Adding brother as an AU

[Dw4250]

I would like to add my brother (who is currently in college) as an AU on one of my accounts to help boost his score. He lives with me during his summer breaks so technically could list his address as my address.

Under the new FICO guidelines (08), would my account be factored into his score?

[Dw4250]

I should add he is my 1/2 brother (so different last name)...

[vanillabean]

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@Dw4250 wrote:

Under the new FICO guidelines (08), would my account be factored into his score?

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Probably not (from the recent flood of AU-related FICO 08 threads).

[Dw4250]

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@Anonymous-own-fico wrote:

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@Dw4250 wrote:

Under the new FICO guidelines (08), would my account be factored into his score?

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Probably not (from the recent flood of AU-related FICO 08 threads).

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Interesting.  So how are family members included?  Are husband and wives not included as part of AU scoring?  Or father/son?  What is the criteria?

[fungoman]

See my recent thread about how I dont believe my Wife's Amex with me as an AU is factoring into my Fico 08 scores. Fico 08 was supposed to prevent pickybacking from non related member's accounts, but I dont see how my wife's account could be considered piggybacking. However, I cant find anywhere else where I would have an impact except for that one AU account. None of the other differences outlined between 04 and 08 apply to me.

[bdhu2001]

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@fungoman wrote:

See my recent thread about how I dont believe my Wife's Amex with me as an AU is factoring into my Fico 08 scores. Fico 08 was supposed to prevent pickybacking from non related member's accounts, but I dont see how my wife's account could be considered piggybacking. However, I cant find anywhere else where I would have an impact except for that one AU account. None of the other differences outlined between 04 and 08 apply to me.

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Does your AU card ever get used?  My husband said they consider it obvious piggybacking if the card is never used.  I'll be testing that theory.  I'm adding my kids (both in their 30s) to the cards that they always use.  When I get the AU cards, I'll take back the cards with my name and have them use the cards with their own names.  Also, when I take them out to dinner, I'll have them use their card.  I just ordered the cards today.  So I'll have them pull their reports and scores and see what happens 2 months after they use their AU cards. Not diffinitive, but it's the best I can come up with.

[Dw4250]

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@bdhu2001 wrote:

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@fungoman wrote:

See my recent thread about how I dont believe my Wife's Amex with me as an AU is factoring into my Fico 08 scores. Fico 08 was supposed to prevent pickybacking from non related member's accounts, but I dont see how my wife's account could be considered piggybacking. However, I cant find anywhere else where I would have an impact except for that one AU account. None of the other differences outlined between 04 and 08 apply to me.

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Does your AU card ever get used?  My husband said they consider it obvious piggybacking if the card is never used.  I'll be testing that theory.  I'm adding my kids (both in their 30s) to the cards that they always use.  When I get the AU cards, I'll take back the cards with my name and have them use the cards with their own names.  Also, when I take them out to dinner, I'll have them use their card.  I just ordered the cards today.  So I'll have them pull their reports and scores and see what happens 2 months after they use their AU cards. Not diffinitive, but it's the best I can come up with.

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Since the cards have the same account number (except for AMEX which issues different numbers for each person), how will the credit bureaus be able to tell which card is being used?  

I would love to add my brother who is in college and would occasionally use the card.  Yes, he would hopefully benefit from the UTL%, but not sure why FICO would see this as "piggybacking" and not a legit use of the card.  It's not like he's a complete stranger with a different address/phone number.

[bdhu2001]

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@Dw4250 wrote:

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@bdhu2001 wrote:

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@fungoman wrote:

See my recent thread about how I dont believe my Wife's Amex with me as an AU is factoring into my Fico 08 scores. Fico 08 was supposed to prevent pickybacking from non related member's accounts, but I dont see how my wife's account could be considered piggybacking. However, I cant find anywhere else where I would have an impact except for that one AU account. None of the other differences outlined between 04 and 08 apply to me.

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Does your AU card ever get used?  My husband said they consider it obvious piggybacking if the card is never used.  I'll be testing that theory.  I'm adding my kids (both in their 30s) to the cards that they always use.  When I get the AU cards, I'll take back the cards with my name and have them use the cards with their own names.  Also, when I take them out to dinner, I'll have them use their card.  I just ordered the cards today.  So I'll have them pull their reports and scores and see what happens 2 months after they use their AU cards. Not diffinitive, but it's the best I can come up with.

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Since the cards have the same account number (except for AMEX which issues different numbers for each person), how will the credit bureaus be able to tell which card is being used?  

I would love to add my brother who is in college and would occasionally use the card.  Yes, he would hopefully benefit from the UTL%, but not sure why FICO would see this as "piggybacking" and not a legit use of the card.  It's not like he's a complete stranger with a different address/phone number.

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Are you sure that they have the exact same #.  I have a Shell gas card and my husband is AU.  His number is slightly different than mine.  My kids use his card and sometimes his card stops working, because they live in San Francisco and I'm in the Central Valley.  My card will keep chugging right along w/o any problems.  I swap cards with them and contact Shell to explain the charges are okay.  Yesterday, I ordered AU cards for my kids so it probably won't happen in the future.

Also, from what I understand, some cards let you set a different limit on the AU card instead of the AU having access to your entire credit limit. To do this, there must be some method to differentiate it from the main card.

[fungoman]

The card is being used, PIF and reporting roughly 2k a month (only card reporting for my DW). If you see my other thread about it I have alot more detail. My thinking is that my wifes card that I am an AU on is creating a 3rd balance and a new account and factoring into EQ 04. On EQ 08 it is not factor and therefore my AAoA and only 2 cards reporting a balance is yielding a higher score. UTIL is identical with or without the card affecting my score.

[bdhu2001]

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@fungoman wrote:

The card is being used, PIF and reporting roughly 2k a month (only card reporting for my DW). If you see my other thread about it I have alot more detail. My thinking is that my wifes card that I am an AU on is creating a 3rd balance and a new account and factoring into EQ 04. On EQ 08 it is not factor and therefore my AAoA and only 2 cards reporting a balance is yielding a higher score. UTIL is identical with or without the card affecting my score.

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Thank you.  My husband is in the car busness that FICO uses use of card to determine piggy backing.  Perhaps his distinction is prior to FICO 08 and he's been in the business so long, and it affects so few of his customers, that he isn't aware of the old distinction no longer applies for AU cards.