4 US Credit Card Recommendations for International Students Without SSN
Before I came to the United States, my friends has told me many times that I had to apply for a credit card to accumulate credit scores ASAP. So that I could have more flexibility regarding my financial needs in the future, such as applying for other credit cards, loan applications, etc.
Here are 4 credit cards that can be easily obtained by international students who have just come to the United States:
｜No SSN
- Bank of America Cash Rewards
- Deserve Edu
｜With SSN
- Chase Freedom
- Discover it
Usually if you are a Master's student, you may not have an on-campus job at the beginning. That means you won't have social security number (SSN), and there are some restrictions on applying for a credit card without SSN.
Once you find a job on campus, or if you are a PhD student, it is much more convenient to apply for a credit card with SSN.
Visa and MasterCard, which credit card should I choose?
In some banks, you can choose the type of credit card when opening the card. I would suggest choosing Visa for the first card. Although both are commonly used in the United States, Costco in the United States now accepts Visa cards. I started with MasterCard(s), so now I don’t have a credit card to use when I go to Costco.
Discover and Amex American Express are individual credit cardsystems. Most stores accept these two cards, but occasionally a few stores do not accept them.
A Beginner's Guide to US Credit Cards
・Bank of America Cash Rewards (without SSN)
This is the first credit card I have after I came to the United States. When I opened an account with BoA, I applied for this credit card at the same time. I went to the physical branch to open the bank account. If you plan to open the card, remember to ask the bank agent for the open bonus.
The BoA Cash Rewards card has open bonus. If you spend $1000 in the first 90 days, you will receive a $200 reward (June 2021).
In addition to zero annual fee, this card also has 1% to 3% cash rewards. You can choose 3% rewards from six categories every month, including online shopping, dining, drug store, gas, travel, and home furniture. Groceries has 2% reward, and all other purchases has 1%.
・Deserve Edu (without SSN)
I did not apply for this card myself, but I have seen other people recommend it. It is promoted that international students can apply without SSN.
Benefits include no annual fee, 1% cash rewards on all purchases, and one-year Amazon Prime membership for free. (By the way, even if you do not apply for Deserve Edu, as long as you are a student, you can apply for Amazon Prime for half a year for free.)
・Chase Freedom (Requires SSN)
For those who plan to stay in the United States in the future, and want to leverage credit card benefits more, Chase Freedom is a good entry card! Many PhD students I know open an account with Chase and apply for a Freedrom credit card. One year after I have an SSN, I also applied for this one.
There is also no annual fee. The current open bonus is that if you spend more than $500 in the first three months, you will get the equivalent of $200 in points. Freedom has three different card types, which are Unlimited, Flex, and Student.
Unlimited and Flex share some of the same benefits, such as using Chase UR points for 5% rewards on travel spending and 3% rebate for dining and drug stores . The difference is that Unlimited has 1.5% reward for all other purchases; while Flex has 1% reward for all other purchases, and 5% rewards for designated categories every season. Benefits for Student card are less, and you can check it on the Chase website.
I decided to apply for the Chase Freedom Flex credit card, because I already have a BoA card that gives me at least 1% cash rewards. I use Freedom card's 3% rewards to eat at the restaurant, or use the quarterly designated rewards.
・Discover It (Requires SSN)
Comparing to Chase Freedom, Discover it is way easier to get. Basically, as long as you have your SSN, you will get approved. I would recommend to apply for Chase credit card once you have more than half a year of credit history.
The Discover card has not only zero annual fee, but also $50 open bonus when spending an unlimited amount of purchases. Other discounts are designed for students as well. There are different types of 5% cash rewards every quarter (groceries, gas, restaurant, drug store, etc.). At the same time, as a student, you can apply for the good student award of $20 every year .
In addition, there are different card designs to choose from when opening the card, click the link below to check out! :)
Bank of America, Chase, Discover, Deserve edu... Which credit card should I apply?
The first thing to consider is whether you have SSN or not.
If you do not have the SSN, it is recommended to apply for BoA Cash Rewards. If BoA doesn't succeed, then apply for Deserve Edu.
If you have the SSN, you can apply for Discover it immediately after you have SSN. If you have an SSN for a period of time, you can apply for Chase Freedom.
I did not apply for any other cards after I have my BoA credit card. At the beginning, holding one credit card is enough to accumulate credit scores and credit histories. And if you want to apply for other credit cards in the future, you must also consider the limit on the number of cards you can open. For example, Chase has a limit of opening only 5 cards in 24 months.
After holding a credit card for six months to one year, you can apply for a higher-level card. After holding BoA Cash Rewards for more than a year, my FICO credit score has come to around 730~740.
How to check FICO credit score?
In the United States, whether you are renting a house, applying for a credit card, or applying for a loan, your credit score is a very important indicator of your financial status.
When applying for a credit card, the credit card company will check your credit record and will leave a record on the credit report. This is also called as "Hard Pull". The main credit reporting agencies are: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.
When you open an account with a bank or hold a credit card, you will usually be provided with free credit scores to check. Among the 4 cards I introduced above, 3 credit cards I have all provide FICO credit scores for inquiries. I'm in Texas, BoA and Discover both provide credit reports from TransUnion, and Chase provides Experian credit report.
In addition, Experian also provides free services, you can register to check credit scores.
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