Authorized User Question

[Anonymous]

I have a question about possibly adding my son as an authorized user to a couple of my cards. 

He is only 15 but I just recently went through a BK and want to start teaching him the importance of good credit now.  Will adding him to my cards help him build a credit score?  If I do this he will only be able to use the cards if I give him permission or I will take them away.  

I am only considering this because I think its really important for him to learn now, I wish my parents would have taken the time to show me and involve me when I was younger too.  

Also, does it matter if I add him to regular cards like Visa/MC or if I add him to store cards?  Will they both help him or would one be more beneficial than the other?  

Thanks for your help!!

[Skye12329]

I recently did this with my sister and partner. I added both of them to my cap1 card since I knew it would report and yes it did help their scores. Once my sister turned 18. She applied for Discover and had a 760+ EQ. And then 3 mos. Later applied for Chase freedom. So long story short yes it will get them a score going and such as long as good history shows. I would suggest network cards such as VS OR MC...etc.

[Anonymous]

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@Skye12329 wrote:
I recently did this with my sister and partner. I added both of them to mycap1 card since I knew it would report and yes it did help their scores. Once my sister turned 18. She applied for Discover and had a 760+ EQ. And then 3 mos. Later applied for Chase freedom. So long story short yes it will get them a score going and such as long as good history shows. I would suggest network cards such as VS OR MC...etc.

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+1 I agree. I was added on at 13 and given a card at 16. The day I turned 18 I got my own cards, one with a $4.5k limit.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, I talked to him about this a little last week and he is excited for the opportunity to learn and prove that he deserves this

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thank you, I talked to him about this a little last week and he is excited for the opportunity to learn and prove that he deserves this

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Good decision..

[FocusedAndDetermined]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thank you, I talked to him about this a little last week and he is excited for the opportunity to learn and prove that he deserves this

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I hope he handles it well.  I put my DD on two of my cards when she turned 18. Shortly before her 21st bithday she received an offer and was approved for PRG.

Which cards are you planning to add him to? Most major CCs report AUs, but not all store cards.

[Anonymous]

Right now I have 2 capital One cards and I was planning on adding him to them and I have an Express card that I mainly use for him so I wanted to add him to that one as well.  

[newhis]

Remember that what you do with the cards will help/hurt the AU as well.

I added my DD to a few cards, one of those is Amex to set her MSD date. I decided not to add her to store cards for now. She can add a store card or two when she gets older.

[Anonymous]

Unless you want your son's first card to look like my Chase Freedom card, it would be very helpful to expose to him and education him to the world of credit now. 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all of the advise, I definitely want him to learn to be responsible now when he's young so that when he gets older he'll always remember the importance of good credit.  When he graduates i'd love for him to be able to get a prime card right away in his own name and start his adult life out right.