How much does authorized users account help when trying to build credit

[Anonymous]

My son received a preapproval invite from Discover. Said it was a card that would help build credit. He applied and was denied because of lack of credit. No kidding that's why he applied for the card you said would build credit. So last month I added him as a AU on 3 of my accounts. This past week the cards updated on my CR so we started a myfico account for him and what do you know. TU has not reported yet so no score available. EQ fico 8 is 727 and EX fico 8 is 738. The only thing on his reports are 2 of the 3 AU accounts. The oldest trade line hasn't reported yet. All 3 cards are issued by USAA. So I think a good test to see if those big scores mean anything is apply with USAA. Rewards Visa with a SL of $5k and Rewards AMEX SL $5k. Then Citi Double cash card SL $1k and Amex Everyday Cash SL $1k. Makes no sense to me.

[myjourney]

Welcome to the forum 

Wait are you saying he was approved for all those card and limits?

[Anonymous]

Yes those are his 4 new cards.

[delaney1]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Yes those are his 4 new cards.

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That's awesome!

[MyLoFICO]

I added my 15 yr old daughter to 2 of my Cap 1 QS's as an AU and she is already getting prequal offers from Discover, Citi, and the most prestigious, Credit One. 

[Anonymous]

They try to get them so young… credit one should have a purple hat with feather

[Berk]

I had friends of mine rent my house while I was out of state working for two years. I made the husband an AU on my Home Depot and US Bank Visa so that any repairs that needed to be done to the house would be covered. They had ruined their credit 12 years prior and never were approved for any cards they applied for. Well, becuase he was an AU living at my address, he started to receied all kinds preapproval offers. Within those two years he was able to rebuild his credit and get some half decent trade lines as well. First card he apped for was Discover and second was Amex. Both gave him SLs North of 5K. 

My nephew graduates from High School this year. His present from me is that he will be made an AU on my Amex card (with the first 200.00 on me). By the time college is over, he should be well on his way to establishing his own credit. He wants to go into finance so this will be a good test for him.

All that to say that being an AU on an account with excellent credit can be a huge boost in getting started on your own credit journey.

[myjourney]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Yes those are his 4 new cards.

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Well alrighty then congrats to DS

[Anonymous]

Wow!  Congrats to your son!   Great start for his future.

[Anonymous]

A quick update. His new USAA cards reported to his CRs and his scores shot up to 757-780! So we did another app spree. Chase Sapphire Prefered 5k, Marvel MC approved but have to wait for online account to post for SL, Discover IT- please call for verification. That should put him right around $25k CL with all 3 fico 8 scores north of 750. Not bad for a kid that didn't have a file 2 months ago