Question on How AU Cards work.

[Red1Blue]

I guess it the time in life I have to educate my 16 Year old Dear Daughter into credit world and I have to educate my self along with her, how AU works. Could you please answer few questions for me.

I am thinking of getting couple of AU cards for my Daughter. How does these cards work? I ask the Credit Card company and they would send her the cards. I got her BOA debit card last year and she has been very resposiblie with the card ( except for misplacing the card couple of time in the house and finding it again ).

1. Does the AU card would have the same number as my card or would it have a seperate card number?

2. Do I get a single statments with transactions from both cards combined or would I get 2 statements?

3. Can my daughter have a seperate login access to her account or do I have to give her my uname/password for my account?

4. When does the Credit Card Companies officially report to Credit Reports info on the AU Cards?

5. Does the CRA's open a credit file on my daughter even though she is only 16? If so can we request a copy of her Credit Reports periodically to inspect the accuracy of her credit reports?

6. I am thinking of geting her AU cards on HSBC/Discover $1k CL / HSBC - MC $1400 CL / National City Visa $2K CL / Amex Green.

What is your suggestions on how to educate my daughter and also educate my self in how this AU thingy works.

[wmarat]

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@Red1Blue wrote:

I guess it the time in life I have to educate my 16 Year old Dear Daughter into credit world and I have to educate my self along with her, how AU works. Could you please answer few questions for me.

I am thinking of getting couple of AU cards for my Daughter. How does these cards work? I ask the Credit Card company and they would send her the cards. I got her BOA debit card last year and she has been very resposiblie with the card ( except for misplacing the card couple of time in the house and finding it again ).

1. Does the AU card would have the same number as my card or would it have a seperate card number?

Depends on lender. Amex gives different card number. BOA, Citi, Chase and Discover give an additional card with the same number.

2. Do I get a single statments with transactions from both cards combined or would I get 2 statements?

One statement

3. Can my daughter have a seperate login access to her account or do I have to give her my uname/password for my account?

Again depends a lender's web site, but Amex and BOA allow separate login.

4. When does the Credit Card Companies officially report to Credit Reports info on the AU Cards?

When statement cuts.

5. Does the CRA's open a credit file on my daughter even though she is only 16? If so can we request a copy of her Credit Reports periodically to inspect the accuracy of her credit reports?

Do not know, but I think they will.

6. I am thinking of geting her AU cards on HSBC/Discover $1k CL / HSBC - MC $1400 CL / National City Visa $2K CL / Amex Green.

I would make her AU/JOINT  on all cards but give her only one, low limit card.

What is your suggestions on how to educate my daughter and also educate my self in how this AU thingy works.

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[Creditaddict]

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@Red1Blue wrote:

I guess it the time in life I have to educate my 16 Year old Dear Daughter into credit world and I have to educate my self along with her, how AU works. Could you please answer few questions for me.

I am thinking of getting couple of AU cards for my Daughter. How does these cards work? I ask the Credit Card company and they would send her the cards. I got her BOA debit card last year and she has been very resposiblie with the card ( except for misplacing the card couple of time in the house and finding it again ).

1. Does the AU card would have the same number as my card or would it have a seperate card number? Amex would be a different account number but think all other banks issue same card so you can't seperate the charges easily like on amex that will break it down between the cards.

2. Do I get a single statments with transactions from both cards combined or would I get 2 statements? Single statement

3. Can my daughter have a seperate login access to her account or do I have to give her my uname/password for my account? If you give her access to make decisions on the amex account she can create her own login, otherwise don't think she can, MAYBE with Chase but don't think so.

4. When does the Credit Card Companies officially report to Credit Reports info on the AU Cards? Same as when they report yours.

5. Does the CRA's open a credit file on my daughter even though she is only 16? If so can we request a copy of her Credit Reports periodically to inspect the accuracy of her credit reports? I think they do, but i never checked my credit when I was au on my parents card at 16, but i know when i turned 18, I got a citi card with 5k limit, so I assume knowing what i know now, i must of had a score already or they would not have given me 5k at 18.

6. I am thinking of geting her AU cards on HSBC/Discover $1k CL / HSBC - MC $1400 CL / National City Visa $2K CL / Amex Green.

What is your suggestions on how to educate my daughter and also educate my self in how this AU thingy works.

She should know the great gift you are giving her in jump starting her great credit file! It helped me tons!

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[Breakthecycle2]

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@wmarat wrote:

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@Red1Blue wrote:

I guess it the time in life I have to educate my 16 Year old Dear Daughter into credit world and I have to educate my self along with her, how AU works. Could you please answer few questions for me.

I am thinking of getting couple of AU cards for my Daughter. How does these cards work? I ask the Credit Card company and they would send her the cards. I got her BOA debit card last year and she has been very resposiblie with the card ( except for misplacing the card couple of time in the house and finding it again ).

1. Does the AU card would have the same number as my card or would it have a seperate card number?

Depends on lender. Amex gives different card number. BOA, Citi, Chase and Discover give an additional card with the same number.

2. Do I get a single statments with transactions from both cards combined or would I get 2 statements?

One statement

3. Can my daughter have a seperate login access to her account or do I have to give her my uname/password for my account?

Again depends a lender's web site, but Amex and BOA allow separate login.

4. When does the Credit Card Companies officially report to Credit Reports info on the AU Cards?

When statement cuts.

5. Does the CRA's open a credit file on my daughter even though she is only 16? If so can we request a copy of her Credit Reports periodically to inspect the accuracy of her credit reports?

Do not know, but I think they will.

6. I am thinking of geting her AU cards on HSBC/Discover $1k CL / HSBC - MC $1400 CL / National City Visa $2K CL / Amex Green.

I would make her AU/JOINT  on all cards but give her only one, low limit card.

What is your suggestions on how to educate my daughter and also educate my self in how this AU thingy works.

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Chase gives a different number as well. Mine is anyway.

[nicemann]

Concord

I don't have any kids but the question about the credit report for a minor got my interest.  I googled it and it turns out that yes it can report to their CR and yes it is possible to get a copy of it.  Only way to get it is to write the CRA for a copy.  They can not access it online till are 18.

Bankrate had two interesting articles about teens and credit. 

Credit issuers target teen consumers

Educating teens about credit

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Hi

Does your daughter already have a checking and savings account ?

Wouldn't it be better to have her paying her own bills ?

I started with a money market account, in addition to a passbook savings account when I was under 16.

Credit is valuable, but she would have a debit card with her bank accounts and can build to a credit card on her own later or earlier with a co-signer.

I think its better to not co-sign in this case, different story with a car or house.

Cheers

[Anonymous]

I would definitely only AU you, not co-sign.  The reason for this is as she gets older and the card matures, she will want to keep it to keep her account age up.  Down the road, you may not want to be tied to her credit due to many reasons (DTI for loans, utilization, payment history in the future).  As the signer and her the AU, you can always pay the balance, have her removed, and clean up the account/close it.  As a cosigner on her account, you will not be able to separate it later.  Once she builds a little credit as an AU, then maybe she can get a card on her own to grow with.

[Red1Blue]

Thanks for the advice from all of you. I have ordered two AU cards for my Daughter. One HSBC Discover Card with $1k CL and other card National City Visa Card with $2k CL. Both cards does not have AF and good cards that could be useful. Hopefully these cards should give her a head start with her Credit. Thanks to all of you for your wonderful advice.

[Anonymous]

I have a daughter the same age and have added her to a couple of my cards. After seeing me fight with credit reports the past year she has a better understanding how important it is to have and maintain good credit. She did ask about her credit reports and we tried to pull them. Here is what the message was from attempting to do that at this time:

The credit reporting agencies do not knowingly maintain credit files on minor children. If you suspect that your minor child's information has been used fraudulently, you should contact the credit reporting agencies directly and report the illegal use of your child's information to law enforcement. Please supply each credit reporting agency with your child's complete name, address, date of birth and a copy of the minor child's birth certificate and social security card. Additionally, please provide a copy of your driver's license or other government-issued proof of your identity, which includes your current address, and a current utility bill containing your current address so the credit reporting agencies may promptly respond to your request. The addresses for the credit reporting agencies are listed below:

Equifax
P.O. Box 740256
Atlanta, Georgia 30374

Experian
P.O. Box 9532         
Allen, Texas 75013

TransUnion
P.O. Box 6790
Fullerton, CA 92834

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I guess she will be waiting until she is 18 since she should have nothing else on her reports.

[haulingthescoreup]

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concorduser wrote:
Thanks for the advice from all of you. I have ordered two AU cards for my Daughter. One HSBC Discover Card with $1k CL and other card National City Visa Card with $2k CL. Both cards does not have AF and good cards that could be useful. Hopefully these cards should give her a head start with her Credit. Thanks to all of you for your wonderful advice.

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As stef said, I'm not sure that it helps with history on minors any more, although I'm certainly open to correction on that one.

Although I know that your own romance with American Express has been the storied roller-coaster affair , it would make sense to me to put her on your Green card, to give her their internal history that will stay with her when she turns 18.