I'd like to start helping my nearly 16 year old son build credit. Ideally I'd like to open a card in his name, where I can send a max spending limit. (Even more ideally I'd like it with Citibank because that's where I bank, but I'm willing to compromise there.) Can someone under 18 get a credit card? What should I be aware of? What good options are out there?

First step make him as an authorized user on you card ,don't even give him the card , this is assuming you have good credit

BH my credit is good... But why is that a factor? Will my credit impact his? Or will his being on my card impact my credit (outside of spending/paying patterns)

I'm not an expert so there is a disclaimer but I have done this for two of my bro in law , by you make him an authorized user he gets part of you credit history

I think Simcha is right. We looked into this recently for my daughter although my wife did the research so I don't really know anything 🙂 but she concluded that the best thing to do was to make her an authorized user on one of our credit cards and I believe she said that would build up her credit. Just to be clear we are paying everything that is charged to that credit card so we do not have any concern about her late payments affecting us.

Is there any way to get their card have a lower limit than the rest of the card? I was thinking of opening a new card in my own name, making him the authorized user there, and having him be the only one using it so it's easier to track. (And we'd be paying it off)

Yes, my parents made me an authorized user on their credit cards when I was around 17, and when I look at my credit score online, it shows that my oldest credit line is from when I was 8 years old 🙂. So it clearly works to inherit credit score (my credit score was somewhere between 750 and 800). Later, as soon as I wanted to open a credit card, I got approved for a $5,000 limit the first time I tried, while I know that some of my friends had to get student cards or cards with a very low limit. Some credit cards, like Amex, have a different number for each card, so you can track what he's spending without opening a new credit card. Also, this might be obvious, but saying it just in case 🙂 Whichever card you make him an authorized user on, make sure you put his SSN so that it can actually affect his score.

I just assumed it would take his SSN and go on his credit score, but I'll look out for that, thanks for pointing it out!

Good luck

American Express allows setting a max limit for authorized users. Don’t know about others.

Tried adding my 16 year old son to a CapitalOne card and got this, does anyone know a card that would accept SSN for under 18?

Do it without the SSN I think chase let's you it's better then nothing

1. Per the CARD act, a minor cannot legally open up a credit card on their own. 2. Adding the minor as an authorized user (AU) of your card can be a great gift to him. They will inherit the credit history of that card. They don't inherit your score, or anything else from your report. If this card thpigj was ever late, they will inherit that late history. If this card is currently over-utilized (more than 30%), they will inherit that negative information. 3. You want to add them to a card that's ideally been open for several years, no late payments, and low utilization. The child never needs access or has to use the card, they will still get the history. 4. If they don't accept the SSN, the history can still be generated based on the name and address but it's not a sure thing. I believe Amex allows a minor with a SSN. Best to add to a few cards

1. If they automatically inherit the history, are there any advantages to adding them early? Why can't I just add them "some day" when they need it? 2. Do they lose the history if/when I remove them as an authorized user? For example: I want my teenage some to build a good credit history so iyH when he's an adult he can get a good credit card and get a mortgage. I can add him as an authorized user onto my credit card now, but I don't want him as an authorized user on my credit card once he's old enough to manage his own finances. How do I arrange the timeline of adding him to my card, him opening his own card, removing him from my card, so we maximize the outcome?

I would add him but don't give him the card , there is never a need to remove unless the parent has had credit issues or something like that , I could be wrong but this is the best of my knowledge

1. Depends if they backdate the open date or not. Amex does not backdate at all, so you want to add them ASAP. Chase will, so in theory yes you can add them at any point and wouldn't make a difference. The backdating policy can change at any time so you would risk them not backdating and when you add them, the history will come over but with a start date of today. The start date is used by FICO to determine age of account. 2. Not automatically. 3. I wouldn't remove them as an authorized user until they've built out a decent amount of credit on their own. So for example, you add them now as an AU. 18 they apply for their own card. Maybe 18.5 they apply for a second card. If you remove the card too early before they build out enough credit of their own, you could risk losing some of the benefit. It's hard to say for sure because the AU benefit is not officially documented, FICO one said they don't take into account AU's and then backpedaled. Anecdotally it can definitely help and I wouldn't rush to remove it until they have solid footing. 4. As Simcha said, don't give them the card, no need to remove then.

Oh I'll probably be giving him a card at some point, I do want him to be able to spend money using it instead of cash :) but I think we can deal with the repercussions of that.

No reason to wait. Let's say you add a Chase card that was opened in 2000, if it reports correctly it will show opened in 2000. That's a lot of potentially good history by the time they turn 18

https://thepointsguy.com/credit-cards/children-authorized-users-credit-cards/ has all companies and what ages you can add users

Add them as authorized user to your OLDEST card. Use their card every month.