Visit most University Freshers Fairs and it will be easy



to find several different banks offering student financial

services, alongside Virgin and Barclaycard student credit

cards,all with low introductory rates, shopping discounts,

free CDs, or other new gift idea.Despite having a low irregular

income and no credit history, students represent an ideal

target for the banks. The reasons that students are desirable

as new customers is that over their working lifetime graduates

earn on average of £400,000 more than non-graduates UK,

combined with the fact that once they have accounts in place,

people are generally reluctant to switch to other providers,

and so by attracting students early in their financial life,

they are liable to remain with the same credit card provider

for life. Obtaining a student credit card can also be of great

benefit to students, not only by assisting with the daily

budgeting, but also by initiating the creation of a credit

history that can be used to support future loan and mortgage

applications. There are drawbacks however, and it is however

important to be remember not to abuse these newly obtained

credit facilities, as any credit obtained will always need to

be repaid and building up a poor credit history can prove

damaging to future finance applications.

It should be noted that students are not restricted to just

choosing a student credit card, however as some standard

credit cards do not require the applicant to maintain a minimum

regular income, however there is generally little or no difference

between the cards themselves, and the various free extras combined

with the ease of obtaining a student credit card rather than a

standard one, frequently make student targeted cards a better

option.

With online fraud protection, travel assistance, online account

management, 24 hour helplines and free text alerts set up to

notify when payment dates are due, the beneficial reasons for

students to obtain a card are numerous, and as long as care is

taken to not over use the facilities and repayments are met,

then a credit card can provide a useful flexibility for their

personal finances.

An important point to remember whenever taking out any form of

finance is to take the time to compare as many of the currently

available deals that are available. With a little care and a simple

check on the suitability and interest rates which will be payable,

using free credit card comparison services like Moneynet can help

to minimise the potential repayment costs involved in the future

as well as maximizing the various benefits.

Disclaimer:

All information contained in this article, is for general

information purposes only and should not be construed as

advice under the Financial Services Act 1986.

You are strongly advised to take appropriate professional

and legal advice before entering into any binding contracts.

Article written by Michael Hanna.