by Kenny Chee

THEY may be young, educated and tech-savvy, but a significant number of tertiary students here are next to clueless about managing their finances.

Nearly nine in 10 have no idea what a credit report is. The report gives details of a person's credit history, including loans.

The parents of almost three in five students did not speak to them about the responsibilities pertaining to, or anything related to, having credit cards.

These revelations were the result of a study of 600 students between 18 and 25 from 10 tertiary institutions here. It was conducted last November by final-year students from Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

The survey was part of a nationwide credit-education campaign for tertiary students by NTU and Citibank.

Citibank vice-president and business director of credit payment products John Denhof said the findings could be explained by past restrictions on issuing credit cards.

Under the Banking Act, banks cannot issue credit cards to people who earn less than $30,000 a year.

"Many students would get supplementary credit cards from their parents and did not have to apply for cards themselves. So parents might have felt less need to educate their children on credit cards," he said.

However, in 2007, such restrictions were eased. Banks can issue credit cards with a monthly credit limit of $500, regardless of income.

Ms Crystal Tan, 21, a National University of Singapore undergraduate, said: "It's okay that most university students do not know about managing credit because many do not have much finances to begin with. But after I have a stable income, I'll want to learn more about it."

kennyc@sph.com.sg

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