The popularity of student credit cards has never been higher than in this, the age of the plastic generation. For students, whether new users or old pros, a credit card can be a blessing or a curse. However, good credit sense and a little knowledge on how to find the best card for you go a long way in ensuring that students do not get cards that are too expensive for their purposes.

A student credit card is a card designed especially for students, that is, high school and college/university attendees. These cards are like any other credit card except that they tend to have more restrictions than regular credit cards. Some of these cards have to be co-signed by an authorizing adult, normally a parent or guardian.

As with most credit cards, comparing student’s credit cards encompasses looking at some key features of the card. Selecting a card after looking at these components will then depend on why you need a credit card.

Student credit cards generally tend to attract a higher rate of interest, APR (Annual Percentage Rate), because students do not have credit ratings and the banks need to cover themselves against losses. As such, this is the main feature to use when comparing student’s credit cards. Therefore, which card has the best APR rates is oftentimes going to be the determining factor. Look for cards with 0 APR introductory APR for starters.

These cards also have lower credit limits in general. If maximizing available credit is the main aim of getting a student’s credit card, then cards must be compared based on how much credit is given.

Rewards – which student does not like getting a prize, something for free that they can actually use. Comparing rewards that can be redeemed for cash, gift certificates and travel miles are very useful to students.

Lastly, since students are creating a credit history, look for cards that can help you do that by sending your credit information to various credit agencies.