DVH1980 wrote:Im curious if there is a downside to adding my wife as an AU on my newly aquired Amex card. Her credit is pretty dismal but will be clean in 2 years. My main question is, when I request a CLI in the future, will having someone with less than stellar credit as an AU affect their decision to grant my CLI? Or worst case senario, woud AMex possibly consider closing my account because of the derogs on my AU's report?
Your wife being an AU doesn't show up at all on your credit report. It's irrelevant to the approval process assuming you're applying as an individual rather than for a joint account.
I don't think Amex particularly cares regarding AU's (AC's in their terminology): AC's are liable for at least some of the charges accrued as well, so it increases their odds of getting paid. If they really don't like your wife's credit report, I think anecdotally they've refused to issue the AC, but I wouldn't sweat it as the primary cardholder.
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Jlu wrote:The negative effects of adding an AU goes well beyond possible AA from creditors.
Read over in the Relationships and Money forums. Women are strange creatures. Would you give unlimited spending power to a strange creature? lol.
Ah - but Amex lets you put a hard limit on the AC's card. So, regardless of how strange you think women are, you can be a real man and control her. 
djrez4 wrote:
Jlu wrote:The negative effects of adding an AU goes well beyond possible AA from creditors.
Read over in the Relationships and Money forums. Women are strange creatures. Would you give unlimited spending power to a strange creature? lol.
Ah - but Amex lets you put a hard limit on the AC's card. So, regardless of how strange you think women are, you can be a real man and control her.
Quitely walks away..... 
DVH1980 wrote:Thanks for the reply, I assumed as much but thought I would ask. I wasnt worried about my credit or eport as much as I was about how Amex might veiw it by adding someone with a slew of derogs on their report.
Amex is rather unique in that they check an AU's (aka AC) credit. Amex has, primarily, a spend centric, pif, customer base that is exceptionally large and long. Most other AU issuers just issue a new card with the same account number. When the card is used they have no idea whether it was the AU or primary. Amex OTOH, knows. I think it is a certainty that IF there is a correlation between the account risk and the credit profile/spending of AUs that it will be factored into their decisions. It's also a certainty that if Amex does this they will not disclose it if they can avoid it. If AU's spending becomes a large part of the overall spend and if the AU's cr's deteriorate it's increasingly likely AMex will do a FR or place a hard limit if not cancel outright.
What is clear is that it doesn't impact the primary card holder's CRA credit files in any way.
I have reestablished credit over the last couple years