Question about Discover

[snowboard011]

Hello,

I am a student looking into a first credit card. I have a couple of questions. First, the Discover student cards look the best in terms of rewards and cash back. However, I am a little worried that a lot of places do not take Discover. From your experience, do you think this will have a significant impact on the ability to use the Discover card? Or do you think that more places are accepting Discover and I would rarely have a problem?

Second, I was also looking at the Chase Freedom card. Do you think a student, with no credit score but some annual income, would be able to obtain this card? Thank you for your time.

Andrew

[Creditnet.com]

Hi snowboard011,

Discover student cards are one of the most rewarding in terms of cash back, giving cardholders up to 5% back on pretty common purchases. But you're right, one of the problems with Discover is they are not accepted everywhere. So the question you should ask yourself is at what types of establishments will you be shopping? Also, do you live in a large, metropolitan city? Because Discover is more costly for merchants to accept, smaller stores and mom-and-pop stores are less likely to accept them. Most companies that allow automatic bill pay, like cell phone, utility, cable companies, will accept Discover cards.

Onto your next question: without knowing your annual income, it's hard to predict whether or not you'd be approved for a Chase Freedom card. However, it is getting harder and harder for anyone to be approved for a card, so the fact that you are a student with no credit score makes me think it's pretty likely you'd be denied for a regular consumer card. I'd recommend sticking to the student cards because issuers expect students to have no credit. Citi offers a couple good rewards cards for students, including the mtvU card and the Citi Forward card. You may have a small credit line at first, but it's a starting point!