Member-only story
LIFE LESSONS
Why I’ll Never Own Another Credit Card
I learned my lesson the hard way
I wanted a credit card. Badly.
But as a third-year undergraduate student in the U.S. with no credit history, every application was met with rejection. Banks insisted I needed a credit history to qualify, but how could I build one without a credit card? It was a classic chicken-and-egg problem.
With each rejection, my frustration grew.
I wanted a credit card more than anything
You know how you want something even more when you can’t have it? That’s exactly how I felt about a credit card. Every time a bank denied my application, I was devastated. With each rejection, my desperation grew until it became an obsession. It felt unfair — everyone else seemed to have one, so why couldn’t I?
Then, everything changed.
Bank of America offered me one
The heavens finally smiled upon me — Bank of America approved my application!
To say I was on cloud nine would be an understatement. I could hardly contain my joy. I was chosen! To minimize their risk, they gave me a low spending limit of $500. I didn’t care. I had a credit card — the details…
