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So far every time I have been getting a new card I've been asking to add my wife as an AU (I have no issue with that, we share all money-related matters :-) just in case, remembering one of the recent threads, lol). It has always been a very smooth process, almost no questions asked, almost all done automatically.
From what I noticed, all AU cards just have the same credentials (number, exp date, even CVC/CVV), but different name. Some lenders don't even ask for the date of birth so just for fun I ordered a card for my 3 yrs old son (I imagine him getting his card at his 16th birthday with Member since ... date on it...).
The bad side of this is that I don't see the way of looking clearly after the spendings on those cards. Maybe I missed something, but from what I see BoA, Chase, Discover, Cap1 do not show charges from the main cardholder and AU cards separately and the only exception is Amex that has issued my wife a card with a new number, let her register her own online ID and basically use this card in a way that she can use any card that she opened for herself as a main cardholder... I haven't checked this, but it also seems that I can set some spending limits on AU cards and do some other stuff like this from my online banking.
Long story short, my questions are rather simple:
1) What lenders provide similar "AU-friendly" experience, as Amex? (separate card number, separate online banking etc). Or Amex is the only one like that?
2) What would happen if my wife loses a wallet with an AU card having the same number as mine? Will it automatically mean that I'll have to close both cards and reissue them?
3) Any other thoughts I should keep in mind in relation to these AU cards? Does it influence how they are reported on her CR?
Many thanks!
Well, hopefully you'll get someone with a lot more expertise than me, but ....
2) I know at least for cap1 (they changed my acct # due to fraud alert) that the number changed, but it just changed the entry on my CR to show the new number, it doesn't show as a closed account and then a new opened account, and if Cap1 of all people can do this, I assume some other lenders can as well
3) Just remember if you get something bad, like a 30+ day late payment, that will also ding all of her reports. As an AU you inherit both the good and bad history of the account.