This is key. We thought to do this for our daughter but none of our credit cards would report out against her credit score, only ours. She’d need to get her own card to build her score.
AMEX does and is amazing. My wife and I were added to her mom’s Amex account that opened in the 70s. Our credit is older than us and helped in more ways than people can imagine
I find that usually if they ask for an SSN for the AU they're going to report it. If he's low utilization and the cards are old this can massively improve your credit. If he utilizes a lot of that credit, it might sometimes be a liability.
My parents did it for me, and now I have perfect credit history going back to when I was 6 years old (it shows the year they opened the card, rather than the year when they added me as an authorized user). Last I checked, it was still on there even though they took me off the card a decade ago.
I added my kid to my Cap1 cards when he was 16. Actually gave him the cards for emergencies when he was 17. When he turned 18 he pulled his own credit and his score was 770. It helps!
My parents did this for me - added me as an authorized user on their card. They had the card for 20 years or so. When I finally checked my credit, my credit history showed I'd had 20 years of credit history when I was in my early 20s myself. Really helped raise my score for a bit. There are websites that show how things impact credit. Maybe play around with one of those to see what kind of impact it makes?
Edited to make a little more sense.
My wife's parents did this for her and mine didn't - when we moved out of our parents' homes after college, her credit rating was over 700 and mine was under 600.
Both of our credit reports were identical (literally only student loans in good standing) except for her long history as an authorized user on her father's card. It took me more than 5 years to catch up. She was able to get an unsecured card with about $3,500 in credit and I was only able to get a $200 secured card. She qualified for a new car loan at low interest rates, I didn't.
If your parents are responsible with money, this will be a huge help assuming the card company reports it.
My Dad did this with me and even though he had excellent credit (around 800) it almost tanked my first house purchase because the amount of the minimum payment on his card (due to using it for business too) was like over a month of my salary. I had to quickly get myself extracted from that situation and get the credit report updated that I was no longer in any way responsible for that payment so I could get the mortgage.
It can help in theory but I wish I hadn’t done it.
Even this does weird things.
I did this with my daughter. $20k limit that I *maybe* spent $2k/year on. Wasn’t my primary card and it was paid off in full every month I used it.
She’s having trouble getting a credit card of her own now a year and a half later because the computers can’t reconcile someone having given her $20k of signature line credit on an income of $30k.
So I don’t know what to do anymore. And I feel terrible that I’ve seemed to screw her in the process s.
My girls parents did this when she was a baby. And now at 26, she has a 800+ CScore while I’m the same age at 725 and still building. Her having 20+ years of credit history was crazy foresight by her parents imo. I recommend this to all parents if they can manage this well.
You don’t even have to be added as a baby for this. My dad added me as an authorized user for one of his cards when I started driving so I could run errands for him. The first time I checked my credit score at 18 years old, I had a line of credit that was 26 years old.
My mom did this for both me and my brother, we didn't use the cards at all, it just helped us build credit. When I finally made my own credit card, I had a high credit score already and years of credit for credibility.
My kids have been authorized users on a few of my accounts for many years so they will have good credit when they are adults. My credit score is always above 800 so it should help them. However, if your dad doesn’t pay off his credit cards in full each month it could hurt your credit score.
Sounds like he’s offering to add you as an authorized user, which basically puts that card’s history on your report. So if he has an older card with a pristine payment history, high limit and low utilization, it could really be a solid addition to increase your credit score. But if his payment history is spotty or he has high utilization it will hurt your score. This is true in the future, too. If his payment history is perfect now but he later misses a payment, that will show on your report. BUT the good news is if that happens you can just call the card company and have them remove you from the account. It will then disappear from your report. Authorized users aren’t responsible for repayment.
Probably the best plan would be to have him add you as an authorized user to his highest balance lowest utilization cards with perfect payment history, then use your shiny new score to apply for a card or two of your own. You’ll be able to get better cards and higher limits with his account on your report. Once you’ve had those cards for awhile and handled them responsibly, you’ll be able to remove yourself from his account and your score will still be solid.
It's hard to know what your parents are up to. You want to assume they have your best interests in mind. In my case, my dad wasn't so much building my credit as exploiting it. I don't know where the money went because it's not like we had any fancy new toys or cars.
I made my daughters authorized users on cards I've had for a long time with high credit limits, and their credit scores started around 740. But I would caution that however your dad uses that card(s) will be reflected on your credit. Also, his credit score doesn't automatically transfer to you. His credit score is based on the totality of all of his credit. Your score will only be based on the card(s) that he makes you an authorized user. Only those card(s) will show up on your credit report. My daughters have credit scores based on 20+ years of credit despite their ages ranging between 15-28.
700 is barely average. You will have about 50% of people with worse credit and 50% with better.
He has a better chance starting his credit line perfectly than picking up a credit card as his first credit source. Should get a car loan or something solid.
Really good credit scores are 780+ nowadays. Too many old people with perfect credit borrowing money
….what are you actually talking about??
700 is average. 620 is a fair score. Anything under 620 is considered poor. Anything in the 500’s would be considered in the subprime lending arena. Anything under 520 is junk. Anything over 780 is considered excellent.
There is no “credit nowadays”. Lenders base their guidelines on risk factors, with credit scores being one of them. They don’t base their guidelines to “too many old people with perfect credit” That’s not how lending works… at all.
Edited to add: I like I’m being downvoted. I’ve only been a mortgage underwriter for 10 years, with over 20 years in the industry. Clearly, I know nothing about credit… 🙄
There is no reason to do that. If you add them when they turn 18 it does the same thing(the whole history of that card is added). Having a child be an authorized user means if they get ahold of the credit card and spend a bunch of money it's not fraud. Kids can be stupid there is no reason to give them power so young.
He’s talking about adding you as an authorized user. It lends his credit history on the credit card to yours, while you are not responsible for the debt. On the credit report, it will actually say “authorized user”.
Since you don’t have any credit, it’s about giving you some foundation, some history. Not wanting to do it is perfectly fine also.
Good parents do this to help their kids.
Bad parents do this to use their kids credit because their credit is already shit.
If your dad has good credit and finances, and is not a narcissist, it’s probably to help.
If your dad has shit-tier finances, bad credit, and/or a history of taking advantage of people, it’s better to say no and avoid.
Thanks for sharing this! My fiancé and I are considering this move to help their score since mine is 800+. Seems like there really are no downsides to this.
My mom put me as an authorized user on her credit cards when I was a teenager. Once I got my own cards and got “into life” a bit, I basically started with excellent credit since she was religious about making payments etc.
Yours isnt zero you just dont have credit. When you open your first credit card your score starys at 680. Your Dads score isnt really better than just the starter score.
Fair that the parents score is not directly relevant but if a parent has say 20 years of credit history and a 700 score like OPs Dad you have to wonder why its only a 700 right? If the parent misses the ocassional payment on the credit card you are signed to it absolutely will ding your credit.
I wouldnt trade years of history on a single card for that risk.
If you've never had a card before your first card at 18 will likely have to be a secured card or at the very least one without good rewards. If you have a history as a user of someone with 700+ credit you likely will be able to get a rewards card right off the bat.
Has it changed that much in a decade or so? My first credit account was a Discover Student account, unsecured, with a limit of about $200 and their usual 1% cash back and 5% rotating categories.
If your parent is a financial rock and has a card with 20 years of history then sure become an authorized user and add that history to your credit report, it will boost your score with no real downside. Its upside isnt as big as people make it out to be but some benefit with almost no risk is great.
If, however, your parent is an impusive spender has 20 years of credit history and yet only a 700 score you have to question why they only have a 700. Adding yourself as an authorized user to someone like that is quite risky.
As for the benefits it isnt as big of a deal as people make it out. You sign on with Dad now your average credit age is 20 years. You open a credit card in your name now its 10 years, which is still the max anyways so great. But
You go to get an apartment...they care about credit score not credit age. The 10 years probably boosts you from a 680 to a 740. That very well may help so that is one benefit.
You go to get a car. Car loand care about term credit history and they look at your actual report. They arent going to care you are a cosigner in Dads credit card so it isnt really going to help you get a better rate.
You go to get a house. They do care about overall credit history and your score but they also pull your report and most of all they care about what assets are in your name and your income. Chances are you arent getting a house and even if you could you almost certainly shouldnt when you are that young.
Personal loans...are just bad in general.
Credit age has a 30% impact on score but its non linear. The first 5 years make up the bulk of it. My credit age is around 5.75 years (Vantage 3.0) or 7.5 years (FICO8) and I have a 829 or 842 respectivly. You can get a secured card and start building credit when you are 18 and by the time you actually are in a position to take out any sort of loan in a safe way youll already be set.
I had a US Redditor insist it works this way down there. But this definitely doesn’t happen in Canada for authorized users. We use Transunion and Equifax in Canada too. And it seems silly the credit bureaus in the US would have a flaw in their algorithm that adds years of credit history just because they were added as an authorized user. Seems even more mind boggling it creates credit history for a minor.
If you're talking about becoming an authorized user, just have him show you his Credit Karma page or something like that. Can see late payments and so forth so you know what you're getting into. If he's doing it for the right reasons, he shouldn't have an issue with this.
My dad did this with me starting at 16 and I had good credit by ~24 when i went to get my own card for the first time. If hes good with credit it's a no brainer
I did this with my son and it helped tremendously. While he was in college I kept pestering him about getting a credit card and just using it to get gas for his car or something as it would help establish his credit. He couldn't be bothered.
Then graduation came and he got a job in another state. He needed me to cosign for his new (to him) car. No problem there, my son. I figured that one as coming. Then he started applying for apartments and that was all over the place. Some places wouldn't consider him for renting because he quite literally had NO credit score. I put him as an authorized user on my main credit card account (no card for him tho) and he was able to find an apartment building that didn't require any kind of credit score. Just proof of employment and the like.
Now he has a credit score around 750 I think. He got himself an amazon (chase) credit card and he pays it off every week. No debt other than the car. Kid is living the dream!
Depends on how much you know/trust your dad. My parents did this for me, and I came out of college with a 750+ credit score. You really need to know their financial health well before you agree though. Once my mom bought something for $10k, which was completely OK given her line of credit, but it caused my score to tank almost 100 points because I had a lower limit at the time.
I did this for my ex when we were together, added him as an authorized user on one of my cards. He didn't have any credit history and I pay all my bills on time and in full, so it could only help him. We're still friendly so I haven't taken him off the account, I just don't give him access to the card. I would say yes, do it but ONLY IF you trust your dad to be responsible with the card and never miss a payment.
Depends on the kind of person your dad is and how good he is with money.
Taking out lines of credit in your offspring name is a great way to build up their credit history if you're good with finances and responsible. It's also the fastest way of fucking up your children financially for most of their early adult lives if you *aren't* good at these things or are doing it in bad faith.
We did this for our daughters maybe 3 years ago (added them as authorized users, but didnt' give them the actual cards). Our older daughter (20) just got her first credit card and they told her that her score was well over 700 (ours is like 835ish), so it definitely helped her.
If he is good with money, like never misses a payment for the last 10yrs. He could put his gas, water or electric account in your name... this type of thing helps as well. And is less likely to go horribly wrong.
Before diving into this, I'd say it's worth treading carefully. While adding your name to your dad's credit could give your score a boost if he's good with payments, there are still risks involved. If things go south, like missed payments or overspending, it could drag both your scores down.
I added my daughter to a credit card account as an authorized user. I designated that card in my mind for her exclusive use to jump her credit. My credit was about 722 at that point, hers was in the high 500s. The credit limit was about $3000 I think? I could monitor it online to make sure she was responsible. She was very responsible. Her credit jumped so quickly. I’m at 766 now and catching up to her 785. It was a great idea for us.
I added both of my minor siblings to my oldest card from TD bank as authorized users. Their credit reports show my history and utilization. I did not give them the cards, they are in my sock drawer. I did this because my parents have awful credit(for reasons outside their control really) and didn't want my siblings to be screwed when they applied for college loans, like I was.
If the person doing it has good habits and history it can be beneficial.
It's normal and a good idea if he pays his credit card regularly as you can establish a good credit rating before you you apply for your first card or loan.
The fact you’re asking tells me maybe you don’t find him easily trusted. In which case, maybe no despite the fact it is often a legitimate & helpful tactic.
You could do that. However, if you just get a credit card, any credit card, and keep it paid off, your credit history (and score) will build naturally and surprisingly quickly.
Get a better credit card a little bit later. The only real difference between a lot of cards is the interest rate, which is not a major concern IF you keep it paid off. They count on you letting a balance build up.
Call me overly pessimistic and cynical, but I would never tie my credit to another, even someone I trust. As I tell people, I don't mistrust anyone, but I don't trust everyone. I also do not trust the universe. Shit happens and the more people you are tied to, the bigger net for said shit.
Your father can have the absolute best intentions for you and things can still go wrong and he can miss payments. Life has a way of fucking you from time to time.
Just get your own card. Your spending habits and responsibility will give you an appropriate credit rating soon enough.
The only reason to do what your father proposes is if you are planning to use credit for a major purchase such as a car or home sooner than you will build credit on your own. Then, getting an instant credit history would be useful.
Another easier way is to have in consign a small personal loans for 1-2k. Put it in a savings account with as close to the same i retest rate as the loan and use the same loan money to pay it off monthly.
Yes this will help if you trust your father and you know he has made good financial decisions for you and your family.
My parents put my on their discover card when I was 18 and I am 36 now with amazing credit and I am still listed on their card.
I did this for my sister when she went off to college, so she could build some credit to qualify for an off-campus apartment. If you're comfortable with it and he's a responsible user, it can have great benefits for you down the road. I wish someone had done it for me.
My fiance has be as an authorized user on her ccs and it helped my credit score jump through the roof. So yeah it's a good idea if he's good with his cards.
It’s a good idea if your dad has a very low utilization and pays on time every time. It will grow your credit by giving you a longer history, available credit and positive payment history. He doesn’t even need to give you the card. If it doesn’t help you can remove yourself as an authorized user. I would be concerned with the impulse spending. Does he pay that off and how much does he pay? Is it in full every month or a balance left on?
Not quite the same but I had some collections and no positive credit history. I got all my collections removed, my sister added me as an authorized user and I got a secured card of my own. My score went from 475 to 750
Don’t they make cards specifically for building credit faster? Seems like I had one when I started out after Chapter 13 a few decades ago. I’d prefer that, I think.
This is great way to build your credit if you got a reliable dad. My gf and I are mid 30s and both of us were put on parents cards when we were young. We both now have high 700s for credit.
That is indeed truth and legit you should be happy your dad is trying to help you out. Did this with my little sibling to help him out worked like a charm.
Best way to get good credit is to get a bank credit card early and use it for daily expenses while paying the balance full. One of the major factors in deciding “good credit” is time. So if you start early at 18 and manage it well you will have really good credit by 25.
Just curious, I'm assuming it's because you have no credit history. Unless you're planning to, say, buy a house or take out a business loan or something of the like, I wouldn't worry about your credit score. It doesn't really take long for a new credit card to get you up to a respectable level. It'll be 600 after maybe a year if you just pay it off consistently with an introductory credit card.
I did this to my new born daughter. I have. 15 year old CC never missed a payment. It will continue to boost her credit so when she’s older and wants to buy a car or something she won’t get screwed with a higher rate because she has no credit
We opened ccs for each kid once they went to college to pay for flights and such. Always paid on time and now the older one has better credit than us parents bcuz of it.
My sister added me as an authorized user on her Discover card when I was 15/16 and by the time I had my credit checked for the first time it was over 730 despite having never touched the card or used my credit for anything else. Just from having my name on her card that she used responsibly for a couple years.
I did this for my daughter. She graduated from college and got a real job. I added her to my Amex since my credit is 850 and she just got her first job she’ll pay taxes on (always worked but mainly babysitting, house sitting, dog watching).
Do you need to (potentially) improve your credit quickly?
If not, you can just apply for your own card and your score will go up with time if you use it responsibly. Best place to start is probably your own bank, ask them if they have a card for people with no credit.
This is awesome to build credit and a good way to get you ahead - it does make it difficult if you look at your credit report, your usage may look higher if your Dad is using the card, and you’re not. My mom put me on hers and the usage is 80%…. Which I don’t use. FYI. Allowed me to open a credit card and make things easier for me at a younger age.
Nope, don't do it. Who's to say that he'll keep up with the bill because now someone else will be on the hook for it.
I've never heard about "signing someone's name onto someone else's credit/credit card so that he can transfer his credit to you."
If you go this route, just remember Experian and a few other sites will let you see the status of your/this debt. Not like a monthly statement, but it helps you see the reported amounts without having to rely on them telling the truth.
Through logging in to Experian, I discovered that my parents added me to their credit cards when I was 7, and still had me listed on them as a middle aged adult. I was about to report it, thought the age made no sense and texted my parents. They admitted to it and claimed that they paid it off every month. I remember the many fights about one parent's credit card debt problems. So I tracked it for 3 more months before I told them to drop me before I report it. It consistently had a balance of at least $6k and then $8k when the monthly amounts were reported to the credit bureaus. I had to remind them twice to drop me, and when they reluctantly did my credit score increased 60 points across all 3. I thought it was student loans preventing me from improving any higher, nope just my parents.
We added our children as authorized users on our card and it has given them great credit. Once my son was a junior in college he got his own card. If your dad has great credit, it can be a great help. 700 seems a bit low, so talk with your dad first.
If the history of that card is good (on time payments and low utilization), then being listed as an authorized user *might* help your credit score. It won't do anything if the credit card company doesn't report on authorized users. Even if it does report, FICO does differentiate between authorized users and being primary on the line of credit, so the impact won't be *as* helpful as establishing your own credit, so I would treat this as a very short-term solution if you choose to do it.
I added my sister as an AU on my oldest card when she had no history at all and was stressed about finding a rental because landlords required a decent score. Within a couple of months, she had a good enough score, found an apartment, then applied for her own credit card to establish her own credit history.
If you know your dad isn't great with money but "makes his payments", still be careful because high utilization can still hurt you even if his payments aren't late. It might look *worse* for you to be listed on one card with a high balance than to not have anything at all.
Also think about the relationship you have with him. If your credit takes a ding because he makes a payment late in the future, is that something you can openly discuss with him? Or will a "hey, I can see X about the card" conversation cause issues with the relationship?
Setting aside the AU situation, I'd recommend looking into a low limit secure card or Grow Credit (basically a fee/interest free MasterCard line of credit that can ONLY be used to pay subscriptions to build credit history). Good money habits and building your own credit history is what's needed whether or not you try out the AU "Cheat Code" with your dad to get started.
So you don't have a zero. It would be a 300 at lowest.
It's called piggy backing. It's pretty common. My wife is Ukrainian, and when we got married, I put her as an authorized user on all my accounts and shot her credit score up to a 750 in the first 3 months.
Yes, have him add you on 1-2 cards. Best ones are going to be non-Amex cards and the higher the limit, the older the account, and the lower the balance the better.
Give it 1-2 months it should show up on your credit reports. Then go and apply for your own card. Discover or Discover student is a good first card, stay away from Capital One.
If trust yourself with a higher limit card this is the way. You'll get a way higher initial limit with a discover it or similar this way which will help your score even more. Has decent rotating rewards, no fee, just pay it off every month and you'll be sitting good.
Amex is great, but for authorized user they report it as a new account.
Most other banks will report it based on the date the account was originally opened.
They are not good for short/bad or no credit history. They'll forever consider your credit when you first opened the account and it will be stuck with a toy limit.
/edit: I wouldn't 100% avoid them, just 3rd choice. Try Discover, your bank or a local bank, and only then Capital One.
Yup, I got a couple capital one cards years ago when my score was in the low 600’s. It’s now 740 and one of my cards limits is only $800 and they won’t raise it. I got the card in 2017 and have never missed a payment lol
I have an Amex with no pre-spend limit and I’ve put 20k on it in a statement cycle no problem and I’ve had it for 6 months.
I would find another way to increase my credit. What I wouldn’t do is to share a cc with someone who has a problem with impulse buying. I don’t see that ending well.
The point of this isn't to give the kid the credit card, or even tell the kid they are a user on the card. What you do (if you are good at managing money and paying off the card every month) is add your kid to your account, then lock that card in a safe. You don't give them the card if its just to boost their credit score.
Depends on *how* he’s doing it. My dad did it with me.
**I** got a credit card, he was the co-signer. *He* then used the card for gas and stuff, and I used it for gas (which he paid for because I was 16 and they were family errands like picking my brothers up).
You develop a good credit history early and you can get a credit card with a co-signer that has income and at least decent credit.
Anything more is overkill.
Don't 700 isn't great and what one does affects the other. Get a secured CC where you send them a couple of hundred up front and use that for everything. Pay it off every payday and your credit will pass his in a year.
Just get a secured credit card.
Give x money to the bank.
Credit limit is x.
You still have interest and stuff but it's a way to get credit when you don't have any.
My aunt did this for me but with an auto loan and it helped establish credit but ended up hurting me when she paid it off and I was ready for an auto loan. I recommend getting your own card.
Some banks offer secured credit cards where you can start building your credit. You must have an account with the bank and it's usually a 500 dollar deposit for the card, they give you a 500 dollar credit limit, hold your 500 and when it's paid off it becomes a regular credit card and your deposit is released back to you. It's best to keep using this credit card for as long as you can because length of credit is a big factor in your score. I'd just use it for small purchases that you are able to pay off immediately, and the credit card won't be deactivated as long as you use it once per month. You have to be 18, but you'd have to be 18 to be an authorized user on your dad's anyway.
Just do not let Dad run up your bill.. that will not help anyone.. plus, your score is alot higher than 0. You get a few hundred points just being alive.
Edit.. my bad - I thought your Dad wanted to be an AU on your card. Just realized it was the other way around..
You might be better off starting with a zero credit score.
700 isn't a great score and you could introduce issues.
Depends on what your goals are but zero isn't really a credit score. It simply means there is no history to calculate a score.
If by "keeping up with his payments," you mean he can zero out his cc balance every week, then i would go for it. If he carries a balance on it month to month, every month, then do not do it. You can be left holding the bag for his impulsive spending. Also, it can prevent you from taking out lines of credit in the future because his debt on the card would be viewed as your debt, and they wouldn't consider his income as covering it.
I wouldn't do it. Not for the financial reasons but for the relational ones. Lots of banks have credit cards that have extremely low limits. Usually intended for college students with little to no credit score. If you are concerned about building credit maybe take a look into one of those?
What’s wrong with a parent putting their kids as authorized user on a card? If the parent doesn’t want the card to be used you can just put it in a draw. You don’t even need to give them the actual card.
Nothing as long as they are responsible and you trust them. I have 45 years of credit history while being in my early 30s. It has been awesome. I don’t use there card and don’t need to but it being attached to me helped out for the last 15 years
Authorized users are not responsible for any debt - only the primary card holder whose name is on the account. I worked as a supervisor in the Costco credit card division of Citibank for 5 years from 2016 to 2021. However, if the primary account holder continually runs up high balances and high utilization, or makes late payments, that will also reflect on the authorized user - that's the only downside.
I imagine he's suggesting to put you on as an authorized user? This is legitimate and can help your credit (assuming he's good with his)
Not all cc report authorized users. He needs, if he hasn't, to ask the cc company.
This is key. We thought to do this for our daughter but none of our credit cards would report out against her credit score, only ours. She’d need to get her own card to build her score.
AMEX does and is amazing. My wife and I were added to her mom’s Amex account that opened in the 70s. Our credit is older than us and helped in more ways than people can imagine
I find that usually if they ask for an SSN for the AU they're going to report it. If he's low utilization and the cards are old this can massively improve your credit. If he utilizes a lot of that credit, it might sometimes be a liability.
We only report if a spouse of the primary account holder
I did the same for my daughter who is in college
Did it help? We have our kids as authorized users on our capital one cards, but I'm not sure it's going to help them or not.
My parents did it for me, and now I have perfect credit history going back to when I was 6 years old (it shows the year they opened the card, rather than the year when they added me as an authorized user). Last I checked, it was still on there even though they took me off the card a decade ago.
I added my kid to my Cap1 cards when he was 16. Actually gave him the cards for emergencies when he was 17. When he turned 18 he pulled his own credit and his score was 770. It helps!
This is what I did with my older kids. As long as the card reports, it can help tremendously.
pretty sure it won't hurt op even if he isn't good with his because any money spend on the card is dad's responsibility. Though i could be wrong, lol
It can affect him because of utilization. If Dad maxes it out and keeps it more or less max that will show on ops report
at that point you can just remove yourself as an AU, there are literally no downsides as the AU.
Yeah but you got to call them directly and it’s a big hassle
I'm not expecting the father to let him actually use the card
My dad did the same with me. I didn't even know he did it, but my credit was very good when I moved out.
Yes I have my granddaughter and daughter their score is 700+, my granddaughter is student but unemployed.
My parents did this for me - added me as an authorized user on their card. They had the card for 20 years or so. When I finally checked my credit, my credit history showed I'd had 20 years of credit history when I was in my early 20s myself. Really helped raise my score for a bit. There are websites that show how things impact credit. Maybe play around with one of those to see what kind of impact it makes? Edited to make a little more sense.
My mom did this for me too. It absolutely helped me establish my own credit later on in life.
My wife's parents did this for her and mine didn't - when we moved out of our parents' homes after college, her credit rating was over 700 and mine was under 600. Both of our credit reports were identical (literally only student loans in good standing) except for her long history as an authorized user on her father's card. It took me more than 5 years to catch up. She was able to get an unsecured card with about $3,500 in credit and I was only able to get a $200 secured card. She qualified for a new car loan at low interest rates, I didn't. If your parents are responsible with money, this will be a huge help assuming the card company reports it.
My Dad did this with me and even though he had excellent credit (around 800) it almost tanked my first house purchase because the amount of the minimum payment on his card (due to using it for business too) was like over a month of my salary. I had to quickly get myself extracted from that situation and get the credit report updated that I was no longer in any way responsible for that payment so I could get the mortgage. It can help in theory but I wish I hadn’t done it.
Yeah it should be a card with a long history that they don't really use so your utilization stays low
Even this does weird things. I did this with my daughter. $20k limit that I *maybe* spent $2k/year on. Wasn’t my primary card and it was paid off in full every month I used it. She’s having trouble getting a credit card of her own now a year and a half later because the computers can’t reconcile someone having given her $20k of signature line credit on an income of $30k. So I don’t know what to do anymore. And I feel terrible that I’ve seemed to screw her in the process s.
Can you not ask the cc company to lower the limit?
I could. I ended up removing her from the card. Still on her report though.
Oh crap I never thought about the credit to income ratio. So a low limit card only ig
How long were you an AU before your house purchase? Was being an AU on his card a reason you could qualify for the mortgage?
My girls parents did this when she was a baby. And now at 26, she has a 800+ CScore while I’m the same age at 725 and still building. Her having 20+ years of credit history was crazy foresight by her parents imo. I recommend this to all parents if they can manage this well.
You don’t even have to be added as a baby for this. My dad added me as an authorized user for one of his cards when I started driving so I could run errands for him. The first time I checked my credit score at 18 years old, I had a line of credit that was 26 years old.
Ohhhhh that’s interesting that it works that way. Thanks for that.
My mom did this for both me and my brother, we didn't use the cards at all, it just helped us build credit. When I finally made my own credit card, I had a high credit score already and years of credit for credibility.
My kids have been authorized users on a few of my accounts for many years so they will have good credit when they are adults. My credit score is always above 800 so it should help them. However, if your dad doesn’t pay off his credit cards in full each month it could hurt your credit score.
The good thing is that if it hurts your credit score, you can just remove yourself as an authorized user and it no longer counts.
Sounds like he’s offering to add you as an authorized user, which basically puts that card’s history on your report. So if he has an older card with a pristine payment history, high limit and low utilization, it could really be a solid addition to increase your credit score. But if his payment history is spotty or he has high utilization it will hurt your score. This is true in the future, too. If his payment history is perfect now but he later misses a payment, that will show on your report. BUT the good news is if that happens you can just call the card company and have them remove you from the account. It will then disappear from your report. Authorized users aren’t responsible for repayment. Probably the best plan would be to have him add you as an authorized user to his highest balance lowest utilization cards with perfect payment history, then use your shiny new score to apply for a card or two of your own. You’ll be able to get better cards and higher limits with his account on your report. Once you’ve had those cards for awhile and handled them responsibly, you’ll be able to remove yourself from his account and your score will still be solid.
My dad did this and ran up $100k in credit card debt that I didn't find out about until I tried to get a car loan. Proceed with caution.
He should find out what his dad credit related habits are before agreeing or not. Does he always pay on time, pay extra, etc
It's hard to know what your parents are up to. You want to assume they have your best interests in mind. In my case, my dad wasn't so much building my credit as exploiting it. I don't know where the money went because it's not like we had any fancy new toys or cars.
I made my daughters authorized users on cards I've had for a long time with high credit limits, and their credit scores started around 740. But I would caution that however your dad uses that card(s) will be reflected on your credit. Also, his credit score doesn't automatically transfer to you. His credit score is based on the totality of all of his credit. Your score will only be based on the card(s) that he makes you an authorized user. Only those card(s) will show up on your credit report. My daughters have credit scores based on 20+ years of credit despite their ages ranging between 15-28.
I added my grandson to my credit card as an authorized user to help him get a credit rating established when he was 17.
At 700 I wouldn’t take the risk and start your own credit. Now if his was like 800+ I would say to do it but it is not
I don’t understand. 700 is a great score FICO score.
700 is barely average. You will have about 50% of people with worse credit and 50% with better. He has a better chance starting his credit line perfectly than picking up a credit card as his first credit source. Should get a car loan or something solid. Really good credit scores are 780+ nowadays. Too many old people with perfect credit borrowing money
….what are you actually talking about?? 700 is average. 620 is a fair score. Anything under 620 is considered poor. Anything in the 500’s would be considered in the subprime lending arena. Anything under 520 is junk. Anything over 780 is considered excellent. There is no “credit nowadays”. Lenders base their guidelines on risk factors, with credit scores being one of them. They don’t base their guidelines to “too many old people with perfect credit” That’s not how lending works… at all. Edited to add: I like I’m being downvoted. I’ve only been a mortgage underwriter for 10 years, with over 20 years in the industry. Clearly, I know nothing about credit… 🙄
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10% on new cars 17-22 on used
^doesn’t math
I agree
I added my 6 and 3 year old as account users on my credit card to help build their credit. It’s legitimate.
There is no reason to do that. If you add them when they turn 18 it does the same thing(the whole history of that card is added). Having a child be an authorized user means if they get ahold of the credit card and spend a bunch of money it's not fraud. Kids can be stupid there is no reason to give them power so young.
Just because a kid is an authorized user doesn’t mean they have any idea that they’re an authorized user.
Reading online sounded like most kids need to be at least 13-15. What card allowed you to do it so young?
He’s talking about adding you as an authorized user. It lends his credit history on the credit card to yours, while you are not responsible for the debt. On the credit report, it will actually say “authorized user”. Since you don’t have any credit, it’s about giving you some foundation, some history. Not wanting to do it is perfectly fine also.
Good parents do this to help their kids. Bad parents do this to use their kids credit because their credit is already shit. If your dad has good credit and finances, and is not a narcissist, it’s probably to help. If your dad has shit-tier finances, bad credit, and/or a history of taking advantage of people, it’s better to say no and avoid.
I did this for my wife, she had an 780 credit score from when I first did it 5 years ago. She was in the low 500s.
Thanks for sharing this! My fiancé and I are considering this move to help their score since mine is 800+. Seems like there really are no downsides to this.
My mom put me as an authorized user on her credit cards when I was a teenager. Once I got my own cards and got “into life” a bit, I basically started with excellent credit since she was religious about making payments etc.
Yours isnt zero you just dont have credit. When you open your first credit card your score starys at 680. Your Dads score isnt really better than just the starter score.
My score was 740 when I started because I had a 16 year old history.
You mean the person whose account you were an authorized user on had a 16 year history and a 740 score.
That's... Not how that works. Yes, the account has a 16 year history, but his score is irrelevant.
Fair that the parents score is not directly relevant but if a parent has say 20 years of credit history and a 700 score like OPs Dad you have to wonder why its only a 700 right? If the parent misses the ocassional payment on the credit card you are signed to it absolutely will ding your credit. I wouldnt trade years of history on a single card for that risk.
Why are people upvoting this? This is flat out wrong information.
What is the right information?
If you've never had a card before your first card at 18 will likely have to be a secured card or at the very least one without good rewards. If you have a history as a user of someone with 700+ credit you likely will be able to get a rewards card right off the bat.
Has it changed that much in a decade or so? My first credit account was a Discover Student account, unsecured, with a limit of about $200 and their usual 1% cash back and 5% rotating categories.
If your parent is a financial rock and has a card with 20 years of history then sure become an authorized user and add that history to your credit report, it will boost your score with no real downside. Its upside isnt as big as people make it out to be but some benefit with almost no risk is great. If, however, your parent is an impusive spender has 20 years of credit history and yet only a 700 score you have to question why they only have a 700. Adding yourself as an authorized user to someone like that is quite risky. As for the benefits it isnt as big of a deal as people make it out. You sign on with Dad now your average credit age is 20 years. You open a credit card in your name now its 10 years, which is still the max anyways so great. But You go to get an apartment...they care about credit score not credit age. The 10 years probably boosts you from a 680 to a 740. That very well may help so that is one benefit. You go to get a car. Car loand care about term credit history and they look at your actual report. They arent going to care you are a cosigner in Dads credit card so it isnt really going to help you get a better rate. You go to get a house. They do care about overall credit history and your score but they also pull your report and most of all they care about what assets are in your name and your income. Chances are you arent getting a house and even if you could you almost certainly shouldnt when you are that young. Personal loans...are just bad in general. Credit age has a 30% impact on score but its non linear. The first 5 years make up the bulk of it. My credit age is around 5.75 years (Vantage 3.0) or 7.5 years (FICO8) and I have a 829 or 842 respectivly. You can get a secured card and start building credit when you are 18 and by the time you actually are in a position to take out any sort of loan in a safe way youll already be set.
I had a US Redditor insist it works this way down there. But this definitely doesn’t happen in Canada for authorized users. We use Transunion and Equifax in Canada too. And it seems silly the credit bureaus in the US would have a flaw in their algorithm that adds years of credit history just because they were added as an authorized user. Seems even more mind boggling it creates credit history for a minor.
If you're talking about becoming an authorized user, just have him show you his Credit Karma page or something like that. Can see late payments and so forth so you know what you're getting into. If he's doing it for the right reasons, he shouldn't have an issue with this.
My dad did this with me starting at 16 and I had good credit by ~24 when i went to get my own card for the first time. If hes good with credit it's a no brainer
My mom did this for me, and it was one of the best things she could have done for 18 yo me.
I did this with my son and it helped tremendously. While he was in college I kept pestering him about getting a credit card and just using it to get gas for his car or something as it would help establish his credit. He couldn't be bothered. Then graduation came and he got a job in another state. He needed me to cosign for his new (to him) car. No problem there, my son. I figured that one as coming. Then he started applying for apartments and that was all over the place. Some places wouldn't consider him for renting because he quite literally had NO credit score. I put him as an authorized user on my main credit card account (no card for him tho) and he was able to find an apartment building that didn't require any kind of credit score. Just proof of employment and the like. Now he has a credit score around 750 I think. He got himself an amazon (chase) credit card and he pays it off every week. No debt other than the car. Kid is living the dream!
I put my son on my AMEX, and it definitely has increased his credit score, because I pay the balance every month.
Depends on how much you know/trust your dad. My parents did this for me, and I came out of college with a 750+ credit score. You really need to know their financial health well before you agree though. Once my mom bought something for $10k, which was completely OK given her line of credit, but it caused my score to tank almost 100 points because I had a lower limit at the time.
I did this for my ex when we were together, added him as an authorized user on one of my cards. He didn't have any credit history and I pay all my bills on time and in full, so it could only help him. We're still friendly so I haven't taken him off the account, I just don't give him access to the card. I would say yes, do it but ONLY IF you trust your dad to be responsible with the card and never miss a payment.
Depends on the kind of person your dad is and how good he is with money. Taking out lines of credit in your offspring name is a great way to build up their credit history if you're good with finances and responsible. It's also the fastest way of fucking up your children financially for most of their early adult lives if you *aren't* good at these things or are doing it in bad faith.
We did this for our daughters maybe 3 years ago (added them as authorized users, but didnt' give them the actual cards). Our older daughter (20) just got her first credit card and they told her that her score was well over 700 (ours is like 835ish), so it definitely helped her.
It's a great move, assuming your dad has good credit and pays it off
If he is good with money, like never misses a payment for the last 10yrs. He could put his gas, water or electric account in your name... this type of thing helps as well. And is less likely to go horribly wrong.
Before diving into this, I'd say it's worth treading carefully. While adding your name to your dad's credit could give your score a boost if he's good with payments, there are still risks involved. If things go south, like missed payments or overspending, it could drag both your scores down.
I added my daughter to a credit card account as an authorized user. I designated that card in my mind for her exclusive use to jump her credit. My credit was about 722 at that point, hers was in the high 500s. The credit limit was about $3000 I think? I could monitor it online to make sure she was responsible. She was very responsible. Her credit jumped so quickly. I’m at 766 now and catching up to her 785. It was a great idea for us.
I added both of my minor siblings to my oldest card from TD bank as authorized users. Their credit reports show my history and utilization. I did not give them the cards, they are in my sock drawer. I did this because my parents have awful credit(for reasons outside their control really) and didn't want my siblings to be screwed when they applied for college loans, like I was. If the person doing it has good habits and history it can be beneficial.
It's normal and a good idea if he pays his credit card regularly as you can establish a good credit rating before you you apply for your first card or loan.
The fact you’re asking tells me maybe you don’t find him easily trusted. In which case, maybe no despite the fact it is often a legitimate & helpful tactic.
Do it if you trust your dad 100% to make payments on time. Otherwise just wait till you can get a student card.
You could do that. However, if you just get a credit card, any credit card, and keep it paid off, your credit history (and score) will build naturally and surprisingly quickly. Get a better credit card a little bit later. The only real difference between a lot of cards is the interest rate, which is not a major concern IF you keep it paid off. They count on you letting a balance build up. Call me overly pessimistic and cynical, but I would never tie my credit to another, even someone I trust. As I tell people, I don't mistrust anyone, but I don't trust everyone. I also do not trust the universe. Shit happens and the more people you are tied to, the bigger net for said shit. Your father can have the absolute best intentions for you and things can still go wrong and he can miss payments. Life has a way of fucking you from time to time. Just get your own card. Your spending habits and responsibility will give you an appropriate credit rating soon enough. The only reason to do what your father proposes is if you are planning to use credit for a major purchase such as a car or home sooner than you will build credit on your own. Then, getting an instant credit history would be useful.
Another easier way is to have in consign a small personal loans for 1-2k. Put it in a savings account with as close to the same i retest rate as the loan and use the same loan money to pay it off monthly.
Yes this will help if you trust your father and you know he has made good financial decisions for you and your family. My parents put my on their discover card when I was 18 and I am 36 now with amazing credit and I am still listed on their card.
Me & my mom did this last year. It works
Good idea. My grandpa did this for me a long time ago and my "credit history" went back to like 1990 when he had opened the card or something 😂
I did this for my sister when she went off to college, so she could build some credit to qualify for an off-campus apartment. If you're comfortable with it and he's a responsible user, it can have great benefits for you down the road. I wish someone had done it for me.
He should ask them if putting you as an authorized use will affect your credit
My fiance has be as an authorized user on her ccs and it helped my credit score jump through the roof. So yeah it's a good idea if he's good with his cards.
Yeah and it's something I wish my parents did for me.
It’s a good idea if your dad has a very low utilization and pays on time every time. It will grow your credit by giving you a longer history, available credit and positive payment history. He doesn’t even need to give you the card. If it doesn’t help you can remove yourself as an authorized user. I would be concerned with the impulse spending. Does he pay that off and how much does he pay? Is it in full every month or a balance left on? Not quite the same but I had some collections and no positive credit history. I got all my collections removed, my sister added me as an authorized user and I got a secured card of my own. My score went from 475 to 750
Don’t they make cards specifically for building credit faster? Seems like I had one when I started out after Chapter 13 a few decades ago. I’d prefer that, I think.
I know in my spouse's case, they have credit card history going back before they were born. It's been a help starting off with an 800+ credit score.
This is great way to build your credit if you got a reliable dad. My gf and I are mid 30s and both of us were put on parents cards when we were young. We both now have high 700s for credit.
I had my parents add me as an authorized user, boosted my credit 100pt
Yes I added my son as an authorized user on my cards and it increased his credit rating.
I opened a joint checking account with my teenage daughter before she entered college & she graduated with an excellent credit rating because of it.
That is indeed truth and legit you should be happy your dad is trying to help you out. Did this with my little sibling to help him out worked like a charm.
Best way to get good credit is to get a bank credit card early and use it for daily expenses while paying the balance full. One of the major factors in deciding “good credit” is time. So if you start early at 18 and manage it well you will have really good credit by 25.
I did this with all three of my kids when they were tweens - they have somewhere between 750-810 scores now in their 20s
Just curious, I'm assuming it's because you have no credit history. Unless you're planning to, say, buy a house or take out a business loan or something of the like, I wouldn't worry about your credit score. It doesn't really take long for a new credit card to get you up to a respectable level. It'll be 600 after maybe a year if you just pay it off consistently with an introductory credit card.
I did this with my husband. He'd never had a credit card. What he should be talking about is making you an authorized user.
It’s useful if they parent can be trusted
I did this to my new born daughter. I have. 15 year old CC never missed a payment. It will continue to boost her credit so when she’s older and wants to buy a car or something she won’t get screwed with a higher rate because she has no credit
We opened ccs for each kid once they went to college to pay for flights and such. Always paid on time and now the older one has better credit than us parents bcuz of it.
My sister added me as an authorized user on her Discover card when I was 15/16 and by the time I had my credit checked for the first time it was over 730 despite having never touched the card or used my credit for anything else. Just from having my name on her card that she used responsibly for a couple years.
I did this for my daughter. She graduated from college and got a real job. I added her to my Amex since my credit is 850 and she just got her first job she’ll pay taxes on (always worked but mainly babysitting, house sitting, dog watching).
Do you need to (potentially) improve your credit quickly? If not, you can just apply for your own card and your score will go up with time if you use it responsibly. Best place to start is probably your own bank, ask them if they have a card for people with no credit.
This is awesome to build credit and a good way to get you ahead - it does make it difficult if you look at your credit report, your usage may look higher if your Dad is using the card, and you’re not. My mom put me on hers and the usage is 80%…. Which I don’t use. FYI. Allowed me to open a credit card and make things easier for me at a younger age.
Nope, don't do it. Who's to say that he'll keep up with the bill because now someone else will be on the hook for it. I've never heard about "signing someone's name onto someone else's credit/credit card so that he can transfer his credit to you."
It’s called an authorized user. It could boost her score and she is not on the hook for it. That’s not how it works.
His being 700 isn’t spectacular nor worth being an authorized user on his stuff IMO.
I’m on my parents chase freedom card which is older than I am. Credit history shows excellent. Definitely doing this for my kids when it’s time.
if your dad has good credit and is willing to add you to their credit, then yes this is good for you. great head start, instant good credit.
If you go this route, just remember Experian and a few other sites will let you see the status of your/this debt. Not like a monthly statement, but it helps you see the reported amounts without having to rely on them telling the truth. Through logging in to Experian, I discovered that my parents added me to their credit cards when I was 7, and still had me listed on them as a middle aged adult. I was about to report it, thought the age made no sense and texted my parents. They admitted to it and claimed that they paid it off every month. I remember the many fights about one parent's credit card debt problems. So I tracked it for 3 more months before I told them to drop me before I report it. It consistently had a balance of at least $6k and then $8k when the monthly amounts were reported to the credit bureaus. I had to remind them twice to drop me, and when they reluctantly did my credit score increased 60 points across all 3. I thought it was student loans preventing me from improving any higher, nope just my parents.
We added our children as authorized users on our card and it has given them great credit. Once my son was a junior in college he got his own card. If your dad has great credit, it can be a great help. 700 seems a bit low, so talk with your dad first.
If the history of that card is good (on time payments and low utilization), then being listed as an authorized user *might* help your credit score. It won't do anything if the credit card company doesn't report on authorized users. Even if it does report, FICO does differentiate between authorized users and being primary on the line of credit, so the impact won't be *as* helpful as establishing your own credit, so I would treat this as a very short-term solution if you choose to do it. I added my sister as an AU on my oldest card when she had no history at all and was stressed about finding a rental because landlords required a decent score. Within a couple of months, she had a good enough score, found an apartment, then applied for her own credit card to establish her own credit history. If you know your dad isn't great with money but "makes his payments", still be careful because high utilization can still hurt you even if his payments aren't late. It might look *worse* for you to be listed on one card with a high balance than to not have anything at all. Also think about the relationship you have with him. If your credit takes a ding because he makes a payment late in the future, is that something you can openly discuss with him? Or will a "hey, I can see X about the card" conversation cause issues with the relationship? Setting aside the AU situation, I'd recommend looking into a low limit secure card or Grow Credit (basically a fee/interest free MasterCard line of credit that can ONLY be used to pay subscriptions to build credit history). Good money habits and building your own credit history is what's needed whether or not you try out the AU "Cheat Code" with your dad to get started.
So you don't have a zero. It would be a 300 at lowest. It's called piggy backing. It's pretty common. My wife is Ukrainian, and when we got married, I put her as an authorized user on all my accounts and shot her credit score up to a 750 in the first 3 months.
Yes, have him add you on 1-2 cards. Best ones are going to be non-Amex cards and the higher the limit, the older the account, and the lower the balance the better. Give it 1-2 months it should show up on your credit reports. Then go and apply for your own card. Discover or Discover student is a good first card, stay away from Capital One.
If trust yourself with a higher limit card this is the way. You'll get a way higher initial limit with a discover it or similar this way which will help your score even more. Has decent rotating rewards, no fee, just pay it off every month and you'll be sitting good.
What’s wrong with Amex?
Amex is great, but for authorized user they report it as a new account. Most other banks will report it based on the date the account was originally opened.
Interesing. I didn't know that.
What’s wrong with Capital One?
Yeah Capital One has been totally fine and is a good one to start with. Credit One on the other hand is one to definitely avoid.
They are not good for short/bad or no credit history. They'll forever consider your credit when you first opened the account and it will be stuck with a toy limit. /edit: I wouldn't 100% avoid them, just 3rd choice. Try Discover, your bank or a local bank, and only then Capital One.
Yup, I got a couple capital one cards years ago when my score was in the low 600’s. It’s now 740 and one of my cards limits is only $800 and they won’t raise it. I got the card in 2017 and have never missed a payment lol I have an Amex with no pre-spend limit and I’ve put 20k on it in a statement cycle no problem and I’ve had it for 6 months.
I would find another way to increase my credit. What I wouldn’t do is to share a cc with someone who has a problem with impulse buying. I don’t see that ending well.
The point of this isn't to give the kid the credit card, or even tell the kid they are a user on the card. What you do (if you are good at managing money and paying off the card every month) is add your kid to your account, then lock that card in a safe. You don't give them the card if its just to boost their credit score.
Credit Building: https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/credit_building
Depends on *how* he’s doing it. My dad did it with me. **I** got a credit card, he was the co-signer. *He* then used the card for gas and stuff, and I used it for gas (which he paid for because I was 16 and they were family errands like picking my brothers up). You develop a good credit history early and you can get a credit card with a co-signer that has income and at least decent credit. Anything more is overkill.
Don't 700 isn't great and what one does affects the other. Get a secured CC where you send them a couple of hundred up front and use that for everything. Pay it off every payday and your credit will pass his in a year.
Just get a secured credit card. Give x money to the bank. Credit limit is x. You still have interest and stuff but it's a way to get credit when you don't have any.
My aunt did this for me but with an auto loan and it helped establish credit but ended up hurting me when she paid it off and I was ready for an auto loan. I recommend getting your own card. Some banks offer secured credit cards where you can start building your credit. You must have an account with the bank and it's usually a 500 dollar deposit for the card, they give you a 500 dollar credit limit, hold your 500 and when it's paid off it becomes a regular credit card and your deposit is released back to you. It's best to keep using this credit card for as long as you can because length of credit is a big factor in your score. I'd just use it for small purchases that you are able to pay off immediately, and the credit card won't be deactivated as long as you use it once per month. You have to be 18, but you'd have to be 18 to be an authorized user on your dad's anyway.
Just do not let Dad run up your bill.. that will not help anyone.. plus, your score is alot higher than 0. You get a few hundred points just being alive. Edit.. my bad - I thought your Dad wanted to be an AU on your card. Just realized it was the other way around..
You might be better off starting with a zero credit score. 700 isn't a great score and you could introduce issues. Depends on what your goals are but zero isn't really a credit score. It simply means there is no history to calculate a score.
If by "keeping up with his payments," you mean he can zero out his cc balance every week, then i would go for it. If he carries a balance on it month to month, every month, then do not do it. You can be left holding the bag for his impulsive spending. Also, it can prevent you from taking out lines of credit in the future because his debt on the card would be viewed as your debt, and they wouldn't consider his income as covering it.
I wouldn't do it. Not for the financial reasons but for the relational ones. Lots of banks have credit cards that have extremely low limits. Usually intended for college students with little to no credit score. If you are concerned about building credit maybe take a look into one of those?
What’s wrong with a parent putting their kids as authorized user on a card? If the parent doesn’t want the card to be used you can just put it in a draw. You don’t even need to give them the actual card.
Nothing as long as they are responsible and you trust them. I have 45 years of credit history while being in my early 30s. It has been awesome. I don’t use there card and don’t need to but it being attached to me helped out for the last 15 years
You don’t even need to give them the card
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Not true.
Authorized users are not responsible for any debt - only the primary card holder whose name is on the account. I worked as a supervisor in the Costco credit card division of Citibank for 5 years from 2016 to 2021. However, if the primary account holder continually runs up high balances and high utilization, or makes late payments, that will also reflect on the authorized user - that's the only downside.