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If you do not have a credit history, then getting loans and credit cards might be a big problem. There are many advantages to having a healthy credit history and a good credit score. This is why you should start building on your credit score as early as possible. Even when you are a student you make lot of purchases. This might as well be a good chance to add to your credit history if you are sure that you would be careful in your expenditures are confident of the way you can manage your budget. This credit score can help you going forward to get loans for education or home at much lower interest rates. They will also help you get the credit cards with rewards that you can better utilize.
When you are starting out with no credit history, the best thing you can do is get yourself a credit card from a departmental store, retailer or a gas station. However, you must ensure that they report to the credit bureaus so that your positive credit is taken into account every month. These cards unlike your regular Visa and Mastercard have much higher interest rates, which means you must be careful with your expenses and clear your dues well before time. So eventually you will be able to derive benefit out of the positive credit history that you build over a period of 5 - 6 months. You may even approach the bank where you have got your savings or checking account and ask them for a credit card.
Depending on your financial statement or past transactions, they may grant you a credit card but since you are still high risk, the interest rate will be high. This wouldn't harm you as long as you can manage to keep your outstanding at the end of the month to zero. Eventually, you end up building a good credit history.
If you are a student, it is understood that you wouldn't have a long credit history. There are many credit card companies which approach students in campuses for credit cards. You can apply for such a card and make all your purchases and transactions with it. If you do not use them for any extra purchases and do all your bill payments, you would never run into debt and you can add up all your credit which will build to a good level by the time you complete your education.
There are many banks and online sites that give credit to high risk profiles. The interest rates are high but the bigger problem is that they may need a security deposit. Although, you can get a credit history with such a card, this should be the last resort. That is because if you have outstanding dues you might end up risking your asset. However, some people take loans and make monthly payments purely to build on their credit history and it is not a bad idea to do the same before you can look for credit.
