How do I know AU is reporting for my son?

[jamie123]

I added my 16 year old son as an AU for my Walmart MC credit card 2 years ago. I did this because he uses the money he earns through doing chores to buy things online and to give him a head start with his credit scores.

How can I check if this card is reporting to the 3 credit reporting agencies?

Will freeannualcreditreport.com work for somebody that is under 18?

[RobertEG]

Under the new CRA policy as set forth in their National Consumer Assistance Plan, the CRAs will not accept an AU designation unless the date of birth of the prospecitve authorized user is provided.  

If the AU status is approved, then your account will then appear in HIS credit report.

You can thus determine whether it as approved by your son obtaining a copy of his credit report.

[Anonymous]

Years ago I wanted to check my son's report while he was still a minor and at that time, Transunion had a seperate email address for it: childidtheft@transunion.com Not sure if that is still valid or not, but if so they should be able to tell you if there is a credit report in his name. Can't help you with the other two but that's a start if the address is still good.

[Anonymous]

I was using annualcreditreport.com before I was 18. That should work, though you'll have to space out your one report from each CRA.

[jamie123]

Okay, an update.

I tried pulling his reports from freeannualcreditreport.com but they didn't have any information on him.

I then called Walmart and asked the customer service rep if they were reporting my son's status as an AU to the CRAs? Three times I asked this same question with the customer service rep offhandedly saying yes. Then..."Oh, what is your son's birth date? I see we need that."

Yeah...I'm not so sure they were reporting to the CRAs but maybe now they will.

After losing any confidence that I had with Walmart to begin with I called Bank of America to have him added as an AU to my Rewards card. The customer service rep said, "Yes it's no problem adding him as an AU to your card. What's his name?"

I asked, "Will this be reported to the CRAs because I want to give him a head start with his credit scoring?"

"Oh, well that makes a difference. We can't do this over the phone or online. We need to send you a paper application in the mail that you will both need to fill out and sign. It will ask for his date of birth and SSN. Just fill it out and send it back in the envelope that is provided. Does that sound like something you want to do?"

"Yes."

"Okay, just a minute....Alright, the form will be in the mail tomorrow. You should receive it in 5 to 7 days."

So yes, nothing is easy in the world of credit!

[Anonymous]

---

@jamie123 wrote:

So yes, nothing is easy in the world of credit!

---

When you're under 21, anyway. Under 18 is even harder haha