credit card eligibility question

[SCREWCREDIT]

What is the name of your state? - Florida

Hey guys.. a family member of mine is turning 17 soon and to help establish a credit history for him I was wondering if any creditors would allow him to hold a secured credit card.. I know most require you to be 18 years of age for legality reasons.. but perhaps theres institutions out there that will allow him to be a cardholder and report the status of the card to his consumer file? I know you can technically have a consumer file under 18.

I was thinking of maybe opening a secured card with a $100-$500 limit but I'm just not sure if any creditor will accept him and/or report him since he is not of legal age.

Thanks

 

[HomeGuru]

Can his parents co-sign for him?

 

[SCREWCREDIT]

His parents can not co-sign for him because he is not 18 years old.. I know some credit card issuers now report credit accounts to consumer files of authorized card holders which I think is absolutely ridiculous because a card holder has no legal responsibility for the account in any manner and what impact it would have on the card holders credit score is beyond me..

 

[Cyana T]

CapitalOne

Hi

My daughter was offered a Capital One Card when she was just 17. They have a "Student card" program. My ex-husband had to cosign with her. The card offer came in with two "credit limit" options you had to check off: either $500 or $1000, pending credit approval. My daughter checked "$500" and gave the application to my ex-husband to sign since I am not employed. When the card came in though it had only a $200 credit limit. Could b worth checking into though. Since the offer was clearly extended to someone the CC company knew was under 18 (they stated this in their letter) my XH was required to "certify* (I think Capital One called it) the debt and the debt did appear on his credit report. So technically, I guess, it was considered his debt. Once she turned 18 it became her debt. Hope this is helpful.

Cyana