As a young adult, a lot of new things are going to be foreign to you.  From learning about 401k’s to learning about credit cards and how the market works.  Many young adults have the mis-conception that getting your first credit card is extremely hard.  They often think that they have to dig through company after company until one finally approves you.  Well,  I’ll give you the great news now and tell you that finding your first credit card isn’t that hard.  In fact, as long as you try some of these tips, I can almost guarantee you that you’ll get an approval letter by next week.

Apply for a student credit card

If you’re a college student, you’re already in the best situation.  Credit card companies love college students and are willing to give just about any student a credit card regardless of their history or job status.  Why are they so willing to give a credit card to any student?  These companies view a student as a responsible young adult and they picture that if the worst scenario does happen where the student can’t pay his/her bill, they can simply fall back on their parent’s money.  Not only that, a card company figures that if they can get a hold of a customer at an earlier age, that student will stick with that card company throughout a majority of his/her life.

Try a secured credit card

If you’re not a college student, don’t worry about it because there are still options out there for you.  One option is a secure credit card.  A card like this is often designed for those looking to repair their bad credit but this works great for those looking to get good credit as well.  The way this card works is simply by the card holder placing a deposit on the card.  The deposit will then become the credit limit.   The reason you have to give the bank a deposit is because if you don’t pay your bill on time, they can dip into your fund and take the cash.  These cards again are built for those with bad credit but do work for those with no credit at all because most cards do report to the 3 major credit bureaus.  If you’re interested in these cards, make sure you look at the card closely because most have high fees.

Try a department store credit card

If you find that the top 2 choices aren’t your cup of tea, you may want to look into applying for a department store credit card.  Like a student card, department stores like Sears and JC Penney don’t rely on credit history as much as a Visa or MasterCard would.  It never hurts to go into one of these stores and apply for one.  The only downfall you’re going to find out is that you’ll only be able to use it at that store but there are some exceptions with some stores.

Hopefully by now you’ll have a better understanding on where you can get your first credit card.  Keep in mind that you have to be responsible with your card.  Pay it off on time and always try to pay it off in full.   As long as you can accomplish this, you can look forward to a bright financial future.