When a Taylor Swift concert means getting your 1st credit card

Halie Smith’s devotion to Taylor Swift runs so deep, she feels she can trust the singer as a friend. After the pop star encouraged fans to vote in the 2018 US midterm elections, Smith registered. The 23-year-old’s most recent rite of passage – getting her first credit card – was also prompted by Swift.

When the 11-time Grammy winner announced her Eras Tour, her first tour in five years, Smith said she knew she had to “do everything in my power to get tickets.” So she signed up for a card from Capital One, which partnered with Swift to promote the tour and offered fans preferential access to pre-sale tickets.

“Taylor Swift was once again that push,” said Smith, who lives in Pittsburgh.

In addition to getting concert tickets, she hoped the card would help her build good credit. “When I signed up, because of Taylor’s pre-sales, I realized the importance of financial education and that maybe it should be more encouraged in schools and colleges”, said the young woman.

Smith, who has cerebral palsy, got four disability tickets for her and her friends for about $1,000, although she used her debit card because the total exceeded her credit limit.

Still, getting a credit card was a goal for Smith, in part because her mother urged her to have a good credit score when she moved into her own apartment, and Swift’s concert purchase prompted Smith to give that credit card a try. financial step.

More than a decade ago, credit card companies appeared on college campuses to sell themselves to students, offering them free food or T-shirts in exchange for filling out forms for their first cards.

This practice declined after Congress passed a law known as the Credit Card Act in 2009, which gave consumers comprehensive protections, including restricting sales to students on college campuses and at off-campus events.

But companies continued to use youth-oriented marketing practices, including partnering with artists. Now, instead of free giveaways, the chance to see the likes of Swift, Harry Styles or Shawn Mendes live is convincing many young music fans to sign up for their first cards.

Like Capital One, Citi offers cardholders early access to concert pre-sales through its Citi Entertainment program, which has no access fee and is available to all Citi credit and debit cardholders.

American Express offers select cardholders preferential access to tickets to Broadway shows and musicals, as well as exclusive admission to select venues. But access to certain exclusive experiences, like a three-day package to the Coachella Valley Arts and Music Festival, requires an American Express Platinum or Centurion card — “premium” cards with exorbitant annual fees.

In the case of the Eras Tour, demand was so intense that millions of fans, known as Swifties, faced hours of waiting and frustrating technical problems that prevented them from getting tickets. During one of the pre-sale days, Ticketmaster said it received 3.5 billion requests. Some fans applied for their first cards through Capital One to increase their chances of getting tickets. (Capital One did not respond to a question about whether the issuer saw a surge in orders following Swift’s tour announcement.)

For other young fans, getting their first credit cards allowed them to pay for shows they couldn’t have bought with cash.

Leah Garcia, 21, a college student living in El Paso, Texas, is a fan of artists like Styles, Dominic Fike and The Driver Era. She recently spent nearly $800 on tickets using her first credit card, a Discover.

“A lot of artists that I really like started to announce tours and I thought, ‘Oh God, I don’t have the money in my bank account right now to buy it,'” Garcia said. “So I decided to get a credit card because I thought it would be easier to access to buy.”

Garcia said he consulted with his mother, who explained how to use the card responsibly and told him not to just use it for concert tickets. Garcia said she has so far paid off her card before it expires with the money she earns as a babysitter.

Elliot Pepper, an introductory finance professor and co-founder of wealth management and tax planning firm Northbrook Financial, said it was a good thing young people get credit cards and use them responsibly, but warned them not to be misled by credit card marketing. companies.

“I’m concerned that people are rushing to use a credit card thinking that with all the marketing glitz and glamor companies do, they’re somehow getting a good deal,” he said. “A credit card is not free money. A credit card is just a short-term loan that you have to pay off.”

Pepper suggested getting the most out of a card by signing up for one that offers rewards and no fees, and paying off the balance in full each month.

Translated by Luiz Roberto M. Gonçalves