There are no rules because there is no one way to start accumulating credit. Many of them have been mentioned so far, but the most common ways to get a first trade line with a credit bureau are:
[ul]
[li]Student Credit Cards: As folks have said, most of these are specifically aimed at students with no credit history, so they do not require one. They generally have higher interest rates than non-student cards, and may have fees, but one of the large motivations for the banks is to snag future customers while they are just beginning[/li][li]“Emerging Credit” Credit Card: If you aren’t a student, there are still “starter” credit cards. The most common of these are secured cards (where your credit line is only equal to the amount you put in a special deposit account with the bank), but there are also partial secured cards (get a $1,500 line with a $500 deposit), or non-secured products with high interest rates or high fees (high interest rates aren’t a problem if you are paying it off every month)[/li][li]Authorized User on Credit Card: In the old days, the credit bureaus didn’t distinguish between the owner of an account and an authorized user, so it was common to become an authorized user on your parent’s card, and on the bureau it looked like your card. This loophole started to get exploited back in the 1990s, as people would offer to sell authorized user status on their card. You could pay someone some money, and they would add you as an authorized user. You wouldn’t use the card, but presto, now you had credit. This was the main thing that drove bureaus to distinguish between the owner of an account and AUs, and for credit score modelers like FICO to not include AU accounts in a credit score.[/li][li]Student Loans: Many student loans can be made with no credit history, either with or without a cosigner.[/li][li]Cosigned Loans: Very common in the past; I don’t know if it is as common anymore, with the advent of student and emerging credit cards (outside of student loans, where I believe it is still pretty common). You apply for a loan, and you get someone (usually parents) to guarantee it[/li][li]Auto Loan: There are auto loans out there that do not require a credit history. They are able to do it because of the secured nature of the loan (they can repo the car), and they will charge a high rate.[/li][li]Store Cards: Again, not as common now as 30 years ago. For a lot of people, their first “credit” card was a charge card from Sears, JC Penney, or Montgomery Ward. Many of these would offer you a low line card, that needed to be paid off every month, with no credit history required.[/li][li]Consumer Finance Companies: Another category that has become a little less prevalent due to government regulation (a good thing, in this case, IMO). There used to be a ton of places where you could go in and get a signature loan, with a 36% interest rate, usually for relatively small amounts ($200 to $2,000 generally). We used to call them “Mouse Houses” in the industry, and many of the big banks would have divisions that did this, as well as companies like Avco. They would generally have little offices, not part of the traditional branch network, if owned by a bank. With the new regulations, the companies that do this are less likely to report to credit bureaus (unless you don’t pay), so it isn’t something that is used to build credit as much.[/li][/ul]
I’m sure I am forgetting one or two things, but I would say that the vast majority of people get their first credit experience through one of these sources.
I ask if they used my method and they say no, it was just never an issue.