topic Re: New to US in Credit Cards

New to US

Jacksusername — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 19:55:17 GMT

My spouse is new to the US. I have added her as an authorized user to 2 of my cards - AMEX and Discover - as they both have good age and reasonabe limits (high usage in AMEX's case) - 13K and 14K respectively. Average age on the credit lines is ~10 years and she is hovering around 772 FICO 8 score. We would like to start building her credit file with her own cards. What is a good card to start out with with a history only as authorized user? We do not bank with Chase so Chase seems out at the moment. Household income is 200K.

Re: New to US

RSX — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 19:56:43 GMT

I would go for Capital One and/or Discover

these were the first 2 cards i got when i moved from Canada to the US in 2010

good luck to her

Re: New to US

FlaDude — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 20:40:01 GMT

Note that for Amex, her account date will be when she was added as an AU, not the date of your card so she won't get the benefit of the account age.

Re: New to US

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 22:09:21 GMT

Did she have an American Express card in her home country? If so, they have a process to transfer that credit history and card

Re: New to US

CorpCrMgr1 — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 22:14:48 GMT

Totally agree with Cap 1 and Discover.

Re: New to US

ptatohed — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 22:15:21 GMT

FYI. You do not need to bank with Chase (or, really, any bank) to apply for their cards.

Re: New to US

CYBERSAM — Thu, 15 Feb 2024 00:21:01 GMT

@Jacksusername wrote:
My spouse is new to the US. I have added her as an authorized user to 2 of my cards - AMEX and Discover - as they both have good age and reasonabe limits (high usage in AMEX's case) - 13K and 14K respectively. Average age on the credit lines is ~10 years and she is hovering around 772 FICO 8 score. We would like to start building her credit file with her own cards. What is a good card to start out with with a history only as authorized user? We do not bank with Chase so Chase seems out at the moment. Household income is 200K.

If your spouse can provide proof of income then most bank should approve. I would try AMEX, wait a year then go after Chase!

No need to grab bunch low tier cards just because she can get approve...

Re: New to US

Jacksusername — Sun, 18 Feb 2024 19:34:20 GMT

Appreciate everyone's advice!

Re: New to US

Anonymalous — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 19:25:59 GMT

@Jacksusername wrote:
My spouse is new to the US. I have added her as an authorized user to 2 of my cards - AMEX and Discover - as they both have good age and reasonabe limits (high usage in AMEX's case) - 13K and 14K respectively. Average age on the credit lines is ~10 years and she is hovering around 772 FICO 8 score. We would like to start building her credit file with her own cards. What is a good card to start out with with a history only as authorized user? We do not bank with Chase so Chase seems out at the moment. Household income is 200K.

Has anyone in your family served in the military? Sibling and grandparents count. If so, you qualify for Navy Fed, and your DW would qualify through you. And Navy is friendly to authorized users. I got a card with a $8K+ SL from them, with just 6 months of credit history, and I was able to increase it to almost $25K within a year. My scores were similar to your wife's, due to an old AU card.

At the same time, Chase shot me down. When I applied, they were looking for at least a year of credit history. But their new Rise card might be an option. You'd have to open a deposit account, but it's placed as a starter card.