Can I Get a Credit Card at 17
How to Build Credit at 17
By Eric Rosenberg, MBA
Reviewed by Lauren Bringle, AFC®
If yous are a parent of a minor, or a 17-year-old yourself getting ready to manage your finances on your own, it's a perfect time to remember about credit.
Information technology can take years of steady on-time payments to build a good credit score, so it's never too early to showtime thinking about how you can become on track for a positive futurity with credit when you're under eighteen.
If you lot are looking to help your teen build credit history or offset building your own credit before hitting your 18th altogether, there are several skillful available strategies.
Don't know which credit cards for 17 yr olds are all-time? Following these steps will help yous establish credit at 17 in a manner that offers benefits for decades to come.
Why start building credit earlier turning 18?
Credit scores and credit reports are an important part of personal finance.
There are 2 major reasons to showtime building credit as soon equally possible though:
- A practiced credit score tin be the difference between getting approved for a new credit carte or loan by a lender and getting rejected. If approved, good credit can help yous qualify for the best involvement rates, which can salvage you tens of thousands of dollars on a future mortgage, for case.
- Building credit takes time. While you can ruin a credit score in an instant, it takes months to go a credit score and years to build a very adept ane. That'due south why it's a practiced idea to offset building credit early.
Can you get your own credit card or loan at 17?
If you are wondering, "What age tin you get a credit card?", you are not solitary. Most banks and credit card companies will not issue a new credit card or loan to a minor. So, how old do you accept to be to get a credit card under your name? In the U.s.a., minors are generally not allowed to enter into legal agreements, which means young adults under eighteen can't open their own borrowing accounts.
Some credit carte du jour issuers may be willing to issue a new account to a minor who cosigns with a parent or other legal guardian. But otherwise, unless you are legally emancipated, you probably tin can't open a credit card at age 17 with a credit carte issuer.
According to Experian, some of the top credit card issuers don't take a technical minimum age requirement or allow you to open a card as immature equally xiii, 15, or xvi, in some cases. But those approvals may likewise look at your credit and income, which could make information technology hard to get approved before turning 18.
How to start building credit at 17
To start edifice credit at 17, you would demand to be listed on a credit-related account like a credit card or loan. Opposite to popular misconceptions, you tin can't build credit with a regular bank account like a checking account, savings account, debit card, or just getting a chore. Information technology takes credit to build credit.
1 of the best ways for a teen to build credit is as an authorized user of a carte du jour endemic past their parents–more on that in the next section.
The other option would be to assistance the teen open their ain credit bill of fare or loan, which may be very challenging, or cosign with them on a personal loan, student loan, or another blazon of loan if they qualify.
There's a clandestine weapon when it comes to helping your family build credit that yous tin tap into if you have good credit of your own. There's a feature of most credit cards that allows you to add what's called an authorized user to your credit card account.
Unlike some loans, nigh credit cards are not issued to two people. They put one name at the top of the application, and that person is primarily responsible for paying off the menu'southward balance or any credit bill of fare debt that may build upward.
However, that person can add together family members or anyone else they trust equally an boosted user. That authorized user gets their own card with their name on it, only information technology's tied to the aforementioned credit bill of fare account from the bank or credit union.
When y'all're an authorized user, that credit carte account shows upwards on your credit study. A note says yous are an authorized user, which tells lenders you lot are non legally required to pay for the loan's balance. Merely otherwise, it looks similar a regular credit card account and influences your credit score.
If the primary account holder keeps the rest low relative to their credit limit and always pays any credit carte du jour debt on time, authorized users should see the credit card help their credit rating. Just if at that place are belatedly or missed payments, that business relationship tin hurt their credit.
That's why it's and then important to utilize this characteristic with care and to non go over the spending limit. Check with your credit card issuer to see if they allow authorized users. Also, brand sure they written report authorized users to the major credit bureaus.
Checking your credit score and credit report at 17
Even if you're nevertheless too young to buy a cigar or lottery ticket, yous are never too young to bank check your credit. While many minors volition find they don't take a credit report or credit score established, those who do can check their credit just like an adult.
The government-mandated website to get your credit report for free is AnnualCreditReport.com. You can likewise look to free tools from Credit Sesame, Experian, or other trusted services that offer more insights into your credit, including your credit score.
Preparing for a positive future with credit
It's like shooting fish in a barrel for adults to blame their bad credit for financial problems they are experiencing, but it's likely that their bad credit is a result of other fiscal challenges.
Getting a positive start with credit tin can help teens plant a valuable asset that opens up a world of useful financial products and the savings of lower interest rates reserved for those with the all-time credit.
If y'all are thinking ahead for how y'all tin can help your teen (or yourself, loftier 5 if you are reading this before you lot plow 18!), you lot're making a very smart decision. With an early focus on building good credit, your teen could save tens of thousands of dollars while staying in a position where they can financially thrive.
Every bit a parent, what more can you enquire for?
Sources
- Forbes. "10 Ways Young People Can Build A Strong Credit Record". https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesfinancecouncil/2018/01/23/10-ways-immature-people-can-build-a-strong-credit-tape/?sh=7891b7a34749
- Experian. "When Should My Child Get a Credit Card?". https://www.experian.com/blogs/enquire-experian/when-should-my-child-get-a-credit-card/
Nigh the author
Eric Rosenberg is a former bank manager and corporate finance worker with a Available's degree and MBA in finance. Run across Eric on Linkedin and Twitter.
About the reviewer
Lauren Bringle is an Accredited Financial Advisor® with Cocky Financial– a financial technology company with a mission to assist people build credit and savings. See Lauren on Linkedin and Twitter.
Editorial Policy
Our goal at Self is to provide readers with current and unbiased information on credit, financial health, and related topics. This content is based on research and other related articles from trusted sources. All content at Cocky is written by experienced contributors in the finance industry and reviewed past an accredited person(south).
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