Which credit card is best for first card for a student?

[Tezz]

Hi, I want to find out which credit card is best for my 19 YO sibling who is a student as his first credit card?

Is secured CC better than unsecured CC? Not sure if he will get unsecured card, he has no job.
I heard that having a secured CC is better to build credit, but some banks report secured CC as unsecured to Cibil.

Max 10k FD for secured, even 2k-5k limit is fine. We will put some subscription and setup autopay on it.

He has a BOB savings account only (not sure if it is relevant).

He tried applying to OneCard, it is showing reserved.

Not looking for cashback/rewards, main thing is LTF card.

I got my first CC when I was almost 24. He does not have credit history, so want to start early.

 

[helloworld]

If his money management good, then opt for unsecured.
Occasionally good, then opt for secured.
Not good, no credit card, deal with debit.

In all cases, no need to worry about credit score at this time itself. When he get the job, then can start and thats sufficient for any loans at that time.

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Personally I won't suggest because it will be disaster to parents to clear those bills but still needed then pick a card from UPI cards.

Use bob to get snapdeal or use fd to get IDFC wow/AU UPI card.

 

[Vivek86]

Agree with the earlier responnce that it's not really necessary to build credit score from this age.

If you still want to give a card then either a UPI card (e.g. Kiwi) OR Amazon Pay would be good options.

 

[LiamHouse]

I would recommend getting a HDFC or Axis savings account. There is no benefit for having a BOB account from the POV of credit cards.

Ignoring the unnecessary life advice, a LTF card with that amount of FD is difficult as most cards are fintechs such as OneCard or SuperMoney. If you can muster up 20k you can go for the IDFC wow or if it's less but you are fine with paying a bit of fee then IDFC first earn is also a decent choice.

If you don't mind it being a fintech or new company, you can opt for that new SBM bank Kreditpe card or the supermoney card with smaller fd.

 

[Credit_Cards]

First Credit Card will force a question in future may be 2-3 years down the line, shall I close my first Credit Card why or why not?

In order to answer that :

Avoid secured until unless you are not able to get any CC.
Why ? - if you select low FD amount, future CC starting limit will be on lower side and if you select higher limit large amount will be blocked in FD.

Avoid Banks like Yes Bank, Federal Bank etc who have 1 card policy; you might will be forced to close oldest CC unwillingly


Just a few suggestions do consider them. Personally if asked today I would prefer to start journey with a safer bank like ICICI or Axis

 

[Tezz]

Thank you for all the suggestions, I’ve decided once he gets the job, I will get him a good card like Millennia CC just like I did which can be upgraded to a top card

 

[rah23sinha]

Get any from Hdfc

 

[sidp]

I heard that having a secured CC is better to build credit, but some banks report secured CC as unsecured to Cibil.

Diverse credit mix means better score. Early on it doesn't matter. Both will "build" same credit history.

Hi, I want to find out which credit card is best for my 19 YO sibling who is a student as his first credit card?

Max 10k FD for secured, even 2k-5k limit is fine. We will put some subscription and setup autopay on it.

1st thing he should do is check if his college is eligible for diners millenia under student offer. Not sure diners millenia offer is still open or not (some are saying diners alumni/student offer has ended. But that's not accurate. Atleast dcp/dcbm offer is still active.)

I would suggest you to open a savings account in axis. You must be holding savings balance somewhere. If you can trust a 19 yo Not to burn through it🤣, you can put may be 50k in axis. And use dc/upi as much as possible. It gives him highest chance of getting an usable card. Next option is hdfc.

You were asking about building credit history. Here not only transactions value but also volume matters. So While choosing card Variant, he should prefer rupay over others for added advantage of upi.

 

[sharma]

I would say icici apay which is ltf and very decent card for all kind of purchases