Does adding an authorized user to credit card lower your FICO score?

[Anonymous]

Hello.

Up until two month ago I had a FICO score of 782.

Two months ago I added my boyfriend as an authorized user to my credit card.  I keep track of  his purchases and still paid balance in full on both of the due dates as usual .

Last week I received my reminder FICO score and it's down to a 675!!!

So my question is, did I hurt my score by adding him to this credit card?   Since he has bad credit is that affecting me now somehow? 

[Lel]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hello.

Up until two month ago I had a FICO score of 782.

Two months ago I added my boyfriend as an authorized user to my credit card.  I keep track of  his purchases and still paid balance in full on both of the due dates as usual .

Last week I received my reminder FICO score and it's down to a 675!!!

So my question is, did I hurt my score by adding him to this credit card?   Since he has bad credit is that affecting me now somehow? 

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Hello, and welcome to the FICO Forums.

The act of adding an authorized user to your credit card(s) does not, in and of itself, affect your FICO score.  The AU's credit history is not reflected on your own credit report.

However, if the AU runs the balances of the cards to their limits, this can have a detrimental effect on your score, because the statement balance - the amount that appears on the monthly bill - is what is reported to the credit bureaus.  Even if you pay the balance in full every month, a high utilization (the ratio of the balance to the credit limit) will still weigh on your score.

And just so there's no confusion, where did you get your credit scores from?

[Anonymous]

Thanks for answering!

I thought that might be it but then again the only difference is $200 extra a month, the card has a $2500 limit.  When I was using the card, I charged a maximum of $500 a month but now I'm not using it and he is.  So it's actually less than what I was charging.

Every quater I get a credit score from my credit union, I've verified it before and they are accurate.  There has been no changes on my credit report either.  If anything I owe less on my car loan than what I did before and I have no credit card debt.

I'm really stumped here .. it's a good thing I'm not applying for a loan or anything anytime soon but I really want my score back.!  

[Lel]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks for answering!

I thought that might be it but then again the only difference is $200 extra a month, the card has a $2500 limit.  When I was using the card, I charged a maximum of $500 a month but now I'm not using it and he is.  So it's actually less than what I was charging.

Every quater I get a credit score from my credit union, I've verified it before and they are accurate.  There has been no changes on my credit report either.  If anything I owe less on my car loan than what I did before and I have no credit card debt.

I'm really stumped here .. it's a good thing I'm not applying for a loan or anything anytime soon but I really want my score back.!  

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Are you certain that these are FICO scores?  There are a lot of credit scores out there, but not all of them are FICO scores.

[Anonymous]

Very good point.  I will be double checking with my credit union but ... Am I assuming wrong that if my credit score goes down so does my FICO? 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Very good point.  I will be double checking with my credit union but ... Am I assuming wrong that if my credit score goes down so does my FICO? 

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Hi lamoon,

Welcome!  Glad you're posting here.

Yep - that would be a wrong assumption.  There's no correlation between FICO scores and other credit scores.   They are built on different algorithms which create different scores - in addition, the scores change in diverse directions and for diverse reasons

When your FAKO scores go up, your FICO can go down, stay the same, or go up.

When your FAKO scores go down, your FICO can go up, stay the same, or go down.

When your FAKO scores stay the same, your FICO scores can go up, go down, or stay the same.

I've pulled tons of FAKO scores (I go through phases where I like to have credit monitoring services of various sorts). It doesn't matter who the source is. I've learned to ignore the FAKO scores and the advice that accompanies them. I don't read them anymore. I did for a long time, trying to discern any possible connection, but the reality is, once again, they are built on different algorithms, they create different scores and they adjust those scores based on differing criteria.

FICO scores are what your lenders see, so they are the scores that matter.

[daylove]

No

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the useful information.  I'll keep doing what I've been doing and just out of curiosity purchase a FICO score to see where I'm at.