You can help your college student learn responsible credit card use with a card like the Citi Dividend Platinum Select Visa (for college students). There is no annual fee and you can set the card limit. You will want to set it low to begin with, so perhaps $500.

How is it risk free? You can use Citi’s online account management system to monitor the credit usage or by calling a toll free number. The card reports to credit bureaus which means Junior is building a credit report and you are teaching responsible credit card skills that he or she can take right into their life-after-college. Think of it as the last opportunity to help your child learn valuable money management skills.

The card comes with a cash back offer, travel accident insurance and other bonuses that can come in handy for college students- including credit education articles.

blog.creditorweb.com

PayPal is set to offer a new service dubbed “PayPal Secure Card” beginning tomorrow. The service, offered through a web browser plug-in, will allow users to generate a unique one-use MasterCard number to use on sites that don’t accept Paypal. According to the Reuters article:

By residing on the PayPal user’s computer, Secure Card can detect when users visit e-commerce sites. The software then automatically fills in their stored financial information, requiring just a few more clicks to authorize a transaction.

PayPal stores no details on the local computer for security reasons. Instead, it logs Secure Card activity in the user’s account on central computers for safety and record-keeping.

At this point, there has been no mention of whether you will eventually be able to earn rewards on these purchases. There are, however, a couple of immediately recognizable benefits for consumers: 1) credit card access for those without a credit card, 2) virtual credit card numbers for those who don’t have a credit card with this ability (eg, Chase, Amex).

creditcardwatcher.com