Credit Cards

Should I get a credit card?

Whether you should get a credit card or not will depend on your personal circumstances. Obviously a credit card can be useful in certain circumstances where you can't use a debit card. For example, you might have to pay for something on the Internet and can only use MasterCard or Visa, and it can be useful in emergencies to have a credit card. However, obviously, as a student, you may have limited income, and therefore it's important that you don't get into too much debt with a credit card. Certainly you don't want to get into the situation where you can't afford big payments. So if you find that you're using your credit card for essentials such as food and so on, you might want to speak to a student advisor, your student union, or your vestor in your college to see what help they can give you.

Should I get a store card?

As a general rule, N.U.S. doesn't advise that students get store cards because the interest rates on them tend to be much higher than even on credit cards, let alone on other types of credit like student loans. It's something we'd say that as a general rule if possible you should avoid. But if you do take one out make sure that you are very careful with it and you are aware of certainly the interest rate that you're charged and also the amount that you'll be required to repay per month and make sure you have that. And again if you find that you're using store cards to pay for any sort of essentials then I'd speak to an advisor in your student union of your university or college to see what help they can offer you.

When should I use my credit card?

Tips on credit card use.