Cons to adding girlfriend as AU

[Anonymous]

My girlfriend and I moved in together about 4 months ago and we are looking into purchasing a home in the near future. I have FICOs between 750-770 depending on the bureau and she is in the 690s with very, very limited credit history. She has two cards--- one through a local credit union, and a new CapOne Platinum. She was denied when she applied for a Discover It today.

I have the option to add her as an AU for my Amex Everyday. I never carry a balance on it, and I use it for maybe one purchase/month. Is there any reason NOT to add her as an authorized user? We have been together 4+ years, she has good spending habits (i.e. I'm not concerned with her running up a huge balance)--- more than likely she wouldn't even carry/use the card.

[Anonymous]

Adding her as an AU will certainly help her scores over time.   You are legally responsible for her spending, so thats a con. If you have the card, then any concerns over spending are elminated.    If she does get the card, you can always have text alerts sent when the card is used. That way there is total disclosure.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your thoughtful response! 

[JustBPatient]

I would put her on both AMEX and DCVR but with that said when they send the cards out, just put them in your safe and let her enjoy the extra padding on her report.  With two cards of her own, no need for her to have those.  Good luck!

[Anonymous]

The only reason I wasn't going to put her on the Discover is that I'm currently paying down a balance transfer w/ around $2,000 left. $2,000 against the $31k limit is only around 6-7% utilization, but I figured it would look better on her if she didn't have the balance reporting. Don't want to do more harm than good!

[Revelate]

Amex is a smart AU financially (unless they changed that, utterly seperate account number) but it's a crappy one for FICO: you don't get the history last I checked.

Should check that over on the CC board, but Amex in the post backdating world isn't a good choice for this.

[trnj88]

+1

I was added an as AU on an AmEx Everyday two weeks ago. We got the card in the mail, shoved it in a drawer, and two days ago my FICO updated with the new account details.

Alert: A new account has been added to your credit report

Open Date: 01/2017

No historical tradeline information, only as of 01/2017

It reported but there is NO history associated with it. AmEx ED will show as a new account with the current balance details but (obviously) no inquiry associated with it. Also FYI, the utilization ($0/13k balance on the AmEx) was not calculated into my overall utilization on myFICO since it is an AU account.

It is a 6-year-old card and my score only jumped up 8 points because AmEx does not update the history to AU accounts, at least not anymore.

[Drash]

You can add her to your amex everyday card as an authorized user or you can add her to the card that you have had the longest and that way she will have a longer credit history since she will asume your history.