You may or may not find it difficult getting your first credit card, depending on where you are coming from. If you are a college student, then the odds are that you are being showered with credit card offers from all directions. If not, then you will have to prove a good credit history and score to qualify. Sometimes people do not have even that. So here are some common tips on how to get your first credit card.

· As a student – the odds are that you will be bombarded with credit card offers as college students. Credit card companies love college students as customers as they make for a lesser lending risk. Not only do the credit card companies stand to get a customer who may become a lifelong patron but they also rely on the fact that most of the parents will bail their kids out of a credit card debt if it comes to that. Start with a credit card that suits your needs and start with just one no matter how many offers you get. In fact it is always a better idea to choose your own credit card rather than let the credit card company choose and target you on campus.

· As a Regular Bank Account Holder – The first place that you should look to get a credit card is probably your own bank. If you have been dealing with them for some time and have a good record, the bank may be willing to give you a credit card. Since they will have ready access to information like the kind of balance that you maintain and money that you deposit every month, they will be in a position to approve you of a credit card even if you do not have prior credit history. The opposite applies if the history of your bank account has blemishes on it such as overdrafts, bounced checks etc. In that case they will be the last people to approve you for a credit card and you would be better off looking somewhere else.

· Departmental Credit Cards – Now these are relatively easy to get. You might get the offer next time you are shopping in a mall or filling gas. They are particularly marketed rather strongly during the holiday season. The approval process is somewhat simpler which makes it easier for a person to get their first credit card. However, you should note that these cards usually have a high rate of interest. So if you are planning to carry balances every month, they may not be the best option for you. You will end spending a lot of money on interest.

· Secured Credit Cards – When all efforts of getting a standard credit card fail, this may be the only route to take. Secured credit cards are like prepaid credit cards. You can only spend the amount of cash on these cards with what you have loaded on to them. So strictly speaking it is not a credit card at all as no money is being given to you on credit. Also, these cards are typically not reported to the credit bureaus so they are not going to be helping your credit score any. Apart from these differences, they work just like a credit card. The biggest benefit is that by using a prepaid credit card, you can demonstrate to a creditor or to your bank that you can handle credit responsibly and convince them to approve your application for a regular credit card that they might have previously denied.