By Rebecca K. Worthington

What’s scarier than teaching your child to drive? Giving them a credit card for the first time before they go off to college.

But remember: Good credit is crucial to many financial transactions (apartment rental, low insurance premiums, future loans), and in some cases even getting a job.

So here are four tips for choosing the right credit card to send with your child to college (along with the extra-long twin sheets of course):

1. Do it before you go to college. Rather than wait for a credit card offer to be dangled in front of your child, shop around for the best offer available now from local financial institutions you know and trust. Benchmark members can be assured their child will not be offered a sky-high credit card limit they can’t afford, like other national chains do.
2. Start close to home. That advice comes from the Washington Post’s personal finance columnist, who suggests inquiring about credit card offers with a credit union. SafeBee.com concurs, noting that credit unions often offer better value than other companies.
3. Require a low fixed interest rate. Let’s face it: There will be a missed payment. SafeBee.com suggests a reasonable interest rate under 20 percent. All of Benchmark’s credit cards are well under that, plus we offer fixed rates.
4. No annual fee. You have enough new expenses to track when your child goes off to college. A quality student credit card will offer the low fixed interest rate we mentioned, plus no annual fee.

Feel secure that Benchmark Federal Credit Union is going off to school with your child. Benchmark has the credit card you and your college student can trust. For more information on our credit card options, click here.

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Rebecca Worthington is Vice President of Marketing with Benchmark Federal Credit Union, which has branches in Phoenixville and downtown West Chester. Celebrating more than 75 years of service, Benchmark FCU is the only federal credit union that exclusively serves Chester County. 610-429-1600; BenchmarkFCU.org.