Adding minor as authorized user.

[Anonymous]

Hi.  I wanted to add my 15 year old son as an authorized user on my credit card.  I have read everywhere that minors can be authorized users, but they can't co sign for a new card until they are 18.

I have great credit and a Chase Sapphire.  When I called Chase however, they said that minors cannot be authorized users.  Is this true? I read in a lot of places that minors can be authorized users.  I called Bp for my BP card as well, and they said the same thing.

Can you establish credit as an authorized user?  Also, is what these card companiessaying about no minor authorized users true?

Thanks.

[tcbofade]

Um, I don't have a vast amount of knowledge regarding various CC providers, but I DO know that my Nationwide card let me add my 16 year old son as an AU.

They did require that the AU be at least 16.

[Anonymous]

not questioning you wanting to make him an AU - but are you sure it'll help build him credit?

I thought will all these new laws and stuff that part of it was that AU no longer got the benefit (i.e credit reporting) or harm (also credit reporting if not paid) it just meant that they got a card and could use it and that was no - no credit bump no nothing.

What my parents did and worked rather well for me was when I turned 18 got a student credit card (was just moving away to college) this was to ONLY be used for specific college expenses - text books and then gas to/from campus when I came home for breaks - not spending money nothing - stuff they would have paid anyways. they then paid the bill in full every month for me.

It built up my credit until I ruined it myself.

[Anonymous]

I'm sure it varies by issuer, I think Amex only requires 15+, but I don't know about anyone else.  Yes, authorized user accounts show up on credit reports and can help establish credit, but anyone who pulls the report will see it's an AU account.

[webhopper]

for American Express, the age limit is 15, for Discover Card, there is no age limit.

[Repo-ed]

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@webhopper wrote:

for American Express, the age limit is 15, for Discover Card, there is no age limit.

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Good to know.

[webhopper]

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@Repo-ed wrote:

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@webhopper wrote:

for American Express, the age limit is 15, for Discover Card, there is no age limit.

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Good to know.

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I like the Amex idea, because they take the AU's social security # in order to report...  Discover relies on the AU's address lining up appropriately from their existing accounts.   I added my husband as AU  on my Discover, chase, and amex account, and Discover and Chase didn't show up on his report until after Amex had reported the new AU account and new address to the bureaus under his name.

[Anonymous]

So, did Chase ever ask for a date of birth?  Can a 15 year old sign up for authorized user?

[injustifiiable]

If you do it online, it doesn't even ask for a DOB...just the name.

[Creditaddict]

I think the minor thing being added is getting a little more free and open... it's your account, go online and add and don't talk to a rep that is not up to date on the policies.

it's been long time but I had card at 16 throught parents and it made a world of a difference at 18!!!

now if you want to actually give this person the card but you want to give them just enough lead to hang themselves to teach good practice, I would look at Amex because it's so easy to set limits... 

Im surprised you can't do it easier with personal cards... it's very common on business cards!