Posts Tagged bad student credit cards

If you’re a college student, beware of a few student-targeted credit cards that may look good or sound good but are really no good for you.

One such card you should do without is the University of Michigan Alumni Association’s MasterCard.  If you can’t recall which one it is, it’s the one that bills itself as having a “backpack full of benefits” packed in it.  Unfortunately, we’ve looked and looked - and we can’t find anything that sets it apart from the multitude of student cards available elsewhere.

Let’s see the “backpack full” of beneficial features:

* No annual fee
* 24-hour customer service
* Online access to credit card tools
* Free credit lessons
* either 9.9% or 15.99% interest rate

Wow.  That must be a really small backpack.   The interest rate is particularly interesting - it’s almost guaranteed that the student will get 15.99% since they’re pretty much at the bottom of credit ratings.

Unfortunately, most alumni-affiliated credit cards are no different from the one offered by the University of Michigan Alumni Association.  In fact, it’s one of the most lamentable problems with regard to credit card marketing to students - schools and alumni barely bother to negotiate better terms, making the whole thing look nothing more than a money-grubbing scheme.

If you’re a college student looking to get your first credit card, it might be a good idea to skip the school-branded ones in favor of cards that actually offer you some useful value.  Get educated before putting your future credit standing in a dangerous light as these cards are likely to lead you into.