Using AU card

[drkaje]

HBG,

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but all an AU has to do is call and report the cards lost and have replacements sent overnight.

I realize your heart was in the right place but if he still has credit understanding issues, becoming an AU likely made it easier to dig a deeper hole. Dig through the threads here and you'll see many cases where people used AU status to improve their score, app for a bunch of cards, pay something late, or overspend, and be back to square 1.

I could see adding someone actively fixing their credit as AU. I can also see adding someone to help their utilization. Making it easier for someone to hide out and ignore their problem just wouldn't make sense, to me.

[drkaje]

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@honeybunnygal wrote:

I just got off the phone with Citibank. Unfortunately, they don't allow you to cap the limit on AU cards.

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At least it's not USAA! They allow AUs to add other AUs and the primary is still responsible for the balance. You're also responsible for retrieving the card and any charges made on it.... even after calling to remove the AU.

[honeybunnygal]

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@drkaje wrote:

HBG,

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but all an AU has to do is call and report the cards lost and have replacements sent overnight.

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You

You made me call Citibank again. Yes, an AU can report the card lost/stolen. However, by doing that, cards would then be issued for BOTH of us (since the account numbers on the CCs are the same.) However, these cards would be mailed to the primary account holder's address (my house.) This address cannot be changed without my authorization. If any info is changed, I would be notified. 

Furthermore, according to the CSR, if my mailing address was somehow changed & the card was then reported lost/stolen, it would trigger a fraud alert on the account. Their fraud team would then contact me for verification.

[drkaje]

@ HBG,

Obviously, I hope things work out fine. Please don't take the observations as anyone telling you what to do. It's just a lesson many of us have learned the hard way.

FWIW, none of us would have listened.