Which cards report AUs to all 3 CRAs?

pdxmike · ‎01-19-2015

There's conflicting info all over about this. NerdWallet says Chase, WF and Cap1 report to all 3; BofA and Barclay don't report at all; Citi reports, but there's no word on if it reports to all 3; Discover and US Bank report, but AUs "look different;" and Amex only reports positive info.

But Doctor of Credit says all those banks report, though only Citi and Discover are listed as reporting to all 3; and Amex is "complicated. "

I then Googled how Discover is "different," and found a myFico thread where Discover told a caller they don't reported AUs, but a bunch of replies said they did.

So can any AUs say whether their cards are reported to all 3 CRAs, and how the trade line may look different?

ScoreOrBeScored · ‎01-19-2015

Amex

capital one

macys

kohls

walmart

barclays

Anonymous · ‎01-19-2015

Capital One for sure reports to all 3; that's the only one I can say for 100% in my experience. 4 different CCs (Quicksilver, Platinum, Classic and QuicksilverOne) and all 4 have reported AU to 3 CRA.

Synchrony does as well but I can't say for 100% sure since I've only had experience with 1 card.

I want to say BofA as well but I can't remember for 100% certainty

Chase tries to report to all 3 but I've seen them miss a CRA. They might report to TU and EX on one card, then on another Chase card, they report only to EX and EQ. I have seen 3 Chase AU cards and none of the 3 report to all 3 bureaus. They all only report to 2 of 3 bureaus (Freedom, Southwest and Slate)

907grown · ‎01-19-2015

I have my DH as an AU on Barclays, freedom, and discover and they all report on his report but it does show AU on his report so not sure how much it helps him. He has a CO from Cap One from 2010 so the only card he can get now is Cap One! Lol!

Starting Score: 460
Current Score: EQ 764, TU 764, EX 740,
BOA AK AIR 30,000, Discover IT 6300, Freedom 25,300, Barclays RMC 15,660, Ring 15,000, BCE 15,000, QS17,000,AARP 15,000, ChaseFU 8,000,AND A LOT MORE!

Anonymous · ‎01-20-2015

I'm an AU on a US Bank card which reports to all 3 CRAs, but it seems like YMMV with AU reporting.

CreditDunce · ‎01-20-2015

I think most credit card companies report AU's to all three major CRA's. It is much more likely you will find the CRA's either don't match the AU account to someone's credit report or they decide to disallow the account if they don't see a strong relationship between the primary and AU's. Many years ago, people sold AU accounts to strangers to help their credit score. Now CRA's weed out any AU accounts they don't think are legitimate. It will be YMMV, even if the AU have the same last name, same address, etc. It does help if the CCC requests the AU's SSN.

With modern FICO models, AU accounts are discounted. They don't help your credit score that much. However, mortgages still are using old FICO models.

Amex is a special case. The AU account will almost certainly show up. But it will not be back dated. The AU will establish your MSD, but it does not add the account history of the primary account holder's account to the AU account.

pdxmike · ‎01-20-2015

@CreditDunce wrote:
With modern FICO models, AU accounts are discounted. They don't help your credit score that much. However, mortgages still are using old FICO models.

I think FICO backtracked on that proposal, with the compromise being greater scrutiny of AU relationships.

CreditDunce · ‎01-20-2015

@pdxmike wrote:
@CreditDunce wrote:
With modern FICO models, AU accounts are discounted. They don't help your credit score that much. However, mortgages still are using old FICO models.
I think FICO backtracked on that proposal, with the compromise being greater scrutiny of AU relationships.

No, FICO 08/09 do discount AU accounts. There was talk about not counting AU accounts at all, but that was scraped.

An AU account is still calculated in your score, but not as much as it used to be. Back with FICO 04/98, an AU account counted about as much as your primary accounts. Now it helps, but not as much. On the other hand, if the AU account has very high utilization, it doesn't hurt as much as it used it to either.

You are correct about the greater scrutiny of AU relationships. I am guessing that is why some AU accounts never show up on CRs. It is even possible FICO 08/09 even exclude some AU accounts that show up on your credit report, but I have no way of knowing if that is true. Of course, some AU accounts not showing up are simply not being reported, too.

pdxmike · ‎01-20-2015

Here's what some other sources say:

"Your role as an authorized user will affect your credit, but not as much as it did on previous FICO models. How much your FICO score benefits from being added as an authorized user will be judged on a more individual basis. If a parent or spouse adds you as an authorized user, your credit score will in most cases benefit as it did previously. Those added as authorized users to an account that isn't owned by a family member are much less likely to see their credit score go up.

"The [authorized] account will appear on your credit report and will be treated no differently by the FICO scoring formula than any other accounts that appear on your report," [Barry] Paperno, [consumer operations manager for myFICO.com], says.

There doesn't seem to be a ton of clarity on this issue, but I think the "reduced impact" may only affect people who the model thinks may not be legitimately connected to the primary cardholder.

CreditDunce · ‎01-20-2015

I am still not convinced AU accounts are not discounted in FICO 08 in addition to the weeding out. I have seen too many posts where the AU account may help, but isn't counted the same as a normal TL.
Here is a post from a couple months ago discussing utilization not being counted for at least some AU accounts with close relationships:
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/FICO-08-discounting-AU-account-balances/m...
Personally, I know I don't fully understand how FICO counts AU accounts. FICO hides too much. But I don't think they are counted the same as they used to be.