A Parent's Essential Guide to Getting Your 17-Year-Old Ready for Their First Credit Card

Is Your Teen Ready? What You Need to Know First

Should you hand your teenager a credit card? According to research from TransUnion, roughly one in five American teenagers between 13 and 17 now carries a credit card, with the majority using it weekly. However, your child won’t be able to open their own account until they reach 18—legally, minors can’t sign binding contracts. Instead, they’ll operate as an authorized user on your existing account, which means you maintain full responsibility for their financial decisions.

Before you hand over the plastic, understand this critical point: you bear the financial consequences of their spending. Whether they max out the card or lose it entirely, it’s your credit score and wallet on the line.

The Real Stakes: Two Critical Realities

You are financially responsible for every purchase. If your 17-year-old charges a $2,000 prom party bus and their friends don’t reimburse them, guess who pays? You do—regardless of whether you authorized each individual charge.

Your credit score takes the hit. If your teen forgets to reimburse you for their monthly charges (and teenagers frequently do), it’s your credit rating that suffers the damage. Your payment history is what matters to credit bureaus, not theirs.

When It Makes Sense to Give Them a Card

Despite the risks, many parents introduce credit cards to their teenagers for legitimate reasons:

• Your child attends boarding school or travels frequently for sports and academics
• You travel for work and want your teen to have emergency financial access
• An authorized user card builds your child’s credit history early
• You want to teach real-world financial responsibility while they’re still willing to listen

If these circumstances apply to you, read on for the right way to do it.

The Do’s: Setting Your 17-Year-Old Up for Success

Have a comprehensive money conversation. Don’t assume your teen understands how credit cards actually work. Many teenagers confuse debit with credit, don’t know what a credit score is, or why it matters. Explain interest, compound interest, and all the terms hidden in the fine print. Share your own financial wins and failures—how you spent, saved, borrowed, and recovered. Make it real.

Verify the card reports to credit bureaus. Otherwise, your teen gains spending power without building their credit history, defeating the entire purpose. If the card doesn’t report, reconsider whether it’s worth the risk.

Set clear spending boundaries before handing over the card. Is this card for everyday purchases, emergencies only, or something else? Define what “emergency” means to you—because your teenager’s definition probably differs from yours. Discuss specific scenarios: Can they use it for an Uber ride? A concert ticket? A medical bill? Establish these guidelines upfront to avoid shock when the statement arrives.

Start with verification meetings. Review charges together weekly at first. If your child demonstrates responsibility, extend the reviews to monthly. If you have concerns about honesty, require receipts for every purchase. This isn’t about micromanaging—it’s about building trust through transparency.

Be ready to intervene. Credit card responsibility isn’t something teens master overnight. You’re teaching them through real transactions, but the card itself won’t do the job. If spending spirals, you step in. Take the card away temporarily or permanently if needed.

Check regularly that the card hasn’t been lost. Teenagers lose things constantly—keys, phones, homework, and yes, credit cards. Instruct your child to tell you immediately if it goes missing, not to hide it out of fear. Explain the consequences: a lost card in the wrong hands means unauthorized charges and headaches for both of you.

Ensure your own financial house is in order. If you’re currently drowning in credit card debt, don’t give your teen a card. Their mistakes will only compound your existing problems. Get yourself stable first.

Make it clear this is a privilege, not a right. Financial maturity develops at different ages for different people. Frame the card as something they’ve earned, not something they’re automatically entitled to. Be prepared to revoke it.

The Don’ts: Common Mistakes to Avoid

Don’t assume they understand credit basics. Many seventh and eighth graders genuinely don’t grasp the difference between spending borrowed money and spending their own. Test their knowledge before handing over the card.

Don’t skip the safeguards. Multiple options exist to protect yourself: Some card issuers allow you to set spending caps on authorized users. Prepaid teen cards (which parents can reload) exist, though many don’t report to credit bureaus. Some banks offer cards specifically designed for teenagers ages 14-17 with built-in credit limits ($250 to $1,000). Apps can send transaction alerts and enforce spending limits. Even a secured card—where you deposit collateral that becomes their credit line—is an option.

At minimum, add your teen to an account with a low credit limit. “Give her a card where she physically can’t charge more than you can actually repay,” as one financial educator advises.

Don’t expect natural responsibility. Kids won’t automatically understand that spending $50 today means they need $50 to pay back tomorrow. Nor will they inherently know that maxing out a card damages their credit for years. Tell them. Show them. Verify they’ve absorbed it.

Don’t ignore the warning signs. If charging escalates or your teen becomes defensive about their purchases, that’s your signal to step in. This isn’t the moment to foster independence at the expense of financial disaster.

Making It Work: The Path Forward

Giving your 17-year-old a credit card is a calculated risk. They might succeed, or they might disappoint. But if approached strategically—with clear rules, regular check-ins, reasonable limits, and your own financial stability as a foundation—it becomes a powerful teaching tool. The key is supervision without suffocation, trust with verification, and consequences that stick.

The credit card in their pocket represents spending power they’ve never had before. Your job is ensuring they learn to wield it wisely.