If I apply to add someone as an authorized user on either of my Cap1 or Amex card...

[Walt_K]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Walt_K wrote:

Regarding Amex, I recently added my fiance as an AU to my PR Gold card.  The CSR told me that they may do a hard pull, soft pull, or no pull at all, but that she could not tell me which it would be.  We checked her report and there was no hard pull.  I suspect the CSR may have not known what she was talking about, but maybe they do perform hard pulls in certain situations.

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Did she have to sign anything?

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No.  They never even spoke to her which is another reason, in addition to having already read all the threads that this wouldn't be a hard pull, I was fairly certain at the time that the CSR was mistaken.  

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@joestay wrote:
Are you 100% positive about no pull happening? What if the authorized user has no credit history?

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Usually the Authorized User has no responsibility for payment, so their credit history is irrelevant.   There is no reason for a hard inquiry. 

However, American Express (the bank) has Authorized User Agreements which hold the Authorized User responsible for the AU charges, if the primary does not pay.  I would look carefully at the agreement.

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To an extent.

Every AmEx agreement contains terms that an AU is personally responsible for charges they make should the primary cardholder default.