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My Path to My First (US) Credit Card

Blogs > Sufficiency
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Sufficiency
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
Canada23833 Posts
July 30 2011 07:40 GMT
#1
So I've moved to Seattle for a couple of months now and I finally got my social security number. So I figured that I should try to get a credit card. No, I am not a credit-hippie, nor do I go on spending-frenzy with credit cards, but I do like rewards.

Armed with the thought that I make 1800 dollars per month before tax (lol, I know...) and a student, I researched some student credit card and applied for one (from Citibank, if I recall correctly) online. I received an instant rejection despite all the "reviews" saying how easy it is to get one.

Oh well, Citibank is evil, I thought. Then I decided to try my chances with Chase - which I have a checking account. I chose their lowest credit card option with the minimal rewards, filled my application carefully... and another rejection.

Then I realized the problem is not so much that my income is abysmal, it's actually that I have been in the states only for a bit more than one month. I could just wait, but I'd like to build up some credit in this country ASAP. After researching some more, I noted two places where it is particularly "easy" to get credit cards. One is through the university, the other one is through grocery stores. After some googling I found that University of Washington does have an alumni card - which does not have any rewards on it whatsoever (although I don't really care at this point). However, I recall that the first credit card I got in Canada was through the university as well, so I submitted another application.... and got another rejection. After this I tried grocery store... same result.

I despaired. I fully understand that submitting too many applications hurts my credit rating (although according to many, only a very small amount), but I want to get a basic credit card to build up my rating, then get another card with good rewards such as cashback. However, the past a few weeks felt like when I was applying for graduate school: I kept receiving rejections.

I contemplated getting a secured card. But then I realized even the cheapest option I can find (at Well Fargo) asks for 19 dollars per year for two years until I can "graduate" into an unsecured card. A simple calculation told me that I would need to spend 3800 dollars with a 1% cashback card in order to get the cost of the secure card back. Due to the semi-temporary nature of my stay in the states, it's awfully unlikely that I will be able to spend that much money using my credit card.

Anyways, I know that since I have already decided to get a card, I shouldn't give up. After asking around in my department, I was told that I could try the Washington State Employee Credit Union. I gave it a lot of thoughts (because I got a lot of rejections already), but I decided to give it a shot. It turned out that I am considered an employee of the State of Washington and I am pretty much automatically approved. What was even better was that they gave me 5 dollars for applying (to apply for the credit card I have to have their saving account... and for the saving account I need 5 dollars deposit... but they have a promotion for students so they gave me 5 dollars instead of me depositing it).

As I write this right now I am still waiting for the card to be mailed, but since I can access their online banking already it's going to only a matter of time before I can go on a spending spree. Suffice to say I am pretty happy right now. But perhaps I also learned a lesson: I really wish I started out asking other people instead of finding the answer on the internet (none of the suggestions found on the internet worked out for me).

TL;DR? Making Friends > Internet.


https://twitter.com/SufficientStats
Yurie
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
11792 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-07-30 09:09:33
July 30 2011 08:29 GMT
#2
This prompted me to read up on why anybody wants a credit card over a debit card. Seems the US has overdraft charges when you reach 0 money in order to promote credit cards instead of stopping the transfer. Well that and fraud protection.

Hmm might consider getting a credit card, though the safety of only being able to lose whatever is on my spending account feels like almost as good protection.

I would not get it for the bonus points though. I try to avoid all of those systems, only way to make them stop it.
RedJustice
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
United States1004 Posts
July 30 2011 09:13 GMT
#3
The bonus programs don't offer any kind of serious benefits to most people, but hopefully you get some good credit built up, and can later get a card with better benefits for your lifestyle! :D

@ Yurie The real benefit to having a credit card can come from being a responsible user so that you build good credit. Good credit will get you the lowest possible interest rates on a house or any other loan you need to take: possibly a car (usually a poor financial choice to take out a loan on a car since they depreciate so quickly that anything you can't afford up front is kinda :/), medical expenses, school, or small business loans if you choose to take that path. With low interest rates, the amount of money you can save in the long run is actually quite significant.

Another benefit to credit cards that not many people know about is that they may provide their own warranties for purchases you make, and will not charge you for a service you paid for if you can prove that the business did not follow through on it's promises (like if you paid for a nice suite at a hotel and then get put in another, worse room and the hotel refuses to compensate you for it).
wonderwall
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
New Zealand695 Posts
July 30 2011 09:25 GMT
#4
The bonus programs don't offer any kind of serious benefits to most people, but hopefully you get some good credit built up, and can later get a card with better benefits for your lifestyle! :D


Not something you'd buy a credit card specifically for but they can be nice if you let them build up. After having a family American Express card which my dad used for business a bit for like 2 years I got a free Ipod Touch back when they were relevant
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