How does AU work?

[ray8806]

How exactly does that work? I understand what it basically does, it allows you to use someone else's cc account. 

But what I"m wondering is, if it's one of the companies that do report it does my credit report just show another open account? Or does it backdate to the date the original account holder opened the card? And do I have to use the card myself for it to help me credit history and all?

I'm considering getting someone in my family that has had a card for a while adding me as an AU just for the credit history, but I'm not quite sure how it works.

[CreditDunce]

For CCC's that report AU's, the AU account will show up with the same credit history as the primary holder.  So Yes, it does backdate.  Any spending by either the AU or primary will show up on both credit reports.  It does not matter if the AU uses the card or not.   Assuming that the CRA's decide the AU account is legitimate and can match the AU account to the secondary's CR. 

Amex is a little different, the AU account will show up as a brand new credit account.   However, it does set the AU's MSD.  Plus Amex AU's are a great way to monitor kids credit usage.  You can set their limits and see their charges separately from yours.

Also, note that depending on the FICO model, the AU account may or may not be used. This is independent of whether the AU account shows up on the AU CRA.

[takeshi74]

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@ray8806 wrote:

But what I"m wondering is, if it's one of the companies that do report it does my credit report just show another open account? Or does it backdate to the date the original account holder opened the card?

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Both.  As indicated above it shows up as another account with the history of the account.  However, there is an indicator that the person is an AU on the account.

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@ray8806 wrote:

And do I have to use the card myself for it to help me credit history and all?

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The account is reported the same to both the original account holder and any AU's.  There are not separate reports for each person.  Whether it helps or not depends on the scoring model and creditor (as well as the account itself).   Some disregard accounts where a person is an AU.