Credit Glow Up: Credit Card Authorized User
- Many parents add their children to their credit line as authorized users to help them establish a positive credit history.
- If the person who adds you to their line makes a late payment or has a high account balance, then that will impact your score negatively.
- Adding someone as an authorized user to a credit line works best when the account has a history of on-time payments and has a low credit utilization ratio.
How a Credit Card Authorized User Works
Many parents use this method to help their children establish a positive credit history. The person with the positive line of credit adds another person as an authorized user to the account. An authorized user receives their own copy of the card and can make charges. The original card owner is responsible for the account.
Using this method works best when the account has a history of on-time payments and has a low credit utilization ratio.
Watch Out For This
Linking your credit history to another person
If the person who adds you to their line makes a late payment or has a high account balance, then that will impact your score negatively. It’s hard to control someone else’s actions. When it comes to credit, anything that takes control away from you is very risky. If this happens, you can remove yourself from their line of credit by calling the credit card issuer and requesting to be removed immediately.