@Anonymous wrote:
Okay, I appreciate the input.
The reason for the question and why he wanted to know.
He is interested in 2 scenarios.
1. Has several older accounts and would like to "gift" one in future to child, if possible (like the BoA that was mentioned).
2. Has an older account that plans to close. But if he puts child on as "joint" prior to closing, then child will inherit 10 years of previous credit reference and age on CR (which AU would not count as reference).
So, the question "can somebody be added as joint" to existing account, and if so, which CCC's would most likely or definitely do so.
His question then piqued my interest on the "which companies"
I had guessed that "gifting" the card was the reason that he wanted joint and not AU. Hence my detailed response to your question. The fact is that he can add his wife immediately to the BoA existing card as joint hence she will be on a card that already has a (fairly) long history. She can assume the sole responsibility when her credit standing is good enough.
You don't say how old the son or daughter is. Obviously a person must be of age to be held financially responsible to be a "joint" account holder. He can add the son (as joint)
to an existing ten year old BoA account if he is old enough.
The fact is if the child is too young for joint, there is time to build a history on a new BoA card as AU, while using the existing account to "gift" to his wife in the near future. Your friend can then convert the child's AU card to joint when the child reaches the age of financial accountability. By being an AU in the meantime, the child will have a credit history by the time he reaches an age qualifying for "joint" responsibility. By the time he reaches the age for joint responsibility the child will be closer to having sufficient credit standing to qualify to assume "sole" responsibility. It will obviously take longer to build his own credit history to qualify for sole responsibility if his credit file only starts at the time he is old enough to be added as joint.
Your statement about AU not counting as reference is not necessarily true. It will be better than nothing. If a child is too young for financial responsibility, he will have nothing If the father is adamant about ignoring the possibilities of AU as a stepping stone. He can wait until the child is older and then add the child as joint to an existing account. He can also open a new card at that time to add the son as joint. Of course that new account would not have the age an account opened today for the benefit of the child as AU.
If one wants to be creative while trying to game the system, he will do better to consider all options. Dismissing AU out of hand based on a false premise that it does not help a credit history is not taking maximum advantage of all options.
It is obviously possible at this time to add and remove people as joint responsibility on Bank of America accounts. It is also obvious that a person must be old enough. A person can be younger and still qualify for AU status
If the father is against using AU status, the child can simply wait longer to begin building a credit history.
You had asked for personal experience. I have personal experience with Bank of America. I also would be interested to know if others have experience with other card issuers
