Chase +1 Student Card – Earn Rewards Today To Build Credit For Tomorrow

Designed with college students in mind, the Chase +1 Student MasterCard rewards young people for doing what it takes to build a good credit history and healthy credit habits. Chase +1’s“Karma” points system does not revolve around the classic student credit card mantra of “Spend, Spend, Spend,” but instead gives Karma points to consumers for maintaining on-time monthly payments, using credit well, and learning more about how to handle credit and general finances.

In the karmic world of giving to get something in return, Chase +1 shows young card members that good credit behavior can get you Karma points. Chase+1 shares a good lesson in teaching the right credit habits by rewarding card members +2 Karma points for each bill they pay on time and an additional +8 Karma points for six months of consecutive on-time bill payments. This especially caters to young people learning to handle paying their credit card bills for the first time. Promoting on-time payments sets them on their way to building a strong on-time payment history which is the foundation of a healthy credit report and, generally speaking, can comprise nearly 35% of a consumer’s credit score. In addition, providing credit to a younger card member helps set the clock ticking on another important credit score component—the length of credit history—which generally accounts for 15% of a consumer’s credit score.

The Chase+1 card also gives consumers +20 Karma points for their first purchase. We have seen it is not enough just to have credit, but consumers also need to demonstrate regular and responsible credit utilization to have a healthy credit score. Lastly, Chase +1 card rewards +5 Karma points for learning how to use credit wisely by participating in a short quiz at www.chaseplus1.com.

Once you have become an on-time payment pro and an overall credit guru, what to do with all the Karma points you’ve earned? Chase+1 passes on the goodwill by allowing card members to share their Karma points with their Facebook friends or donate to a good cause like the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) and the World Wildlife Federation (WWF).

If you would rather keep your hard-earned Karma points to yourself, Chase+1’s online store has a huge selection of gifts from small purchases to luxury items that you can redeem with your Karma points. The top products on my Karma points wish list are the Time Traveler’s Wife book for only 9 Karma points, 30 Rock Season Two for 24 Karma points, an Apple iPod Shuffle for 45 Karma points, and my big splurge of a Sony Cybershot Digital Camera for a whopping 230 Karma points. My credit score is going to skyrocket with all the on-time payments I’ll be making to get my Karma goodies.

As you can imagine, this does not all come for free but Chase+1 tries to keep rates low and fees reasonable. The Chase+1 card comes with no annual fee, no penalty for going over the credit limit, and 0% APR for 3 months. After the 3 month introductory period, the Chase+1 APR bounces to up 14.99%, so think twice about placing large purchases on the card. Small, regular purchases you can pay off monthly will be rewarded with Karma points and good Credit Karma in your credit score.