card? Or if anyone can link me to some great recent threads on the topic, I ran a search and couldn't find anything. I'm very familiar with mortgages in my biz and how lenders are tightening up so I'm looking for 2008 "what's working" and "what's not working" advice. Thanks!
Why would a 19-yo need an Amex? Does she travel a lot on business? Take clients to lunch? What does an Amex give you that a decent Visa card won't? (Disclaimer: I'm not a big fan of AMEX) And, finally, what's the hurry in getting a thick credit file? But, whatever... From what I understand, the best she could do for her credit would be to: a) get older (even if FICO doesn't say so directly, age counts). b) use the cards she has judiciously and pay the balance off over 3-6 months to show activity and history of payments. If she does that she'll have a mailbox full of offers before she pays off the car loan (CC companies LOVE "fresh meat" which is why they have such aggressive campus "recruiting" campaigns). In fact, by the end of this year, you won't have any shortage of credit offers is my prediction. However, before you go too far, too fast with this, read some of the postings on this site about the 25 year-olds trying to dig them selves out of credit card (and collection) hell. They usually start off "When I was in college..." Just my $.02 from the "been there, done that" department.
To further build up her credit history make her authorized user on your cards, if you have a good credit history. Have to agree with ccbob regarding Amex.
teens Hence the comment of leaving the cards in my drawer, kind of a joke. Yes she would be using them for a profession and paying them off regularly. Thanks though.
I can't tell if you're joking here or not. The point is that having active cards (cards that show a balance and a series of on-time payments help your credit score more than having the same cards just sitting on a report with no activity. The rub, of course, is that with activity comes the risk of the balances getting away from you.
As someone already said, add her to your cards. If that isn't feasible, some companies do it for a fee. Be diligent in researching them.
