Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Do I need a co-signer?
- Thread starter APPLEFAN8
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Way to jump to conclusions. He's 19 and probably has no credit history which may force a deposit. I know when I turned 18 and switched providers, they wanted a $600 deposit at the time for the line to be under my name. Since my parents were paying the bill at the time, they just put it under their name to avoid that. I haven't been in the situation since, but if your parents do co-sign the line essentially is under both of your names as your parents are just as responsible for the bill as you.
Anyway, it's a good way to help build up some credit as you'll have a bill you pay every month. If your parents are involved in paying the bill at all, it might be a good option. Also, after a year or two you should be able to drop them off.
Anyway, it's a good way to help build up some credit as you'll have a bill you pay every month. If your parents are involved in paying the bill at all, it might be a good option. Also, after a year or two you should be able to drop them off.
I have 2000 in the bank already. My only bill is really my car insurance which is due in July that is 2000 so I guess i'll work like 20 hours a week make about 200 a week and just put it in the bank til June. Was just curious because I was trying to avoid it and my dad has like a 800 credit score so I was going to use him.
HAHA they won't be involved in paying the bill. I'll pay the 95 bucks each month. I mean I make it in less than a week anyway. I make around 600-800 a month so i'll be fine.
Thanks for bragging and mocking someone who was only trying to help you.
Congratulations. You're cool.
Alright than, i'm saying I think I make enough each month so i'll be fine with the bill and stuff even if they charge me extra for roaming and stuff.
I was joking around with him saying they weren't paying to bill. Just calm down, this is a forum not Dr. Phill or Oprah.
I'm pretty calm. Don't worry about me. Posting your income, your savings and your parents credit score is not really relevant... Well your income is. That will go into your credit check if you want to try and sign alone.
Anyway, here's the short answer for you. Yes, you'll probably need someone to cosign with you to avoid the deposit if you have no credit history. I don't think it'll really hurt if you go there and ask them to see if you'll have to pay. Let them run the credit check and if you come out clear then you just sign then and if they ask for a deposit you can just pay it or get your dad and run the check again.
To everyone else, that doesn't mean he CAN'T pay it. This is often how people initially are able to build credit.
And PS: As a 6502a I'd figured you'd have figured out the edit button...
I have a question, can I build credit buy paying my AT&T bill online since I don't have a credit card? I'm curious because I know Obama signed a new credit bill where if your under 21 you need a co-signer so I will probably get one later this month with my parents co-signing.
Yea, the Phone bill counts as a line of credit. You can pay it online using your bank account, I believe, and this would help you build credit.
My personal advice (what I did) is to have a credit card that you use instead of your debit card. You treat it the same way though. Only spend what you have, pay every bill in full and on time. Never have a balance more than what's in your bank. Never be forced to finance until your next paycheck. In other words, be smart with it. A lot of people can fall very into debt if they aren't careful. You sound like you can figure it out though.
Doing this I built up enough credit to get approved for an expensive apartment by the time I was 21 and I got my first credit card at 18. So 3 years to establish a very good credit score isn't so bad.
Another piece of advice is not to worry about the score as much as worrying about your money.
The money is what's important.
Paying your cell phone bill online will have nothing to do with your credit score ... well, in so much as you pay or don't pay.
To build credit, you need to have accounts in your name (with or without a co-signer) and establish a history of prompt payments. Pay your bill every month on time, and little by little, you'll build your score.
Paying online vs. paying by check/etc. will have nothing to do with your score. I guess, you could double up your credit building by paying your AT&T bill with a credit card, then paying the credit card on time ... but I digress.
Once you've built up enough credit score, AT&T will probably give you back your security deposit if you ask them.
EDIT - oh yeah, if AT&T doesn't report your "positive" activities to the credit bureaus, then it's all for naught. Not sure if they are legally bound to report your activity to the bureaus.
Thanks for the tips everyone! So basically I could use the credit card to pay my iphone bill and just pay the credit card bill? Hopefully the APR isn't bad on the credit card because than I would be paying more than the bill. I'll probably go to a bank of america and get a credit card. Since I tried to get a citi card for college students and got denied.
Your best option to build credit would be to get a credit card and use that to pay the phone bill ever month. You could use it for whatever, but having somehing it pays every month is good. Then pay that card every month. You don't pay any interest on a credit card as long as you pay it in full every month. If your dad has as great credit as you claim you might wanna talk to him and get an understanding of how credit works. It's pretty important and you don't wanna eff it up just by being ignorant.
It will be in their name but they could add you as an authorized user so you can make any changes and upgrades on your account.
Thanks for the tips everyone! So basically I could use the credit card to pay my iphone bill and just pay the credit card bill? Hopefully the APR isn't bad on the credit card because than I would be paying more than the bill. I'll probably go to a bank of america and get a credit card. Since I tried to get a citi card for college students and got denied.
Well, if you're responsible and pay off your entire CC bill before the due date, the APR is irrelevant since you won't pay any interest. So make sure you don't spend more than you have, and know that running a balance on a credit card is not recommended and can quickly spiral into a large debt.
As for getting denied ... that's rough. Perhaps BoA will approve you. However, without any sort of credit history, you're probably going to need a co-signer. From your dad's point of view, it's probably less risky co-signing your iPhone account than it is to co-sign for a credit card.
Yeah but i'm going to need a co signer for my credit card. Obama passed the credit card bill where if your under 21 you'll need a co-signer. I'll be sure to talk to my parents about it today since I don't have work. I'll just keep saving up til June I guess and hopefully have enough so I won't need my parents there to co-sign and maybe just pay the security deposit. I guess I have some thinking to do but I have time.
Exactly. If you want the AT&T account under your name, you're going to need to put a security deposit down ... as you've mentioned.
If you don't want to put a deposit, you're going to have to get a co-signer for either the AT&T account or a Credit Card. My point was that on a risk standpoint from your dad's point of view, co-signing the AT&T account would be less risky.
Also, keep in mind that even with a credit card, AT&T may require a security deposit anyway ... if they deem that your credit score is too low.
FYI, no cosigning on AT&T accounts. Either it's in your name and you pay any deposit, or it's in one of your parents names and they're the one with control over and responsibility for the account.
Congratulations. You officially live in poverty as defined by the U.S. Government.
Who isn't when the Unemployed rate is at 10% right now, 300 million in the population. 30 million people with no jobs. I work part time, balance my college classes and do my taxes.
That is my understanding too, but I thought maybe I was wrong because of all of the other posts in this thread.
That's good news. I'm getting a credit card by the end of March. Just start building credit by making small purchases and than in July I'll just put my AT&T bill on my credit card.