Questions and Answers

Hey Lucky, So Im an 18 year old college freshman at Upenn and I just moved to the US from Norway.
what credit card would you recommend that I get as my first credit card?

Start with a cash back card like the Citi DoubleCash or the Chase Freedom/Freedom Unlimited cards. The DoubleCash gets you 2% cash back on everything. Chase Freedom has 1% on everything and 5% cash back on various quarterly rotating categories. Freedom Unlimited is 1.5% cash back on everything. With the Chase cards, cashback is actually in the form of points and those points can be combined with points from a premium Chase card for transfers to airline and hotel partners.

Sven you’ll probably need a US Social Security Number before you can get a credit card. But if you’re working while you’re in school you’ll probably already have one of those.

I agree with David that you should start with a no-fee cash-back card. If you get the Citi Double Cash, just be sure you sweep the cash back into your bank account. If you apply it to your credit card balance you don’t get the “1% when you pay” part of the deal.

You can also look at starting with a student credit card. These are sometimes “secured” products, with pretty crummy rewards, but they help establish your credit, so six months or so of a card like that can be a good idea.