First credit card for 18 year old

[Anonymous]

What is the easiest and proper way to get DC start credit history?
I tried to add them to my credit card as authorized user. They did not pass ssn check thru because agencies ( obviously no credit history). I cashed credit bureau, they said they needed us to may request ( free form) to get DC identified, send ssn, dl, 2 proof of residency via mail to a PO box. Seems strange. I cannot imagine every 18 year old going through mailing this
How do you get your kids seat their credit score?

[Anonymous]

Discover is probably the easiest if a college kid. Limit of $500 or so.

[Anonymous]

Ask your bank about a secured card. Use that and pay the bill for a year. Then apply for a real card. You could probably also do store cards like Target.

[Anonymous]

I have Capital One Quicksilver. I'd been a Capital One customer for over 10 years. I was able to put both of my teenagers on my account to get their own plates around the age of 16. It happened nearly instantly. The only hiccup is that under 18s can't use the app. Maybe because of child website usage laws? IDK.

One is in college and the other in high school so we haven't tried to get them their own stand-alone accounts yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Discover is probably the easiest if a college kid. Limit of $500 or so.

Yep, Discover is known for this. My son got one freshman year and then he also got some sort of an AMEX card as well so he could game the points for free stuff.

[Anonymous]

OP. So when you do kid's own card, Discover does not "identify" kid? When I was trying to add my 18 year old to my credit card as authorized user with ssn, they could not identify him with three major credit bureaus. I then called TransUnion, they took all his info , and then said we needed to mail a free form letter to them asking to establish his credit account. I in the letter we were to mail copy of kid ssn, DL, bank account or 2 sources of proof of residency
That seemed overkill, old days, just way strange for 2026...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP. So when you do kid's own card, Discover does not "identify" kid? When I was trying to add my 18 year old to my credit card as authorized user with ssn, they could not identify him with three major credit bureaus. I then called TransUnion, they took all his info , and then said we needed to mail a free form letter to them asking to establish his credit account. I in the letter we were to mail copy of kid ssn, DL, bank account or 2 sources of proof of residency
That seemed overkill, old days, just way strange for 2026...

NP. My 19yo set up his own cc no problem. But, he did it himself, so idk what was required. He also worked and had savings, so that was probably a factor. He switched over to AmEX and set up his own brokerage accounts by 21. Maybe your kid should try it himself. If you have to look over his shoulder. I always made my boys deal with financial stuff (e.g. calls, forms) to get them in the habit.

[Anonymous]

^^ set up his own DISCOVER card

[Anonymous]

I wonder if something is amiss. For my 3 kids, I simply contacted USAA to ask them to be added as authorized users. They had zero credit history prior. I can’t recall if I provided their SSNs for that as USAA already has them as beneficiaries on our insurance policies. My youngest (18) now wants to apply for his own card so he won’t have to keep reimbursing me for every charge. I was also trying to figure out which card is easiest to get approved which is why I clicked on your post. My older kids have capital one cards but we’re probably 20 when they applied and had income from internships which my 18 yo doesn’t. Both had excellent credit scores after being authorized users for a few years on my accounts.

[Anonymous]

It’s not because of no credit history! There’s something fishy about you child’s ssn, possibly it’s been stolen?
I got my minor child an authorized user card with no issue.

[Anonymous]

If he has a checking account the bank should give him a credit card if he signs up for the balance to be automatically paid from his checking account. My daughter in college did that and her credit rating is about 740.

[Anonymous]

Discover and/or one of the Capital one cards. One of the orange cards is awesome. Skip the authorized user one for 18-year old.
They can go for student card and/or secured card.
Have the kid check their credit with the three bureaus to make sure all information is correct there.

[Anonymous]

I just added my DS to my BofA credit card when he was 16. He now has excellent credit at age 20. When he gets a job after graduation, he can get his own card. He gets plenty of offers in the mail.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just added my DS to my BofA credit card when he was 16. He now has excellent credit at age 20. When he gets a job after graduation, he can get his own card. He gets plenty of offers in the mail.

They are not real offers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP. My 19yo set up his own cc no problem. But, he did it himself, so idk what was required. He also worked and had savings, so that was probably a factor. He switched over to AmEX and set up his own brokerage accounts by 21. Maybe your kid should try it himself. If you have to look over his shoulder. I always made my boys deal with financial stuff (e.g. calls, forms) to get them in the habit.

Op. Kid has checking and Roth IRA, has been working since 14, pretty self sufficient and deals with things on his own. However he cannot add himself to my credit card, thus I had to be involved. I thought the easiest way to get him credit card is to get him added to ours. Apparently not, or we are doing something or capital one...