Best First Credit Card

Getting your first credit card is an essential, often daunting rite of passage – no matter how old you are when it comes. Most people think of credit newcomers as being college students, but first-time applicants come in all shapes and sizes. Many are simply late to credit-building class, so to speak. Others, such as immigrants and divorcees, are merely responding to a recent change in circumstances.

Your particular circumstances will dictate what, exactly, you should look for in your first credit card, but the benefit of opening an account is always the same: Credit cards are the most cost-effective, accessible credit-building vehicles at our disposal. Merely having an open credit card in your own name will help to improve your credit score, even if you lock your card in a drawer and don’t use it to make purchases. And having a good credit score can save you hundreds, even thousands, of dollars each year.

With that being said, let’s take a look at how the three main types of credit newcomers should go about choosing their first credit card.

College Students

If have an active university email address, you also have a leg up in the credit card game. Most credit card companies require one on a student credit card application, and students generally get better terms than their experience would normally merit. Why? Because issuers know that college graduates earn about 84% more than people who don’t make it past high school. They also have years of financial needs to capitalize on, considering that the median college student is just 27 years old, according to the Department of Education.

The first thing a student should look for in a credit card is an offer without annual and monthly fees. The rates and rewards available at this point simply aren’t worth paying for.

With your options whittled down to “free” student credit cards, focus on finding rewards that suit your lifestyle, if you plan to pay your bill in full each month. We recommend that you do so, as it’s important to adopt good habits and build savings at the beginning of your credit career.

But if you anticipate needing some extra time to pay off a looming big-ticket expense (e.g., textbooks or a car), you should try to find a card with a long 0% intro APR period instead of worrying about rewards.

Non-Student Newcomers

The credit card pickings tend to be slimmer for non-student first-timers. But the available options are just as effective when it comes to credit building. And as long as you don’t need an emergency loan, it doesn’t really matter whether you get an unsecured (“regular”) credit card or one that requires a refundable security deposit.
Meaningful rewards won’t be on the table in either case. And you should think of your credit card more as an investment in your credit score’s future than a financing vehicle at this point in your life.

As such, we recommend prioritizing low fees and approvability when looking for your first credit card. With that in mind, you may want to place a deposit on a secured credit card.

You don’t want to apply for unsecured card after unsecured card, only to be rejected each time. Too many applications within a short period of time can damage your credit score and make access to credit even harder to come by. Secured cards are much easier to obtain because their deposit doubles as your spending limit, preventing you from overspending and shielding the issuer from risk.

First Card for a Fresh Start

​​​​​​​Sometimes, your first credit card isn’t literally the first credit card you’ve ever owned. Rather, it may be the first card in your comeback from credit mistakes. And in that case, a secured card is undoubtedly your best option.

Secured cards are not only easier to get approved for than their unsecured counterparts, but they’re also far safer. The fact that your deposit matches your spending limit means it’s impossible to spend more than you can afford to pay back. And since carrying a balance from month to month would basically mean paying interest on a loan you’ve given yourself, hopefully, you’ll avoid doing that, too.

You can get a credit card at 17 as an authorized user, but you have to be at least 18 years old to open a credit card account in your own name. And when you turn 18, you’ll need to show that you have your own independent income to qualify. In the meantime, you can begin to build credit as an authorized user or with a co-signed loan, and you can always use a debit card for everyday purchases.

Here’s what you can get instead of a credit card at 17:

• Authorized user card: If someone makes you an authorized user on their card, the account will be added to your credit report. And if the main accountholder pays the monthly bills on time, your credit score will improve. The main accountholder may or may not decide to give you a card that you can use to charge purchases to the account. But you won’t be responsible for making payments either way.
• Co-signed loan: You’re highly unlikely to get a loan by yourself as a minor, but if you have an adult co-signer, the lender will look at their credit and income when deciding whether to approve. That’s because the co-signer is legally responsible for paying if you don’t. This option allows you to build credit.
• Debit card: Most banks will give you a debit card connected to your checking account. You’ll be spending your own cash, not borrowing money, so you don’t need to be 18 to get one. Different banks have different rules, but most require you to be 13 or 14 years old. You won’t build credit with a debit card, but having one can make life more convenient until you turn 18.

So to recap, you can’t get a credit card at 17, at least not one of your own. But if you find someone to back you, then you can start building credit right away. And in just a year, you’ll be eligible for student cards, secured cards and other options for people new to credit.

Learning how to get a credit card for the first time with no credit history is a rite of passage for young adults after turning 18 years old. And it’s a lot easier to accomplish than you might think. The key to getting your first credit card is to choose wisely, by focusing solely on offers for people with limited credit and secured credit cards, which provide nearly guaranteed approval. You also need enough income to afford monthly credit card payments, in addition to your other expenses. The minimum payments on a starter credit card usually are around $15 per month.

If you’re at least 21 years old, you are allowed to list household income and assets to which you have reasonable access on your credit card application. If you’re younger, you can only list independent income and assets. And you can’t get your own credit card account until you’re at least 18 years old. But there is no minimum age for being an authorized user on a credit card, in most cases.

High approval odds are one of the most important things to look for in your first credit card because the sooner you get approved, the sooner you can begin truly building your credit standing. Getting rejected for a credit card sets you back, both in terms of time and by possibly damaging your limited credit.

Low fees are another key feature to seek out when applying for a credit card for the first time. Starter credit cards generally don’t offer rewards or interest rates worth paying high annual or monthly fees for. So you’re better off saving your money and always paying your monthly credit card bill in full to avoid interest charges.

Those are the two main tenets of finding the best first credit card: consider cards designed for people with limited or no credit, and try to get one with no annual fee. But there are other steps in the process. And to make things as easy as possible for you, we’ll lay them all out below.

Here’s How to Get a Credit Card for the First Time with No Credit:

1. See if you have a credit report and score. You could have more credit history than you think, perhaps as a result of being an authorized user on a family member’s credit card. This will help you determine how good of a credit card you should shoot for. You can check your latest credit score and credit report for free on WalletHub.
2. Determine whether student credit cards are an option. College students can usually get better credit cards than other people with no credit. Their youth and above-average expected income make them profitable targets for banks and credit unions. So if you’re enrolled in school, check out the best student credit cards.
3. Compare secured and unsecured starter cards. Secured credit cards have the highest approval odds, but they require you to place a refundable security deposit. And the amount of that deposit becomes your spending limit.
4. Limit your search to the cards with the lowest fees. Focus on weeding out cards with expensive non-refundable fees. A no annual fee credit card with no security deposit is best. But a low-fee secured card isn’t bad, either, because you can get back your deposit when you close your account.
5. Choose the best remaining offer for your needs. If several credit cards are tied for the lowest fees and highest approval odds, consider the terms that are next most important to you. If you plan to pay your bill in full every month, that will probably be rewards. If not, you may want to focus on interest rates.
6. Submit your credit card application. Apply online for the fastest decision. You may even be approved instantly if you clearly meet the issuer’s criteria. You should receive your card within 7-10 business days of being approved.

Finally, it’s really important to remember that getting approved for a credit card for the first time is really only the beginning. You also need to use that card responsibly, which means spending within your means, paying your bill on time month after month, and keeping your credit utilization below 30%.

If you can avoid racking up costly credit card debt and hurting your credit score with missed payments, your first credit card will be a huge asset. It will add positive information to your major credit reports each month. That will gradually improve your credit standing. And better credit will make it easier to rent an apartment, buy or lease a car, find a job, get approved for good loans and lines of credit, and save on car insurance premiums, among other things.

You can track your progress for free on WalletHub, the only site with free credit scores and reports that are updated daily. We’ll even tell you exactly what you need to do to improve your credit score at a given time, plus provide personalized credit card recommendations. You can use them to find your first credit card and then graduate from it when the time is right.

I would recommend the Capital One Secured Mastercard for someone trying to build their credit. Paying the deposit to secure the card helps ensure, psychologically if nothing else, the importance of paying the card back. Most importantly, there is zero annual fee so you can pay the card monthly and build credit for free

You can’t get a credit card at 15. You won’t be able to get one in your own name until you’re 18. And even then, you might need to start out with a secured card until you’ve built up your credit history. The law prohibits minors from getting credit cards and requires anyone under 21 to show that they have their own income when they apply for a card. 

But just because you can’t get your own credit card account doesn’t mean you have no options. Your best bet is becoming an authorized user on someone else’s card. Authorized users can charge purchases to the primary cardholder’s credit account, but they don’t have any legal responsibility for payment. And as long as the primary cardholder makes payments on time, the authorized user gets positive information on their credit report. 

There are other ways to build credit without a credit card, like making rent payments, but they aren’t available to most 15-year-olds.  And if you want a credit card because carrying cash all the time is a hassle, many banks allow teenagers to open checking accounts with debit cards. Debit cards draw on the money in your checking account, so you don’t have to borrow money to use them. Prepaid cards (reloadable) and gift cards (usable until balance runs out) are other good spending tools. 

So instead of getting a credit card at 15, it’s probably best to focus on becoming an authorized user, getting a debit card or both.