New to the US

[Anonymous]

Hello,

I just moved to the US about a month ago and have no credit history. My wife is an American citizen but she hasn't lived here since she was very little. Fortunately, her grandfather who is a retired CPA, kept 3 credit cards on her name and so her credit score grew over the years without her even being here and she now has a FICO score of 783.

I want to start building my credit score and I have read somewhere that if we apply for a joint credit card then we would get a better than if I were to apply by myself but not as good as if she would apply by herself. Actualy, the article I read was referring to the case when one of the couple has a bad score and my case is different because I have NO credit history.

Since I just received my SSN a few days ago I took my first  step today and opened a MyAccess account with BOA.

My question is if and how I can use my wife's excellent score to aid in building a good score for myself.  What kind of credit card would I be able to apply to and what should be my long term strategy?

I appreciate your help

[Anonymous]

Don't apply for joint credit.

Have her add you as an "authorized user" on her 3 existing accounts.  You will gain the history and FICO advantages of these.

Then get with a good credit union and apply for your own card and begin building.

[Anonymous]

Thank you john,

I have a few more question:

1. when she adds me as an authorized user, do I instantly get the same credit score an account ages as her? If not, how will my score be

    affected over time?

2. How soon can I apply for my own credit card from a "good credit union" and why do I even need to do this if my score is already positively

    affected by her adding me as an authorized user?

3. As I mentioned I just opened an account with Bank of America. Will I be able to get a debit card (offline/online) from them?

    I heard about some people having problems even obtaining a debit card with no credit history...

    What if I add my wife and make this a joint account?

4. I'm assuming the answer is no but just to make sure, is there any relationship between a bank account and the credit score or the ability to

    apply for credit?

I really appreciate your help

Thank you

Message Edited by Matt_G on 12-03-2009 11:16 AM

Message Edited by Matt_G on 12-03-2009 11:17 AM

[Anonymous]

My wife is new in the US as well (she has been here a year, but she is just starting to build credit). She had no issue getting a debit card with the credit union that she joined. Debit cards should not be a problem at all. In fact, I previously worked for a large bank and we gave debit cards all the time to our local university students that were new to the US.

As a first step to my wife building credit, we took out an installment loan at the local credit union. We have not tried applying for creditcards yet though. We did make the loan a secured loan and we put my name on the loan as well because they would not approve her by herself without a job and no credit history (go figure).

[Anonymous]

You will gain the entire history and age of those accounts for FICO scoring.

[Anonymous]

I am seeing a lot of articles and posts claiming that being an Authorized User used to be a way of gaining someone's credit but doesn't work anymore due to abuse by credit repair companies.

One post I read claims that being a joint user will still get you credit. If being an AU really doesn't work anymore, is there a reason why I shouldn't become a joint user? are there any drawbacks?

Also, can anyone confirm whether being an AU "works" or not?

thanks

[MarineVietVet]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I am seeing a lot of articles and posts claiming that being an Authorized User used to be a way of gaining someone's credit but doesn't work anymore due to abuse by credit repair companies.

One post I read claims that being a joint user will still get you credit. If being an AU really doesn't work anymore, is there a reason why I shouldn't become a joint user? are there any drawbacks?

Also, can anyone confirm whether being an AU "works" or not?

thanks

---

Welcome to the US and to the forums. 

Being added as an AU absolutely does still work but not every credit card issuer will report an AU to the credit reporting agencies. You can call the CC company and see if their particular product will report.

Good luck to you.

[RobertEG]

No, you dont get her score.  But you can get the advantage of her account history by being added as an AU, and yes, this will give you a good credit score..  Your credit report remains separate from hers.  Marriage does not merge credit reports.

FICO wont generate you a credit score until you have six months minimum of reported credit history.

Get her to add you as an authorized user, then wait six months before applying for new credit.

When you do add a new card under your own name, it wont impact on your wife's credit credit report, but will lower you average age of accounts under your own credit history.  But you need to establish your own history.

[Anonymous]

Thank you both very much, these are very important pieces of information. I am finally starting to put together my credit strategy.

After being added as an AU, Should I really wait six months before  applying for my own credit?

What  if I get a secure card or a department store card in the mean time so that I can start "aging" them?

I'd like to remind you that my wife is an AU herself and the credit cards actually belong to her grandfather. Is everything you said still valid considering it's her grandfather's credit that i will be joining?

thanks

[MarineVietVet]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Thank you both very much, these are very important pieces of information. I am finally starting to put together my credit strategy.

After being added as an AU, Should I really wait six months before  applying for my own credit?

What  if I get a secure card or a department store card in the mean time so that I can start "aging" them?

I'd like to remind you that my wife is an AU herself and the credit cards actually belong to her grandfather. Is everything you said still valid considering it's her grandfather's credit that i will be joining?

thanks

---

Hhhhmmmm. I have no idea about that. I would think that since the cards actually belong to a third party that her grandfather would have to add you just as he added your wife. But don't rely on me. The answer to this is above my pay grade!!!  I'm curious myself as to the correct answer.