We have discussed in several threads the impact that adding someone as an "Authorized User" on your credit card can have.

There can be some ADVANTAGES in certain situations: for example, if you have relatively little credit history, your parents can give you an "authorized user" card and it may be reported on YOUR credit report as a long-history, high-credit limit card (which can be very good for building your credit report!)

There can also be DISADVANTAGES, such as if your parents carry a high balance and you have an authorized user card, their balance may be reported on YOUR credit report (which is generally Not good for your credit!). And of course, if you give someone an authoized user card, YOU are responsible for their charges.

Bankrate article on the benefits and risks of adding authorized users.

While you may discuss other advantages/disadvantages of adding authorized users, the PURPOSE OF THIS THREAD is primarily to list which credit card issuers report "Authorized User" cards, and what information the issuer reporrs to the bureaus...

CHASE has reported the FreedomCard/Perfectcard on credit reports of authorized users, and Experian shows the credit card's opening date and credit limit on the authorized users's report.

AMEX reports authorized users on our regular Blue and Gold cards. Equifax shows all related information of the accounts.

hmm just a thought. When you get married, if you both have credit cards with a lengthy history(ie five years) would it be wise to add each other as an additional user, zero the balance on those cards and then just use them for emergencies? Chances are there's better deals to be had with today's credit card offers, and you could each then find an additional card or two to apply for.

Benefits: extended history/average history of credit, higher overall credit balance, usually no hard inquiries required for adding additional user.

AMEX Costco rebate card. Shows complete information (open date, balance, etc) on my wife's report.

My wifes BP/Citi card swears they added me as AU on her 10+ years card but it is now showing up on any of my reports. Gotta talk to their super to clear this up.

ajf3 said:

<< Cap1 does... >>

Coincidentally, I just had a converstion with a CapOne CSR earlier this week who was trying to convince me to add an authorized user. He told me that the authorized user does NOT have it appear on their CR. He said this is a recent change due to Homeland Security legislation (an explanation I cannot make sense of, try as I mihgt). I have no way of verifying or disproving this, jsut relaying what he said. BTW he gave me the same line as tabalard got from Citi, so my wife "could call and talk to us about it in case something happened to me." Seemed suspicious to me, if it was merely for my convenience, why was he spending time (money) bringing it up out of the blue, & truly pressing me to add her? It seemed suspicious (and I had zilch reason to do it anyway), so I declined.

Regarding the original question, our CRs show that Fleet, GM Card (Household), MBNA, Chase, Citi, Traveller's, and AMEX (Blue & Optima) all show up on authorized user's CR. Some of these are closed accounts, but persist in appearing on the autherized persons CR. I can't think of any cases of one of our cards that doesn't (on that note, I think the more relevant quesiton for the thread might be, what cards do NOT show up on your CR if you are an authrized user ...).

On a related question, if you are only an authorized user, and the accountholder closes the account, does it make sense that it still appears on your CR, as closed? What is the reasoning for it being there? Should it be there? You theoretically had no say in being added to the account, nor in it being closed, and if it is closed you can no longer have any liability. So should it be there? There would be an advantage to having it removed from your report, no? Has anyone ever successfully contested based upon this situation?

here's the deal with CHASE.. I was first to report freedom/perfect card authorized users being reported..
i called CHASE several times and most of the time got conflicting answers.. Initially I was told that it would be reported. then I was told not.. then again yes.. and last night the CSR told me it would not be.. then I asked to speak to supervisor.. she told me that in "some cases" it is reported.. i asked her what is the criteria for "some cases" , she was clueless.. she told me to call credit department..
but I think if it DOES appear on my CR then I shuold be able to contest it since it was not MY account. I did NOT apply for it.. i can argue that my wife asked for the additional card without my permission ..

MarkM,

Are you sure about MBNA cards showing on an authorized user's CR? I have an MBNA card with several authorized users and the card does not show up on their CR's. I thought that I had read in another forum (not FW) that also stated that MBNA does not appear on authorized user's CR. Does anyone else have any experience with MBNA?

I also had a similar experience as you with removal of an authorized user from a Citibank card. I removed my wife my Citibank card when it had a $6,900 balance because I hoped that it would raise her FICO score. Now it is 6 months later and Citibank no longer reports her on this card to the CRAs. However, the $6,900 balance still shows up on the CR even though it was paid off long ago and shows correctly as zero on my CR. I decided to add her back on so that the balance will now correctly show as zero. I guess the moral of the story is not to remove an authorized user when there is a large balance on the account as this large balance will remain in perpetuity.

This would've worked, but you forgot the 2nd step... once you told citi to remove her & they processed it, you should've disputed the tradelines on her CR as "not mine". When they went to verify with citi, citi would've told them that she was no longer associated with the account & they would've been removed.

I did the exact same thing with our reports a while back & it worked like a top. If it's a joint account though, you can't split it... lesson learned - always apply as single account with auth's to allow for more flexibility in reporting in the future.

Similarly - during this house refi, the mortgage is in my name alone (with my wife still on the title) instead of a joint application. This way, it only shows on my CR, so if we decided to buy a vacation home, she could do the app on her credit & the main mortgage payment amount wouldn't be taken into account for DTI ratios, etc...

Hmm, I've request an extra card on my MBNA account under one of my fake names, never asked for a social, I wonder if there is a credit report for it somewhere??

I know ppl that have credit cards for their pets as well..

Just a note FYI AU cards are usually deleted from AU's report once they are closed, unlike the original cards which stay on the report marked as closed.

From experience, sometimes there is a glitch and the card, even though closed as well as the original primary user's card, stays on the report and even keeps getting updated for some reason. Better overall utilization ratio

Edit: spelling