Credit Card for University Student on APA

Lvictinini on 28/01/2016 - 14:56

I'm a second year PhD student on an APA scholarship. Along with my work income, my total income was around $35000 last year. This was a decent amount of money for me to live on, and I have managed to even save a large chunk of it.

Because of the way that I pay for things, I would like to apply for a credit card that allows me to accrue points to make the most of my spending. I have heard that it is difficult for students to apply for a credit card (my friend was rejected for a Coles low annual rate card last year, claiming that it was due to them not looking kindly at students and scholarship income) and and would like to know if anyone has had any experience applying for a credit card in the same situation, and which credit card might be the best.

I already have a credit card from my bank, but it doesn't earn me any points and I believe that I have the ability to manage my finances even with an extra credit line.

Financial

Comments

  • toniyellow on 28/01/2016 - 17:28

    When I was a student there was a commbank branch on campus, and they gave me a points earning credit card at 18, and waived the annual fee. Probably quite irresponsible of them, and it was a while ago. But are there any banks on campus or very close to - they will likely deal with a lot of students?

  • illumination on 28/01/2016 - 23:19
    +1

    I don't think being a "student" alone is what puts the banks off. It's more to do with the apparent instability around scholarship and the nature of your work.

    For example, if you're a casual, then that very "unstable".
    If a portion of your income is from your scholarship, that's also pretty "unstable".
    If you're on a one-year work contract, also "unstable".

    $35k/yr is enough for you to get a card though, for sure. However, you'd have to be looking towards the lower end of cards. To be honest, there won't be too many "good" cards you can get, but you could probably get a Coles Rewards Card, AMEX Essentials, Qantas Discovery AMEX, Velocity Escape AMEX or Woolies Money. I would probably pick one of the AMEX options though, given they do not incur an annual fee. Just check what the salary requirements are.

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