My son who is 22 needs his first credit card, but is having problems getting one.

Up to now he has never had a loan or been in any financial trouble. He has saved up in excess of £8k, and wants to take some time out and travel to China for a few months.

He needs a credit card to make money transfer and availability ease in China.

All the credit card companies keep refusing him a card – because he has got no credit rating or debt.

Any advice on how he can get a card, without them fleecing him everytime he uses it?

Pre-Paid Credit Card?

Some info here…

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cards/prepaid-cards

And I believe these people are highly regarded in this area…
http://www.mycashplus.co.uk/

Obviously you'd need to check all T&C's to see if its suitable for your son.

He could try and get a store card first- that used to work years ago.
Then buy a few things and pay off instantly.

Additional card on your account? That way you'd have a bit of control on his spending.

Problem is he's never had a card, so he can't get one. No credit history. Bit chicken and egg I'm afraid.

My brother had this problem, but he just did a MASSIVE trawl of all the banks and eventually got one. It's blo** ridiculous that becuase you've been in NO debt they won't give you a card! Have you thought about credit cards like Tesco etc? something a bit different from the norm.