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Same here. 25 years ago I got a $500 AMEX card and a bag of M&Ms. A $1,000 Citi card and a T-shirt. And another card—Discover, $2,000!—along with a free CD I th

Same here. 25 years ago I got a $500 AMEX card and a bag of M&Ms. A $1,000 Citi card and a T-shirt. And another card—Discover, $2,000!—along with a free CD I think? The conventional wisdom at the time was that (a) we were college students and were therefore more likely to have earnings in the near future to cover those small credit limits, and (b) we were college students and were therefore more likely to have parents to bail us out if we got in trouble with the credit card, and (c) there's no better time to snag a lifetime customer than at the very beginning of their adult lives.

aidenn0 3y ago
I got a Discover and a Citi Mastercard. The students working in the mail-room of my dorm were ... less than meticulous about sorting. My bills occasionally went to the wrong box, leaving insufficient time for me feel safe that my payment would arrive on time. When this happened with Discover, I just called customer service and they said they'd waive the late-fee since I called in advance. It happened once with Citi, I called and they said I would have to do an electronic payment with a $10 service charge. paid the bill and immediately canceled the Citi card. Guess which (of Discover and Citi) I'm a lifetime customer of, and which one I will never sign up for again. P.S. After re-reading the above, it strikes me how much of a "period piece" the comment is. The bill arrived in the mail, I had to mail in payment, and I spoke with a person on the phone when I called the credit card company.
- function_seven 3y ago
  > ... it strikes me how much of a "period piece" the comment is... Ha. I mean, I got a free CD, which itself dates the story. But even more old-timey? That Citi card I referenced above was actually an AT&T Universal Card. The "Universal" was because it was also a calling card! On the back was a separate number I could use to place calls from a payphone, at cheaper rates than dropping coins into it. It's been many years since the card had that feature, but the branding relationship must be strong, because it's still called that, and my card still sports an AT&T logo on the front.
FormerBandmate 3y ago
There is also a massive difference between a $500 credit limit of hypothetical spending for a credit card and actually giving out $100,000 in an unsecured loan. At the worst case scenario, your credit card loss will probably on average be $50 per customer if not much less, but for unsecured student loans it will be much higher, which will require higher interest rates that further increase defaults. The reason student loans aren’t dischargeable in bankruptcy is because it’s basically literally impossible to collect on them, you can’t repo a college education
- tekknik 3y ago
  > The reason student loans aren’t dischargeable in bankruptcy is because it’s basically literally impossible to collect on them, you can’t repo a college education You can revoke the degree. Given that most people out of school don’t remember most of school anyways this should be enough for most.
  - Auracle 3y ago
    It’s not like employers would suddenly say, “oh, your degree was revoked? I guess that knowledge you acquired is gone and we can’t hire you.”
    - tekknik 3y ago
      I mean some would. Usually the jobs where people care about having a degree would. Like research. The rest of us, sure. But then again, that means you waisted money.
    - Slava_Propanei 3y ago
      [dead]

aidenn0 3y ago

I got a Discover and a Citi Mastercard. The students working in the mail-room of my dorm were ... less than meticulous about sorting. My bills occasionally went to the wrong box, leaving insufficient time for me feel safe that my payment would arrive on time. When this happened with Discover, I just called customer service and they said they'd waive the late-fee since I called in advance. It happened once with Citi, I called and they said I would have to do an electronic payment with a $10 service charge. paid the bill and immediately canceled the Citi card. Guess which (of Discover and Citi) I'm a lifetime customer of, and which one I will never sign up for again. P.S. After re-reading the above, it strikes me how much of a "period piece" the comment is. The bill arrived in the mail, I had to mail in payment, and I spoke with a person on the phone when I called the credit card company.

function_seven 3y ago
> ... it strikes me how much of a "period piece" the comment is... Ha. I mean, I got a free CD, which itself dates the story. But even more old-timey? That Citi card I referenced above was actually an AT&T Universal Card. The "Universal" was because it was also a calling card! On the back was a separate number I could use to place calls from a payphone, at cheaper rates than dropping coins into it. It's been many years since the card had that feature, but the branding relationship must be strong, because it's still called that, and my card still sports an AT&T logo on the front.

FormerBandmate 3y ago

There is also a massive difference between a $500 credit limit of hypothetical spending for a credit card and actually giving out $100,000 in an unsecured loan. At the worst case scenario, your credit card loss will probably on average be $50 per customer if not much less, but for unsecured student loans it will be much higher, which will require higher interest rates that further increase defaults. The reason student loans aren’t dischargeable in bankruptcy is because it’s basically literally impossible to collect on them, you can’t repo a college education

tekknik 3y ago
> The reason student loans aren’t dischargeable in bankruptcy is because it’s basically literally impossible to collect on them, you can’t repo a college education You can revoke the degree. Given that most people out of school don’t remember most of school anyways this should be enough for most.
- Auracle 3y ago
  It’s not like employers would suddenly say, “oh, your degree was revoked? I guess that knowledge you acquired is gone and we can’t hire you.”
  - tekknik 3y ago
    I mean some would. Usually the jobs where people care about having a degree would. Like research. The rest of us, sure. But then again, that means you waisted money.
  - Slava_Propanei 3y ago
    [dead]