topic Re: question about amex au in Credit Cards

question about amex au

Anonymous — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 06:31:20 GMT

So I have a question. I got added as an AU to an amex acount and it was my understanding that I would inherit her entire payment history to my credit report and that it would show the date she first opened the card. Well looking at it now that it has finally made it on my credit report it doesn't show the date she opened the card, rather it shows the date I was added as AU. And it also isn't showing any payment history at all and this she has had it over 5 years. Any idea what's going on?

Re: question about amex au

improvingmycredit — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 06:44:11 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
So I have a question. I got added as an AU to an amex acount and it was my understanding that I would inherit her entire payment history to my credit report and that it would show the date she first opened the card. Well looking at it now that it has finally made it on my credit report it doesn't show the date she opened the card, rather it shows the date I was added as AU. And it also isn't showing any payment history at all and this she has had it over 5 years. Any idea what's going on?

Greetings mikan3477!

As an AU on the Amex card, you will inherit the trade line to help (or hurt) your profile but not the history. Amex now (and has always for AU) reports the start date for the account holder and does not backdate anymore. It will be great for you to have in time showing on your report if you are just starting out as long as the account reporting is managed well. I hope this helps

Re: question about amex au

Anonymous — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 06:45:32 GMT

Does bank of america let AU's inherit payment history?

Re: question about amex au

Anonymous — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 06:46:18 GMT

Cap is the only one I know of that gives you the whole account history . Discover might too but I can't recall right now .

Re: question about amex au

kdong1996 — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 19:47:59 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Does bank of america let AU's inherit payment history?

I only inherited the payment history from after I was added as an AU. Date opened does reflect the actual opening date though.

Re: question about amex au

Anonymous — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 19:51:50 GMT

It depends on the scoring model. If you go it Creditkarma, it would show that you were added as an user when the primary cardholder opened the account. If you look at myfico.com credit monitoring, the account open date would show up as the date you were added as an authorized user. The newer FICO scoring models are limiting beneficial effects of being added as an authorized user. I would still recommend that you be an authorized user because all scoring model taking into account your debt to total credit limit ratio.

Re: question about amex au

Anonymous — Thu, 17 Sep 2015 03:45:07 GMT

@kdong1996 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Does bank of america let AU's inherit payment history?
I only inherited the payment history from after I was added as an AU. Date opened does reflect the actual opening date though.

Both lenders will give the AU the entire account history. I added my brother to both my Discover and Capital One cards and his reports show three years worth of history with account open date when I first got the cards.

I dont know how this Amex "backdating" worked and don't understand why everyone rode them so hard for it when it seems Discover and Capital One do the same.

Re: question about amex au

kdong1996 — Thu, 17 Sep 2015 04:06:19 GMT

Amex backdating worked by "backdating" any card you open to the year which you had your first relation with Amex. For example if you had an AU account with Amex in 1990 and you open your own Amex card in 2015, the opening date on the card you opened would reflect as 1990 on your credit report, thus instantly adding nearly 25 years to your AAoA. Discover and Capital One do not do this, they only reflect the original opening date on AU accounts, not on subsequent cards you open with them.

Re: question about amex au

Anonymous — Thu, 17 Sep 2015 05:22:12 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Cap is the only one I know of that gives you the whole account history . Discover might too but I can't recall right now .

I can confirm Discover does. Just added myself to my dad's 1997 card a couple weeks ago. I have the whole history on my CR.

Re: question about amex au

Anonymous — Thu, 17 Sep 2015 05:33:56 GMT

I wonder how many university students have been added to their parents card and wound up with more years of credit history than that have been alive.

Re: question about amex au

Anonymous — Thu, 17 Sep 2015 07:08:53 GMT

That would be me...lol.

Oldest account is 24 years.

AAoA is about my age. -> 18 years old.

Re: question about amex au

takeshi74 — Thu, 17 Sep 2015 13:39:28 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
It depends on the scoring model.

The scoring model does not change the data on the credit report. How the TL is reported depends on how the creditor reports. CK and myFICO may present the data differently but the report data is the same.

@Anonymous wrote:
Does bank of america let AU's inherit payment history?

With most creditors the AU's get the payment history ot the TL. That said, not all creditors and scoring models/situations consider accounts where one is an AU so one really needs to build on'es own TL's.

AmEx is a bit unusual in how they handle AU's and how the TL's report for the AU's. What the OP experienced is normal for AmEx.

@Anonymous wrote:
I dont know how this Amex "backdating" worked and don't understand why everyone rode them so hard for it when it seems Discover and Capital One do the same.

They're not the same at all. As stated above, being an AU is not always of benefit as such TL's are not always considered. Backdating is always considered since backdated accounts belong to the individual. Backdating means that the account reports as opened prior to the date it was actually opened but a newly opened backdated account won't have any payment history whereas a TL where one is added as an AU will probably have payment history. It may seem that being an AU is a better deal but the creditors and scoring models have long been aware that people have been trying to piggyback and that's why such accounts are not always considered.

In any case, it really doesn't matter much since backdating is no longer available.

Re: question about amex au

Anonymous — Thu, 29 Oct 2015 03:06:20 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Cap is the only one I know of that gives you the whole account history . Discover might too but I can't recall right now .
I can confirm Discover does. Just added myself to my dad's 1997 card a couple weeks ago. I have the whole history on my CR.

I am an authorized user on my grandmas 1995 discover card but it doesn't even report on my credit report. When I called discover they said that I had to be a co-card holder in order to recieve any credit bureau reporting. Is that what you are, a co-holder?