When a Taylor Swift Concert Means Getting Your First Credit Card

Author: Editors Desk Source: N.Y Times

December 24, 2022 at 23:52

Taylor Swift at Jazz at Lincoln Center in 2019.Credit...Krista Schlueter for The New York Times

For some fans, a chance to see their favorite artists in concert is the most compelling reason to sign up for their first credit cards and start building credit.

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

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

“Taylor Swift was once again that push,” said Ms. Smith, who lives in Pittsburgh. In addition to getting concert tickets, she hoped the card would help her to build good credit. “As I signed up, because of the Taylor presale, I realized the importance of financial literacy and maybe it should be pushed more in schools and colleges,” she said. Ms. Smith, who has cerebral palsy, was able to get four accessible seats for her and her friends for about $1,013, though she used her debit card because the total exceeded her credit card’s limit.

Still, getting a credit card was already a goal of Ms. Smith’s, partially because her mother had encouraged her to start building credit so that she would have a good credit score when she moved into her own apartment, and Ms. Swift’s concert deal led Ms. Smith to take that financial step.

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