Spouses Adding Each Other As Authorized Users

[Anonymous]

My wife and I both just got secured credit cards from Bank of America. I read that being added as an authorized user for someone else's credit card will then populate their credit history for that account to your credit report. Now I wonder if there would be any benefit if both my wife and I added each other as authorized users on each other's credit cards? Would this not then show as 2 credit card accounts on each credit report? Please advise.

[uswala]

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@Anonymous wrote:

My wife and I both just got secured credit cards from Bank of America. I read that being added as an authorized user for someone else's credit card will then populate their credit history for that account to your credit report. Now I wonder if there would be any benefit if both my wife and I added each other as authorized users on each other's credit cards? Would this not then show as 2 credit card accounts on each credit report? Please advise.

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I and my wife have benefited a lot from the same arrangement. Though, our credit file is thin but it still has substance. We have got most of the prime lender's card helping each other.

[Anonymous]

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@uswala wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

My wife and I both just got secured credit cards from Bank of America. I read that being added as an authorized user for someone else's credit card will then populate their credit history for that account to your credit report. Now I wonder if there would be any benefit if both my wife and I added each other as authorized users on each other's credit cards? Would this not then show as 2 credit card accounts on each credit report? Please advise.

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I and my wife have benefited a lot from the same arrangement. Though, our credit file is thin but it still has substance. We have got mots of the prime lender's card helping each other.

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It can work for you if you do it on the right cards.

It can work against you too however. AAoA wise.

[jon22guitar]

I hope you trust your significant other a heck of a lot to do such a thing! 

[Anonymous]

Well she is my wife, so I do indeed trust her. Fortunately we are both extremely conservative with regard to finances. Which is why we both have 0 credit because we never bought anything which we couldn't afford with cash. 

[Anonymous]

What does AAoA mean?

[Anonymous]

Average age of accounts.

[newhis]

My DW got her first card in the USA in February 2014, I got my first on March 2014. When I added her she lost 1 month with the new account, when she added me I gain 1 month to do average.

She has 4 credit cards now as principal and 2 as AU. Some creditors don't count AU, so maybe it is not a lot of help but her credit reports lists 6 accounts instead of only 4. Every card with low util and always paid on time. Sometimes we PIF before statement date so the card report 0 balance.

[coldnmn]

This may help going forward.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/User-Guidelines-General/Common-Abbreviations/m-p/88458