Chase Student Starter Pack

If you’ve ever had any kind of debt hanging over your head and ended up on some blacklist, your American Express application is getting rejected automatically. Same goes for student starter cards—if you already have an American Express card through a family member, you aren't getting one. I personally have a student package and an authorized overdraft, yet my American Express was still denied because of a HubSpot list.

Also, mods, please shrink this image. It’s a total mess to look at.

Quick question here... if I've got that student package... besides using an American Express for installment plans... can I actually use my same JPMorgan Chase debit card to pay in installments too?!?!?!

Yeah, your limit is $333.

thanks :-)

So here’s the deal, I’m just a typical sophomore right now with a checking account over at JPMorgan Chase, and I’m thinking about picking up that student package that comes with an American Express card. From what I gather, I just need to open the account, sign all the paperwork, and then wait for the card to show up in the mail—I don't think they'd turn me down, since I've had a couple of decent deposits hit my account lately, along with some smaller ones. I’d mostly just be using the card for random little purchases here and there, so I was wondering if there are any interest charges or hidden fees involved. It feels a bit weird to me that I can buy things in installments without paying the bank some kind of commission. Also, how many installments am I actually looking at? Does it depend on where I shop? Like, if I head over to a clothing store and grab about $500 worth of stuff, $333 what's the maximum number of payments I could stretch that over? I've seen some people mentioning a three-month limit, but I wasn't sure if that was the rule.

There’s zero interest involved—unless you miss a payment, then they hit you with a 14% APR. The number of installments depends on the retailer. That bit about three payments isn't right; I actually split a TV purchase into six monthly payments.
Just a heads-up, your limit is $667, and those installment plans eat into that total, so you can't go over $667 for anything.

Just figured I'd ask for some info, like what’s the average number of installments stores usually offer these days? I’ve pretty much just been paying cash for everything so far, so I'm kind of clueless about how this works.

darkmaker94, thanks for the heads up.😉

The tech crowd usually gets more options—like up to 12 interest-free installments—while the retail side typically caps it at about 6 months. It really just depends on how much the total comes to. Honestly, it all comes down to which store you're hitting up.

Jesse Chase32 said:So here’s the deal, I’m just a typical sophomore right now with a checking account over at JPMorgan Chase, and I’m thinking about picking up that student package that comes with an American Express card. From what I gather, I just need to open the account, sign all the paperwork, and then wait for the card to show up in the mail—I don't think they'd turn me down, since I've had a couple of decent deposits hit my account lately, along with some smaller ones. I’d mostly just be using the card for random little purchases here and there, so I was wondering if there are any interest charges or hidden fees involved. It feels a bit weird to me that I can buy things in installments without paying the bank some kind of commission. Also, how many installments am I actually looking at? Does it depend on where I shop? Like, if I head over to a clothing store and grab about $500 worth of stuff, $333 what's the maximum number of payments I could stretch that over? I've seen some people mentioning a three-month limit, but I wasn't sure if that was the rule.

did they even give you an Amex?

Yeah, it took about 20 days for it to show up. There’s this little sticker on the card telling me I should give them a call to confirm I actually got it and maybe ask some questions if I feel like it, but does anyone actually know if that's a real requirement or just some random thing they slapped on there for nothing?

Jesse Chase32 said:Yeah, it took about 20 days for it to show up. There’s this little sticker on the card telling me I should give them a call to confirm I actually got it and maybe ask some questions if I feel like it, but does anyone actually know if that's a real requirement or just some random thing they slapped on there for nothing?

You definitely have to call.
They’ll just ask you a few quick security questions to make sure it’s actually you and that nobody swiped it, and then they'll go ahead and activate it for you.

Jesse Chase32 said:Yeah, it took about 20 days for it to show up. There’s this little sticker on the card telling me I should give them a call to confirm I actually got it and maybe ask some questions if I feel like it, but does anyone actually know if that's a real requirement or just some random thing they slapped on there for nothing?

Not for me🤷🤷🤷

Mark Wilson66 said:You definitely have to call.
They’ll just ask you a few quick security questions to make sure it’s actually you and that nobody swiped it, and then they'll go ahead and activate it for you.

Does that activation happen right then and there?

And, if you don't mind me asking such a basic question, what's the actual drill when you go to buy something? Like, I hand over the card, swipe it, sign the receipt, and we're done?

Yeah, that’s basically how it goes.

I didn't have to make any calls myself either. 🤷

I don't think they were supposed to call in the first place; I honestly can't remember when that rule started.

I haven't received any new cards, so there wasn't any reason for me to reach out, though I know a few people who definitely had to make the call.

Jesse Chase32, yeah, you could probably start ironing those clothes right away😉

Watch out for scammers...

So, I’ve been rocking that student account at Chase and using my Maestro card for a few months now. I actually dipped into the red on my Maestro a couple of times, but I haven't seen any interest charges hit my account yet. Honestly, those 14% annual interest rates they talk about just confuse me. Like, how does that math even work in practice? Probably a pretty dumb question, but I'm just lost here.

casualpanther9 said:So, I’ve been rocking that student account at Chase and using my Maestro card for a few months now. I actually dipped into the red on my Maestro a couple of times, but I haven't seen any interest charges hit my account yet. Honestly, those 14% annual interest rates they talk about just confuse me. Like, how does that math even work in practice? Probably a pretty dumb question, but I'm just lost here.

They definitely would have calculated it, but honestly, the amount was probably so tiny you wouldn't have even noticed it on your statement.

The way it works is that they calculate the interest on a daily basis and then just charge you once a month. So, what that means is if you end up overdrawn at the beginning of the month, but you manage to move money back in and clear that negative balance after about a week, they’ll calculate the interest specifically for those seven days you were in the red, and then they'll just tack that total onto your bill at the end of the month.

For example, if you go into the negative $333, that 14% interest rate would mean you're looking at something like maybe 10 or 15 cents a day depending on the amount. If you cleared that balance pretty quickly, you probably didn't even realize those few pennies were being added up...

I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what happened here.

Ethan Taylor9 said:They definitely would have calculated it, but honestly, the amount was probably so tiny you wouldn't have even noticed it on your statement.

The way it works is that they calculate the interest on a daily basis and then just charge you once a month. So, what that means is if you end up overdrawn at the beginning of the month, but you manage to move money back in and clear that negative balance after about a week, they’ll calculate the interest specifically for those seven days you were in the red, and then they'll just tack that total onto your bill at the end of the month.

For example, if you go into the negative $333, that 14% interest rate would mean you're looking at something like maybe 10 or 15 cents a day depending on the amount. If you cleared that balance pretty quickly, you probably didn't even realize those few pennies were being added up...

I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what happened here.

Yeah, I was only in the red for a few days. Thanks for breaking it down, makes sense now.😁

casualpanther9 said:Yeah, I was only in the red for a few days. Thanks for breaking it down, makes sense now.😁

No worries at all, really! Happy to help out. 😁 If there’s anything else on your mind, seriously, just shoot me a message and ask! I'm happy to dive into more details if you need them. 🙂