Adding an AU with bad credit behavior

[Yasselife]

I've heard the only concern is to explain or show is a relative, by having same address, etc.

[Anonymous]

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@W261w261 wrote:

If I put on my son as an AU on one of my Amex cards, and he continues his irresponsible credit ways, **but does not mess with my Amex account**, can that somehow come back to bite me, with Amex, or in any other way? Thx

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I can't see how adding your son to your Amex card helps him.

Your payment history and account age will not be transferred to him; as previously stated Amex will report the account as a new account on his credit reports so its doesn't give him any immediate benefit.  The only place he will gain is from your on-time payments going forward. 

Amex is the wrong choice to add him as an AU; they stopped backdating accounts in March 2015.

[Yasselife]

What if his son can't get approved for any prime card or maybe even secured cards if his credit is severely damaged? I can see how a positive acct without annual fee could help. 

[CreditCrusader]

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@Yasselife wrote:

What if his son can't get approved for any prime card or maybe even secured cards if his credit is severely damaged? I can see how a positive acct without annual fee could help. 

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Then he does what many of us did: Start small and build his way up.

But in the end, it's the OP's decision to make and risk to take. 

[jnbowmar]

My parents never helped us by adding me or my brother to their good credit cards, even tho it posed them no risk and would have made us less dependent on them, to this day I think they knew they could but liked having that power that being the only one  having good credit provides.

It certainly cost them to help us financially then giving us good credit which wouldn't have cost them a dime. 

I had to add my brother of authorized user or he wouldn't have any credit. 

Really surprised people on the fico forum say don't take the non-existent "risk"

[Loquat]

OP I can’t speak of what could possibly happen but I will say that I was an AU on several Amex cards when my credit was less than stellar and then I ended up filing BK13 to boot.

None of the primary Amex card holders were affected by my decision and less than stellar credit behavior at the time.

So if my data point speaks to anything is that even when the AU has terrible credit, Amex doesn’t seem to care as long as you’re covering any charges that they make. Their credit and irresponsible behavior shouldn’t have any affect on your account unless he starts to spend recklessly in rapid fashion on the AU card.

If you’re adding him and holding the card then I don’t see any problem.

[FinStar]

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@jnbowmar wrote:

Really surprised people on the fico forum say don't take the non-existent "risk"

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Just to chime in on this particular statement @jnbowmar.  

These forums offer a variety diverse opinions from every angle and on a variety of topics based on anecdotal or collective experiences. So, I'm not sure if there is to be a "surprise" since members are offering their thoughts/suggestions on the OP's question.

Ultimately, it's up to the OP to make that decision whether they quantify the feedback or not.

[W261w261]

Wow. Lots of responses.  Thank you everybody.

I should have explained a little more. My son works at a popular retailer, who allows him a meaningful employee discount. But he has to use his own card.  He has 2 brothers.  They have their own needs.  You can see where this is going.  But now that I'm writing it out here it presents for the half-baked idea that it is: practically risk-free (to me), but ethically somewhat shady, and probably risky to my son, although "everybody does it."  I'm going to pass.

[sourpuss29]

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@CreditCrusader wrote:

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@W261w261 wrote:

If I put on my son as an AU on one of my Amex cards, and he continues his irresponsible credit ways, **but does not mess with my Amex account**, can that somehow come back to bite me, with Amex, or in any other way? Thx

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Forgive me for asking the obvious question, but why would you take the risk?

I love my kids, but I'd never allow one who was proven to be irresponsible with credit to even scratch the ability to torpedo my hard-earned credit.

Better to work with him to rebuild his own credit organically. It's never too late for him to earn that AMEX on his own!

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This is EXACTLY how I look at it.

I have a 28 year old son whom, when starting my rebuild back in 2019, I tried to advise as it pertains to how to get his credit back on track as well. Due to his being hard-headed and thinking he's smarter than me (ha!), he TOTALLY disregarded everything I told him; went rogue; and applied for six subprime cards, which further tanked his scores.  He had the audacity to ask me to add him as an AU on my BCE last year  (nope!), and asked again to be added when I was approved for the Custom Cash (double NOPE!). It may sound harsh, but I'm not willing to allow him to piggyback on my good credit when he has gone out of the way to keep his in the toilet.