Credit cards now days have become a very common household commodity. People generally refrain from carrying a heap of cash for all tier purchasing needs. And that is why the credit market has expanded by leaps and bounds. There is many a credit card providers in India for each type of customer segment. Most of the cards are intended to cater the general purchasing needs of common people, whereas few cards caters specially to specific segments such as women, professionals travelers etc. One such type is student credit card.
Student credit card, which was of late a popular concept only in western countries, is now catching up in Indian market. A student credit card is issued exclusively to students at college level. These cards have comparatively lower interest rates and generally no income eligibility limit. These cards require lesser documentation and simple process for procuring the card. In case a student wants to apply for student credit card, the only document required includes residence proof and enrollment proof in any educational institute. To obtain a student card there is no compulsion of submitting any employment documents or Income Tax returns. Any Student more than 18 years of age is qualified for student credit cards. The cards have generally a validity of 5 years.
Features of Student Credit cards
Student credit cards are exclusively available to the students from any college. Hence the card has few features which have been included considering the repayment capacity and other credentials of a student.
- Lower credit limit as compared to regular credit card
- The rate of interest applicable is also low.
- The interest free payment period allows students to pay off their dues amount within a specific timeline without incurring any additional interest amount.
- The students cannot request to set up the limit for their credit card. Banks generally issue student credit card with lower spending limits as compared to the regular credit cards. Normally the limit for student’s card is between Rs.5000 up to Rs.15, 000.
- The student’s credit card carries a cash limit of up to 10% of the total sanctioned limit.
- A monthly statement is provided to monitor the monthly spending in the card.
- In case of loss or stolen card , the replacement card is provided without any extra cost
- The student card has a validity period of normally 5 years.
Benefits of student Credit Card
- Generally banks don’t charge any joining fee or annual fee for college student credit card.
- No past credit history or income criteria is required to apply for a student credit card. This takes away the cumbersome processing which banks do follow in issuing regular credit card.
- There is no requirement of any income proof or sound credit history. Few banks even issue credit card to students with poor credit background.
- Simple set of documents is required
- The students get familiarize on how to spend at a very early stage of their life and with proper credit planning such student can earn positive credit scores. This could always come handy while applying for different types of loans such as education loan, car loan, home loan etc.
- One of the student credit cards is student travel card which allows the student to spend while going abroad for studies. This card comes with worldwide acceptance. Apart from spending it directly , students may even pay fees or other charges for online classes
- Cash withdrawal up to a specific limit is also allowed from ATM’s worldwide at any VISA/MasterCard atm centre.
- Reward point is also offered on the amount spent
- Zero Fuel surcharge
- Only a few companies offer credit card for students with poor credit report
How can a student apply for credit card?
Credit cards for students in India are comparatively a newer concept and hence very few banks are issuing the same as if now. There are few prerequisite for issuance of credit card to students.
- Date of birth certificate
- Proof of residential address,
- Identity card of Students issued by the college/ institution,
- Recent Photograph
Banks offering credit card to students in India.
There are many financial institutions & banks which are offering student credit cards in India. All the variants of student credit cards are crafted to cater the credit card requirements for students.
SBI Student Plus Advantage Card & ICICI bank Student Travel Card are two of the most prominent student credit card available in market.
While SBI student card is extremely popular cards amongst Indian students due to its wide acceptability and the best in class feature. The card is considered to be one of the best credit card for students currently available.
- Cash Points which you can use to pay your outstanding balance or exchange for exciting gifts from the Rewards Catalogue
- Zero fuel surcharges
- EMV chip card transactions improve security against fraud compared to magnetic stripe card transactions.
- SBI Card Alerts enable you to receive information regarding your credit card as an SMS on your mobile phone.
Wherein ICICI Bank Student Travel Card, is the best student travel credit card for those students who are planning to study overseas. The card comes with a global acceptance and a trusted network of Visa Inc.
Some of the other student credit cards which are popular with Indian student are
- Axis Bank – ISIC Forex Card
- HDFC Forex Plus Card
- HDFC Forex plus Chip Card
- HDFC Multicurrencys Card