CreditCards Blog

is it possible for a 16 year old to get a credit card ??
most places seem to be 18 years. thank you

I doubt it very much, most companies only offer credit to those aged 18 or over.
I could be wrong,so there will be someone along in a minute!

Not possible I think....... that said, when I was 16 (in 1989) I lied about my age on the application and managed to get one. I didn't have a cheque book, and wanted to order stuff by mail. Postal orders were a pain in the rear.

Not sure what happens these days , but years ago when 17 I managed to get a credit card , but it had to be guaranteed by my parents. In other words they were liable if I did not pay. (I never actually used it it was simply a fall back, but useful in an emergency.) So it may be possible, but with a guarantor. Not sure though.

Not possible I think....... that said, when I was 16 (in 1989) I lied about my age on the application and managed to get one. I didn't have a cheque book, and wanted to order stuff by mail. Postal orders were a pain in the rear.


my friend thought of that but i told her its a bit dodgy these days as i am sure with computers they can check.
they want it for bying over the internet. thanks

Credit isn't enforceable if you're under 18, I thought. So the company wouldn't be able to get their money back if you ran off, so they won't give it to you in the first place.

You are not legally allowed to entered into a credit agreement until you are 18. If a lender disregards this and lends to an under 18 year old the debt is automatically unenforceable.

If someone lies about their age then I would still doubt that the lender has got a leg to stand on as the borrower would still be under 18 in reality so the above rule applies and it would be said that they should have made more thorough checks at the time of granting the credit.

Related rambling: Didn't stop me having a Barclaycard when I was 16 (many many years ago ;)). There was no credit limit and it was just a means of me being able to guarantee my cheques. It's most useful purpose, however, was to help to get me served in pubs :rotfl:

........though submitting a false application (dob) could be considered as a fraudulent application and leave you open to a whole host of problems.

yes i think i will tell her to wait it only just less than 2 years..... she will have to borrow her mums and pay mum....

No bank will give you one until you are offically 18, but the legal age for being able to enter in to a contract is not that simple. In Scotland a girl can get a mortgage at 12 and a boy at I think 15. We have many ancient laws still in place.

No bank will give you one until you are offically 18, but the legal age for being able to enter in to a contract is not that simple. In Scotland a girl can get a mortgage at 12 and a boy at I think 15. We have many ancient laws still in place.
Are they saying that women are better with their money than men - they obviously don't know my wife :eek:

lol, yep they certainly are.

cannot you have one of those pre payment credit cards ?

Are they saying that women are better with their money than men - they obviously don't know my wife :eek:

As it's for mortgages maybe they're saying a woman needs to have a house for 3 years so that she can perfect the cooking and cleaning before getting a husband to look after?

You can have a pre-payment card, I seem to remember that the min age for one of those is 13.

You can also be added onto someone else's account as joint card holder from age 13.

You can also be added onto someone else's account as joint card holder from age 13.
Really?! Which credit cards offer this?

I know Cap 1 do - I used to work for them. Not sure about any1 else but Cap 1 definitely do.

I grabbed this from the Citizens Advice Bureau site for England:

There is no legal age limit at which you can open a bank account but a bank manager can decide whether to allow a child or young person to open an account. There are restrictions on opening certain kinds of account, for example, as a young person you are not normally legally responsible for your debts so you are unlikely to be granted an overdraft.
If you are under 18, it is a criminal offence for anyone to send you material inviting you to borrow money or obtain goods or services on credit or hire purchase. However, if you are over 14 but under 18, you can enter into a credit or hire purchase agreement if an adult acts as your guarantor.
For information on guarantors and other credit issues, see Credit (http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/life/debt/credit.htm).
You can borrow money at any age, but access to loans may be limited because a lender will not usually be able to take a young person to court if they break the terms of a loan. This is because you cannot usually be legally held to a contract you make when you are under 18.
If you apply for a credit card when you are under 18, you will have your application turned down.
Contract law is different in Scotland, but I think the relevant part is that CCPs will refuse you if they think you are under 18.