Credit Card For Indian Students Travelling Abroad

What a wonderful joy is when children travels abroad for higher education. But on the other hand parents get worried for paying the semester wise tuition fees, buying grocery items and other expenses. So the best option for Indian parents is to buy a credit card for travelling student. Either they can buy credit card from Indian bank or student can buy one once he reaches the destination country.

Benefits Over Educational Loan:

With the rising education cost coupled with ever growing interest rates, parents have to pay more every six months or depending on the fee structure in foreign institutions. But credit cards offered by many of the universities abroad (especially USA) are beneficial since interest rates is 0% and most importantly it helps in building credit history which in long-term benefits your child. However, you need to check the validity of this interest rate and what are the interest rates after the zero interest period is over.

Other selection criteria for getting a credit card for student going abroad for studying are:

Qualification and Age Limit:

18 years and above. But it is not necessary that he/she should be earning. But still cross check this.

Universal Acceptance: 

Always select a card which has universal acceptance in order to avoid varying interest rates and high exchange rates.

Card with Photo-ID: 

Get a card with photo-id as it gives best protection to a good extent. There are less chances of your child getting trapped in case of stolen, missing the card.

Foreign Currency Fees:

Get a card which offers low charge on foreign exchange rates, money withdrawal etc. Credit card companies often hide conversion fee when you shop abroad in other country’s local currency. For e.g. if you buy a smartphone in the US with your Indian credit card, you might have to pay interest as minimum as 3-4%.

Replacement Policies:

Check on card replacement policies before you leave home in case of stolen cards.

Emergency Services: 

In case, you’re buying a credit card in your native place before going to a foreign country, get emergency contact numbers, 24*7 toll free numbers for faster processing in case of loss of card. In addition to this, get details of shipping charges in case need arises of requesting a new card.

Cash Rewards:

Always opt for a credit card which offers cash reward whenever you find a deal from two different companies are offering same fees. Benefits of cash rewards are – for every purchase made person earns a reward point where each point carries some monetary value. This can later be redeemed in the form of paying your outstanding payments, gift options at ecommerce sites, buying airline tickets etc. Most importantly, with cash, you would never get any cash reward.

Related Posts:

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Tips For Students On Safeguarding Credit Card While Travelling Out Of Country