New Federal Regulations were passed in February of 2010 making it impossible for anyone under 21 to get a credit card.
You will have to get a parent to co-sign on a card with you.

Get your credit reports at
Annual Credit Report.com
Do NOT trust any other website – they will try to charge you for something that is free- always has been.
If they request you to mail proof of your address – please follow up with the instructions.
Do not get the score – it costs money and it’s useless for you at this point.

If you get a credit card – make sure you pay in full each month.
Carrying balances not only devastates credit, it can ruin your life.
Pay in full each month for what you spend – faithfully.

Do not get a secured card.
It still won’t turn into a credit card until you are 21.
And they carry a hefty annual fee.

Keep your checking account in good shape and start establishing yourself with your bank.
When you get some cash – open a 1 year CD for about $1,000 and ask to make a 1 year secured loan against it.
/

Somehow our system has failed to provide you with the necessary information on how to get “credit cards” – so here I’ll briefly explain what you have to do to get one – 1) Start with a checking account – you must have a checking account! (It should carry a daily balance of at least $1,000.00) 2) Open a revolving credit account with a small store – not a big chain – just a local dress or furniture or 3) buy a car on time and make the payments. If no one will give you credit at a small shop then – go to jewelry store and purchase a expensive watch or ring – and put down 50% CASH – and make weekly or monthly payments. Believe me – a jewelry store will not turn you down and not sell you something with 50% cash down. After 6 months start trying to open charge accounts with larger chains – Sears, Lowe’s, K-mart or Target! Then you will be getting the “credit cards” applications in the mail. Good Luck!

Because the law was just changed and you now need to be 21. Be very very very thankful you cannot get a card. The majority of 18,19 and 20s that got them also got a load of grief for 5, 7 or 10 years. They blew money they did not have on things they did not need. Money that could have gone for an education to at least give them an equal shot at a job and life they could enjoy. Now they face trying to get low paying jobs just to survive and in many places they apply they are not hired because of bad credit history. You probably don’t agree with anything I have said. But if there is just a little spark of reality, then try to step way back and rethink what it is you think you need.

Because you are 18
Because you have no credit
You would need to prove income or have a parent cosign for you in order for you to obtain a credit card until you are 21

Quit applying. You are going to be declined over and over.

Get a secured credit card at your bank.

No credit is worse then bad credit.

However, they are most interested in whether or not you have the ability to pay. I applied for my first credit card when I had a summer job so my limit was $100 more than my monthly paycheque. My older sister applied for hers while attending school so she got it under the student program and her limit was a mere $300. She was furious.

I think that today with the current economic crisis and the government wanting the credit card companies on a leash, they will be very unlikely to approve new credit cards with no credit history. When I first went to the states, the way around it was to get an AMEX green card using my foreign AMEX as a reference (no other credit card company in the States would take foreign credit references) and to buy a 28 inch TV on a store loan plan, paying it off quickly. That gave me a credit history where a major purchase was paid off and that made the credit golden. A friend of mine transferring to the States from the UK had no problem applying for credit, later we found out that was because his SSN had been intercepted and the identity thief had populated his credit history with all sorts of fraudulent entries.

Returning from the States I find that my credit is beyond golden cause the only thing on the record is a 27 inch TV and a Honda Civic that were both paid off two decades ago.

Because you are 18. It’s near impossible to get a credit card at 18 anymore. You have no credit history, and that is viewed as negative.

Two reasons:

1. You have applied too much. To be accepted, you should apply only once. Applying more times results in fewer acceptances, not more.

2. You have no credit history at all, no bad credit history, but also no good credit history. Currently, most credit cards do not accept anyone without a credit history.

3. Despite what you may think, you are giving yourself a bad credit history by applying too much.

You need to do the following:
1. Stop applying, immediately.
2. Get a “secured” credit card.
3. Do not apply for any credit card that is not “secured” until both of the following are true:
i. You have gotten a good credit history from the secured credit card.
ii. You have not applied for any cards for more than a year.

You can use this credit monitoring service to pre-estimate future scores for different scenarios of such payments – credit-report-score.10001mb.com