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Add my son to Amex account

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bobvette
Regular Contributor

Re: Add my son to Amex account


@Walt_K wrote:

@Bay_Area_Joe wrote:

My son is 18, and has no credit to date. I have been trying to get him convinced that credit is a vital tool for future use.  He has opinion that all banks are bad, and that they have destroyed the American economy. 

 

I did get him a checking and saving account when he was 16 at Wells Fargo.  Maybe a secured Wells card with 5k starting deposit. 

 

He just does not understand the importance of a long established excellent credit history for buying a car or getting a home in 5 to 10 or so years.

 

I am thinking of getting him on my Amex account, have the card sent to me, and he never gets to use it, I would use every once in awhile for gas or something like that.

 

My account was established in 1991.  If I add him, will he get benefit of my 21 years of history ?

 

Any input would be appreciated.

 

Thank you



Aside from backdating, there is the benefit of simply having a solid tradeline on his report.  Adding him as an AU on any account will provide a benefit (assuming that the lender reports AUs, which most of the big banks do).  The AU account will report to his CRAs and he will inherit all the history of that account good and bad.  A person gets the most benefit when they are added as an AU to an account with a long history and where the person keeps their utilization low on that account.

 

Yes, some lenders can provide less weight to AU accounts, but a lot of decisions are still made automatically and having those AU accounts can push up his FICO score and help him start to establish his own tradelines.


I could be wrong, but I think with AMEX, AU's will show up with the date they were added to the account, not the original account holders information?  If you are correct, my son and daughter will have a credit history longer than their lives, that would be great for them!

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Message 11 of 30
thom02099
Valued Contributor

Re: Add my son to Amex account


@youngandcreditwrthy wrote:
This is funny...
I've always wanted to have great credit, even before 18... Bc I saw how my parents' unwise financial decisions affected their ability to obtain credit....
Just be sure your child understands how credi can be great or horrible and what it means...

You should put it in terms of something like getting an Iphone 5.

For example, AT&T wanted a friend of mine to pay a $1000 deposit bc she had bad credit.
But they opened my account with no hassle or deposit because I have pretty good credit :-)

Bad credit makes everything cost more just about!

That's a GREAT analogy!  As you said, put it in terms that they can relate to!  BRAVO!

Message 12 of 30
daybreakgonesXe
Valued Contributor

Re: Add my son to Amex account

Youngandcreditwrthy. SAME EXACT REASON FOR ME!! My mom ruined not only her own but my dad and grandfathers credit. Bankruptcy 1, maybe 2 times...theyre getting better, but my mother really needs to limit her shopping sprees...luckily im an inspiration for her now. She brags to her accountant that i have a better handle on my finances than she does XD
Message 13 of 30
Revelate
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Add my son to Amex account


@bobvette wrote:

@Walt_K wrote:

@Bay_Area_Joe wrote:

My son is 18, and has no credit to date. I have been trying to get him convinced that credit is a vital tool for future use.  He has opinion that all banks are bad, and that they have destroyed the American economy. 

 

I did get him a checking and saving account when he was 16 at Wells Fargo.  Maybe a secured Wells card with 5k starting deposit. 

 

He just does not understand the importance of a long established excellent credit history for buying a car or getting a home in 5 to 10 or so years.

 

I am thinking of getting him on my Amex account, have the card sent to me, and he never gets to use it, I would use every once in awhile for gas or something like that.

 

My account was established in 1991.  If I add him, will he get benefit of my 21 years of history ?

 

Any input would be appreciated.

 

Thank you



Aside from backdating, there is the benefit of simply having a solid tradeline on his report.  Adding him as an AU on any account will provide a benefit (assuming that the lender reports AUs, which most of the big banks do).  The AU account will report to his CRAs and he will inherit all the history of that account good and bad.  A person gets the most benefit when they are added as an AU to an account with a long history and where the person keeps their utilization low on that account.

 

Yes, some lenders can provide less weight to AU accounts, but a lot of decisions are still made automatically and having those AU accounts can push up his FICO score and help him start to establish his own tradelines.


I could be wrong, but I think with AMEX, AU's will show up with the date they were added to the account, not the original account holders information?  If you are correct, my son and daughter will have a credit history longer than their lives, that would be great for them!


You are correct Bob, Amex changed that sometime in the past few years to the addition of an ACM (Amexese for a AU) the date associated with the tradeline will be the date they were added, and they won't inherit prior history.

 

Amex is a one-off on this, every other lender I'm aware of is as Walt describes.




        
Message 14 of 30
Dustink
Valued Contributor

Re: Add my son to Amex account


@Bay_Area_Joe wrote:

My son is 18, and has no credit to date. I have been trying to get him convinced that credit is a vital tool for future use.  He has opinion that all banks are bad, and that they have destroyed the American economy. 

 

I did get him a checking and saving account when he was 16 at Wells Fargo.  Maybe a secured Wells card with 5k starting deposit. 

 

He just does not understand the importance of a long established excellent credit history for buying a car or getting a home in 5 to 10 or so years.

 

I am thinking of getting him on my Amex account, have the card sent to me, and he never gets to use it, I would use every once in awhile for gas or something like that.

 

My account was established in 1991.  If I add him, will he get benefit of my 21 years of history ?

 

Any input would be appreciated.

 

Thank you


I would say, do not help him unless he asks for help.

 

Giving him credit history may cause problems. He needs to understand the credit system and have a desire to build a good credit score. If he just ends up with good credit; he may mess it up later on, not understanding how hard it is to obtain.

 

Usually it is best to let somebody build on their own.

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Message 15 of 30
Walt_K
Senior Contributor

Re: Add my son to Amex account


@Revelate wrote:

@bobvette wrote:

@Walt_K wrote:

@Bay_Area_Joe wrote:

My son is 18, and has no credit to date. I have been trying to get him convinced that credit is a vital tool for future use.  He has opinion that all banks are bad, and that they have destroyed the American economy. 

 

I did get him a checking and saving account when he was 16 at Wells Fargo.  Maybe a secured Wells card with 5k starting deposit. 

 

He just does not understand the importance of a long established excellent credit history for buying a car or getting a home in 5 to 10 or so years.

 

I am thinking of getting him on my Amex account, have the card sent to me, and he never gets to use it, I would use every once in awhile for gas or something like that.

 

My account was established in 1991.  If I add him, will he get benefit of my 21 years of history ?

 

Any input would be appreciated.

 

Thank you



Aside from backdating, there is the benefit of simply having a solid tradeline on his report.  Adding him as an AU on any account will provide a benefit (assuming that the lender reports AUs, which most of the big banks do).  The AU account will report to his CRAs and he will inherit all the history of that account good and bad.  A person gets the most benefit when they are added as an AU to an account with a long history and where the person keeps their utilization low on that account.

 

Yes, some lenders can provide less weight to AU accounts, but a lot of decisions are still made automatically and having those AU accounts can push up his FICO score and help him start to establish his own tradelines.


I could be wrong, but I think with AMEX, AU's will show up with the date they were added to the account, not the original account holders information?  If you are correct, my son and daughter will have a credit history longer than their lives, that would be great for them!


You are correct Bob, Amex changed that sometime in the past few years to the addition of an ACM (Amexese for a AU) the date associated with the tradeline will be the date they were added, and they won't inherit prior history.

 

Amex is a one-off on this, every other lender I'm aware of is as Walt describes.


Didn't realize this.  It's hard to keep up with all this stuff.  Thanks for the correction.


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Goal Score: 720


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Message 16 of 30
bs6054
Valued Contributor

Re: Add my son to Amex account


@Dustink wrote:

@Bay_Area_Joe wrote:

My son is 18, and has no credit to date. I have been trying to get him convinced that credit is a vital tool for future use.  He has opinion that all banks are bad, and that they have destroyed the American economy. 

 

I did get him a checking and saving account when he was 16 at Wells Fargo.  Maybe a secured Wells card with 5k starting deposit. 

 

He just does not understand the importance of a long established excellent credit history for buying a car or getting a home in 5 to 10 or so years.

 

I am thinking of getting him on my Amex account, have the card sent to me, and he never gets to use it, I would use every once in awhile for gas or something like that.

 

My account was established in 1991.  If I add him, will he get benefit of my 21 years of history ?

 

Any input would be appreciated.

 

Thank you


I would say, do not help him unless he asks for help.

 

Giving him credit history may cause problems. He needs to understand the credit system and have a desire to build a good credit score. If he just ends up with good credit; he may mess it up later on, not understanding how hard it is to obtain.

 

Usually it is best to let somebody build on their own.


A lot of financial writers would agree with Dustink, generally the advice is don't co-sign or make ANYONE an AU without being fully aware of the risks to your score, your relationship etc.   That said, presumably you know your son well enough to decide that this is sensible.

 

To be, a big red flag is: He has opinion that all banks are bad, and that they have destroyed the American economy.   Now that is a viewpoint held by many, and may well be right, but to me it doesn't suggest that keeping credit pristine to keep the banks happy would be his first priority

Message 17 of 30
jake619
Frequent Contributor

Re: Add my son to Amex account

Of all the things a parent can contribute to their childs future, as it relates to this board, incubating positive credit is up there.  And for what cost?  The time it takes to AU them?  I know I would have appreciated it.

 

 

Message 18 of 30
BearsAndTurtlesRtheBest
Senior Contributor

Re: Add my son to Amex account

there will come a point in life where we will have to get credit cards if he wants to succeed in this world. tell him then how is he gonna get a car? or even a house? IM GLAD THAT IM INTERESTED IN CREDIT AT MY AGE(18 YRS OLD) beacuse not everyone sees the importance. But yeah It will hit him someday Smiley Happy Better late than never!!

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Message 19 of 30
bs6054
Valued Contributor

Re: Add my son to Amex account


@BearsAndTurtlesRtheBest wrote:

there will come a point in life where we will have to get credit cards if he wants to succeed in this world. tell him then how is he gonna get a car? or even a house? IM GLAD THAT IM INTERESTED IN CREDIT AT MY AGE(18 YRS OLD) beacuse not everyone sees the importance. But yeah It will hit him someday Smiley Happy Better late than never!!


 

Well, depending on the political/philosophical mindset, that may not be true.   He may never want a house (property ties you down and limits options, rent/squat etc), save and buy a cheap used car, or of course, earn huge amounts of money so it doesn't matter.

 

In the US (from 2010): Some 29 percent of poll respondents reported that they do not have a credit card. That was a more than 10 percent jump from the number of respondents who reported having no credit cards in June 2009. http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-card-industry-facts-personal-debt-statistics-1276...

 

Again, myfico isn't the representative universe.

Message 20 of 30
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