topic Re: Joint Cards with my Husband, or no? in Credit Cards

Joint Cards with my Husband, or no?

Anne1208 — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 21:38:39 GMT

My husband and I are closing on a house in a few weeks. Once that is all squared away, we'd like to open a couple of extra credit cards, preferably one with some worthwhile rewards that we can put all the household gas/groceries on each month, and another for our work travel expenses for which we get reimbursed.

Right now, all of his MyFICO credit card scores are showing between 630 and 670. Mine are all showing between 770 and 825.

My question is this...

If I want to get a couple cards with higher limits and low interest rates, should I just apply by myself since I have a much higher credit score and add him as an authorized user? He has 3 6 year old collections that will come off his report next year, and hes been using two low-limit cards, so things are climbing for him but I don't anticipate his scores really getting in the "very good" or "excellent' range until mid-late 2017. The low limit cards are fine for credit building for him, but useless if we want to put work expenses on them or groceries - we hate using it and seeing our utilization going to 30% just because we carry a measly $300 balance for a couple weeks.

Also, is income vs. debt considered? I have a lower salary than my husband (abotu half what he does) and his only debt will be the house, versus mine will show the house and my six-figure student loans.

Re: Joint Cards with my Husband, or no?

dragontears — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 21:46:33 GMT

In response to the debt to income question: a lot of CC companys will allow you to put down any income you have ready access to (i.e. household income) as long as you are over 21.

Re: Joint Cards with my Husband, or no?

Dalmus — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 22:00:24 GMT

As long as you're confident he's not going to abuse the cards (no offense meant, we just don't know why he needs to be rebuilding, that's all), I would go the authorized user route. That way, if there IS some issue going forward, you can cancel the that card without cancelling your own.

Re: Joint Cards with my Husband, or no?

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 22:08:29 GMT

@Anne1208 wrote:
My husband and I are closing on a house in a few weeks. Once that is all squared away, we'd like to open a couple of extra credit cards, preferably one with some worthwhile rewards that we can put all the household gas/groceries on each month, and another for our work travel expenses for which we get reimbursed.

Right now, all of his MyFICO credit card scores are showing between 630 and 670. Mine are all showing between 770 and 825.

My question is this...

If I want to get a couple cards with higher limits and low interest rates, should I just apply by myself since I have a much higher credit score and add him as an authorized user? He has 3 6 year old collections that will come off his report next year, and hes been using two low-limit cards, so things are climbing for him but I don't anticipate his scores really getting in the "very good" or "excellent' range until mid-late 2017. The low limit cards are fine for credit building for him, but useless if we want to put work expenses on them or groceries - we hate using it and seeing our utilization going to 30% just because we carry a measly $300 balance for a couple weeks. Yes, joint cards are harder to split, and AU cards are quicker to remove, should anyone need to carry a higher balance, I would say an AU account would be easier to undo.

Also, is income vs. debt considered? I have a lower salary than my husband (abotu half what he does) and his only debt will be the house, versus mine will show the house and my six-figure student loans. Unless you are apping at a credit union, just use your household income for cards. As far as DTI that is another question.

You could also think about adding him to your current cards post closing to help with his utilization

Re: Joint Cards with my Husband, or no?

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 22:11:59 GMT

@dragontears wrote:
In response to the debt to income question: a lot of CC companys will allow you to put down any income you have ready access to (i.e. household income) as long as you are over 21.

This^^^

Also, I used to just blindly add him to everything. His credit was bad when we were first together so starting out everything was in my name. Not to mention I'm the one who 'handles the money'. We flip flopped for a short while but wer're back to my credit being slightly better than his.

I have now been giving it a lot more thought as to how the card will be used when deciding whether or not to add the other as an AU. If there's a chance a balance will be carried (0% offers and low interest CU products) I try to keep it in one name only. If it's a daily card, I prefer to get as much spending on as few cards as possible so I'm an AU for him, he's an AU for me. Before finding this site, we either put everything through Freedom, or everything through Citi TY Pref, or occasionally everything (possible) thru AmEx TE. Then I found out about maximizing rewards in various categories. I amassed an elaborate array of cards to maximize for most categories and ran that way for a few months. Then I realized I was driving DH a bit batty and I got upset when things didn't go on 'the right' card. I switched over to having him only use a couple cards even though it may not be the ultimate best for rewards. My experiences may or may not be helpful when thinking about your own.

Also, I removed him as AU from my Slate (only a BT card) and me as an AU from his Discover (currently just being used as a BT card...we use my Discover on which he's an AU for purchases). I didn't add him to the hotel cards I got thinking he wouldn't use them without me. But I'm about to add him to them because they never carry a balance to speak of and it'd give him an addt'l $26,500 CL for his util.

ETA: Early congrats on the house!

Re: Joint Cards with my Husband, or no?

mowglidude — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 22:21:47 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@dragontears wrote:
In response to the debt to income question: a lot of CC companys will allow you to put down any income you have ready access to (i.e. household income) as long as you are over 21.
This^^^

Also, I used to just blindly add him to everything. His credit was bad when we were first together so starting out everything was in my name. Not to mention I'm the one who 'handles the money'. We flip flopped for a short while but wer're back to my credit being slightly better than his.

I have now been giving it a lot more thought as to how the card will be used when deciding whether or not to add the other as an AU. If there's a chance a balance will be carried (0% offers and low interest CU products) I try to keep it in one name only. If it's a daily card, I prefer to get as much spending on as few cards as possible so I'm an AU for him, he's an AU for me. Before finding this site, we either put everything through Freedom, or everything through Citi TY Pref, or occasionally everything (possible) thru AmEx TE. Then I found out about maximizing rewards in various categories. I amassed an elaborate array of cards to maximize for most categories and ran that way for a few months. Then I realized I was driving DH a bit batty and I got upset when things didn't go on 'the right' card. I switched over to having him only use a couple cards even though it may not be the ultimate best for rewards. My experiences may or may not be helpful when thinking about your own.

Also, I removed him as AU from my Slate (only a BT card) and me as an AU from his Discover (currently just being used as a BT card...we use my Discover on which he's an AU for purchases). I didn't add him to the hotel cards I got thinking he wouldn't use them without me. But I'm about to add him to them because they never carry a balance to speak of and it'd give him an addt'l $26,500 CL for his util.

ETA: Early congrats on the house!

So adding a spouse as an AU, shows the CLI on the AU bureau? I didn't know that. I thought an AU did not show on their personal credit, if they were just an AU.

Re: Joint Cards with my Husband, or no?

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 22:26:05 GMT

Most CCCs won't even let you get a joint account. Discover is the only one I know of that is willing to let you do it. Additioanlly, having a joint account means you both have to be on the phone for any conversations with CSRs. It really is a big hassle. I would go with the AU route. You may want to split who applies for each card, so you each build credit. Or, you can each individually apply for the cards, and only go AU if someone fails. I prefer the first method, with the primary user being the person who is gong to apply.

Re: Joint Cards with my Husband, or no?

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 22:46:30 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Most CCCs won't even let you get a joint account. Discover is the only one I know of that is willing to let you do it. Additioanlly, having a joint account means you both have to be on the phone for any conversations with CSRs. It really is a big hassle. I would go with the AU route. You may want to split who applies for each card, so you each build credit. Or, you can each individually apply for the cards, and only go AU if someone fails. I prefer the first method, with the primary user being the person who is gong to apply.

Bank of America does joint accounts, as does synchrony, with care credit. And you do not need to both be on the phone for any changes. The only downside is if there is a HP required for changes, its for two people instead of one. And to split the account later it usually will take another HP.

Joint accounts are not the best IMO and should only be used as a last resort. If it wasnt for joint accounts though, I would not be where I am today, have the history that I have, etc.

I do like using AU to help with utilization but it really only helps scoring models for credit cards AFAIK. (however in refi'ing a few family members homes' mortgages, all the banks seemed to like the AU accounts with super low util) as always YMMV!

Re: Joint Cards with my Husband, or no?

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 23:25:22 GMT

I missed the joint question. Agree, definitely not. Big pain. Our 7.5% $15k CU CC is joint and I will likely use something with a percent higher to carry a balance so it can just be on me and get his util down.

Re: Joint Cards with my Husband, or no?

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 23:29:37 GMT

@mowglidude wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@dragontears wrote:
In response to the debt to income question: a lot of CC companys will allow you to put down any income you have ready access to (i.e. household income) as long as you are over 21.
This^^^

Also, I used to just blindly add him to everything. His credit was bad when we were first together so starting out everything was in my name. Not to mention I'm the one who 'handles the money'. We flip flopped for a short while but wer're back to my credit being slightly better than his.

I have now been giving it a lot more thought as to how the card will be used when deciding whether or not to add the other as an AU. If there's a chance a balance will be carried (0% offers and low interest CU products) I try to keep it in one name only. If it's a daily card, I prefer to get as much spending on as few cards as possible so I'm an AU for him, he's an AU for me. Before finding this site, we either put everything through Freedom, or everything through Citi TY Pref, or occasionally everything (possible) thru AmEx TE. Then I found out about maximizing rewards in various categories. I amassed an elaborate array of cards to maximize for most categories and ran that way for a few months. Then I realized I was driving DH a bit batty and I got upset when things didn't go on 'the right' card. I switched over to having him only use a couple cards even though it may not be the ultimate best for rewards. My experiences may or may not be helpful when thinking about your own.

Also, I removed him as AU from my Slate (only a BT card) and me as an AU from his Discover (currently just being used as a BT card...we use my Discover on which he's an AU for purchases). I didn't add him to the hotel cards I got thinking he wouldn't use them without me. But I'm about to add him to them because they never carry a balance to speak of and it'd give him an addt'l $26,500 CL for his util.

ETA: Early congrats on the house!

So adding a spouse as an AU, shows the CLI on the AU bureau? I didn't know that. I thought an AU did not show on their personal credit, if they were just an AU.

Yes, CL shows on AU bureau (CL= credit limit, CLI = credit limit increase). I believe most card issuers count them when considering credit, but to greater or lesser degrees.

Re: Joint Cards with my Husband, or no?

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 23:34:18 GMT

@mowglidude wrote:
So adding a spouse as an AU, shows the CLI on the AU bureau? I didn't know that. I thought an AU did not show on their personal credit, if they were just an AU.

I added my fiance to my Chase as an AU and it's reporting on her CR.

Re: Joint Cards with my Husband, or no?

Anne1208 — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 23:34:49 GMT

@Dalmus wrote:
As long as you're confident he's not going to abuse the cards (no offense meant, we just don't know why he needs to be rebuilding, that's all), I would go the authorized user route. That way, if there IS some issue going forward, you can cancel the that card without cancelling your own.

He has never abused any credit! He had the three medical collections from 2009 and had his car paid off in 2012 and paid off AND CLOSED his credit cards in 2008 - so basically his credit history was close to nil. It took me a LOT of nagging to get him to start some active tradelines last year so that we could qualify for a mortgage...he didn't know much about credit, so he thought he was ding the right thing by living debt-free, with no credit cards!

So yeah i would be fine with him using mine

Re: Joint Cards with my Husband, or no?

SouthJamaica — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 00:14:14 GMT

@Anne1208 wrote:
My husband and I are closing on a house in a few weeks. Once that is all squared away, we'd like to open a couple of extra credit cards, preferably one with some worthwhile rewards that we can put all the household gas/groceries on each month, and another for our work travel expenses for which we get reimbursed.

Right now, all of his MyFICO credit card scores are showing between 630 and 670. Mine are all showing between 770 and 825.

My question is this...

If I want to get a couple cards with higher limits and low interest rates, should I just apply by myself since I have a much higher credit score and add him as an authorized user? He has 3 6 year old collections that will come off his report next year, and hes been using two low-limit cards, so things are climbing for him but I don't anticipate his scores really getting in the "very good" or "excellent' range until mid-late 2017. The low limit cards are fine for credit building for him, but useless if we want to put work expenses on them or groceries - we hate using it and seeing our utilization going to 30% just because we carry a measly $300 balance for a couple weeks.

Also, is income vs. debt considered? I have a lower salary than my husband (abotu half what he does) and his only debt will be the house, versus mine will show the house and my six-figure student loans.

Yes you should just apply for yourself.

I don't see why you need to add him as an authorized user, but if you do feel the need, then go ahead.

Re: Joint Cards with my Husband, or no?

mowglidude — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 00:20:58 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@mowglidude wrote:
So adding a spouse as an AU, shows the CLI on the AU bureau? I didn't know that. I thought an AU did not show on their personal credit, if they were just an AU.
I added my fiance to my Chase as an AU and it's reporting on her CR.

So that would to AAoA if it is greater then what they have? Does that help in obtaining new credit for the AU? If so, after how many months?

Re: Joint Cards with my Husband, or no?

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 00:35:20 GMT

@mowglidude wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@mowglidude wrote:
So adding a spouse as an AU, shows the CLI on the AU bureau? I didn't know that. I thought an AU did not show on their personal credit, if they were just an AU.
I added my fiance to my Chase as an AU and it's reporting on her CR.

So that would to AAoA if it is greater then what they have? Does that help in obtaining new credit for the AU? If so, after how many months?

To tell you the truth I have no idea because when I opened the account and added her as AU I wasn't, nor was she monitoring our reports. It was only after her getting several pre-approval letters in the mail all of a sudden, that she tried to get an Amazon Store CC (we shop there alot and they have 0% APR over $149 purch.) and got a approved for $1400.

Re: Joint Cards with my Husband, or no?

mowglidude — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 00:47:05 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@mowglidude wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@mowglidude wrote:
So adding a spouse as an AU, shows the CLI on the AU bureau? I didn't know that. I thought an AU did not show on their personal credit, if they were just an AU.
I added my fiance to my Chase as an AU and it's reporting on her CR.

So that would to AAoA if it is greater then what they have? Does that help in obtaining new credit for the AU? If so, after how many months?
To tell you the truth I have no idea because when I opened the account and added her as AU I wasn't, nor was she monitoring our reports. It was only after her getting several pre-approval letters in the mail all of a sudden, that she tried to get an Amazon Store CC (we shop there alot and they have 0% APR over $149 purch.) and got a approved for $1400.

I see why now, people who may be blacklisted from a creditor, go the AU route, to maybe get back in that way. Interesting. The AU doesnt even have to use the card, right?

Re: Joint Cards with my Husband, or no?

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 01:02:55 GMT

@mowglidude wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@mowglidude wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@mowglidude wrote:
So adding a spouse as an AU, shows the CLI on the AU bureau? I didn't know that. I thought an AU did not show on their personal credit, if they were just an AU.
I added my fiance to my Chase as an AU and it's reporting on her CR.

So that would to AAoA if it is greater then what they have? Does that help in obtaining new credit for the AU? If so, after how many months?
To tell you the truth I have no idea because when I opened the account and added her as AU I wasn't, nor was she monitoring our reports. It was only after her getting several pre-approval letters in the mail all of a sudden, that she tried to get an Amazon Store CC (we shop there alot and they have 0% APR over $149 purch.) and got a approved for $1400.
I see why now, people who may be blacklisted from a creditor, go the AU route, to maybe get back in that way. Interesting. The AU doesnt even have to use the card, right?

Nope, she's never used it but it shows util. on her account from the time it was opened.

Re: Joint Cards with my Husband, or no?

mowglidude — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 01:48:40 GMT

That is cool!