Does My Teenager Really Need a Credit Card?

In actuality, no one needs a credit card. Many parents find it comforting to provide a credit card to their teenager who is going away to school, with the understanding that the card is to be used for emergencies - only. Many students are very responsible and use their credit card only as their parents intended. However, many students define an emergency differently.

Application Enticements?

Many stores or financial institutions offer enticements such as discounts or prizes when someone fills out an application. If your son or daughter fills out a credit card application "Just because I got 10% off my purchases that day," the company must be contacted in writing and by phone if they do not plan to use the credit card in the future. Simply 'not using' it will not stop monthly charges from accruing (including late payments for monthly charges). This is very important and can cause credit hassles later on if they just ignore the notices of payments due.

What Constitutes an Emergency?

An acceptable emergency in which to use a credit card would include a medical or dental situation where payment is required upfront, a breakdown of their (not their friends') automobile, being stranded at a party where the driver is drunk and your child has no way home, being otherwise stranded somewhere with no way home, being burned out of an apartment and needing to pay for a place to stay or to buy food (while out of an apartment). These may sound very ominous, but that should be the tone around the use and abuse of a credit card.

What is not an Emergency?

Books for school may be an emergency situation in some cases, but magazine subscriptions, adult chat lines, 1-900 horoscope phone numbers, and HBO on Demand are not. Theater or concert tickets are not emergencies, cell phone bills are not emergencies, except in some situations. Paying for a cell phone may be acceptable; but putting all your friends expenses on your credit card because they promised to pay is absolutely not.

Why have a Credit Card at all?

It is important today to have good credit, as witnessed by all the lending institutions advertising to release a credit score, or merchandisers and home loan agencies marketing to those with poor credit. It is not a status symbol or a means of having more stuff than the next person any more. It is a much more important achievement to have a high credit score as that affects everything from the amount of interest charged on their credit card and having the option to finance larger items to things as simple as being able to rent a car.

Knox County staff are prohibited from making "split purchases" and personal charges on county-issued credit cards, but that's what an audit uncovered recently.

So you're at the gas station filling up your vehicle, and without warning the gas pump shuts off.

LONDONDERRY -- Police hope someone can identify two men and a woman who are suspected of using several stolen credit cards around the region. ...

Police in Huntington are on the lookout for two men who they say broke into a car and stole credit cards and then used them at Wal-Mart.

ESCANABA — People who own property in Delta County will soon be able to use credit cards to pay their property taxes. The service is available, without fees charged to the county, through Government Payment Service Inc. (GPS), said Delta County Treasurer Sandy Buckland.

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