Added as AU on cc but still minimum score increase?

[Anonymous]

So I am already do the azero method and have paid all my cc on time for the past six months. I am following the other suggestion of building my score of trying to get added onto an existing cc account as an authorized user.

Got added on to a citi cc that has 10k limit and over 15 years credit history. 

Problem is when I checked experian it said one factor that is hurting my score is not enough account length history, it said my longest account history is only 2 years. I thought the purpose of being added as AU is that it will increase your history to whatever the AUs is, how come that has not happened for me?

[dragontears]

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@Anonymous wrote:

So I am already do the azero method and have paid all my cc on time for the past six months. I am following the other suggestion of building my score of trying to get added onto an existing cc account as an authorized user.

Got added on to a citi cc that has 10k limit and over 15 years credit history. 

Problem is when I checked experian it said one factor that is hurting my score is not enough account length history, it said my longest account history is only 2 years. I thought the purpose of being added as AU is that it will increase your history to whatever the AUs is, how come that has not happened for me?

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My guess is that the AU account is flagged by the anti abuse algorithm and is therefore not "counted" by the FICO algorithm. 

Originally, FICO and lenders wanted to completely remove all AU accounts from scoring but the government stepped in because it would cause a disadvantage to non-working spouses so instead FICO developed the anti abuse algorithm (don’t ask how it determines a valid AU from a discounted AU since no one here knows) to prevent "piggybacking".

[Anonymous]

Hmmm is there anything we can do about it? I DO notice experien says I have four credit cards now instead of three.

[mycreditscoreisfair]

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@dragontears wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

So I am already do the azero method and have paid all my cc on time for the past six months. I am following the other suggestion of building my score of trying to get added onto an existing cc account as an authorized user.

Got added on to a citi cc that has 10k limit and over 15 years credit history. 

Problem is when I checked experian it said one factor that is hurting my score is not enough account length history, it said my longest account history is only 2 years. I thought the purpose of being added as AU is that it will increase your history to whatever the AUs is, how come that has not happened for me?

---

My guess is that the AU account is flagged by the anti abuse algorithm and is therefore not "counted" by the FICO algorithm. 

Originally, FICO and lenders wanted to completely remove all AU accounts from scoring but the government stepped in because it would cause a disadvantage to non-working spouses so instead FICO developed the anti abuse algorithm (don’t ask how it determines a valid AU from a discounted AU since no one here knows) to prevent "piggybacking".

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This is what I tend to think as well. I was added as an authorized user to by fiancé's Discover card before we were married. It took about 7 weeks to add to my Experian report (unsure about the timeframe for the others) but raised by score 16 points. I can't think of anything that would link us together for the bureaus other than we've shared the same addresses for the last 5ish years.

[kittycreditmeow]

After my bankruptcy discharge, I got added to two credit cards as AU. They were chase and Barclays with very high credit limits and 10-15 years old. The only thing it did was drop my util percentage to 1%. My score didn't increase and my average age of accounts didn't increase. So in my experience the only thing AU tradelines are good for is dropping your util %.

[Anonymous]

What DragonTears said. 

Some factors they want....

same last name 

same address

appearance from those two in some manner that you two are... related. 🙏🏻

[FlaDude]

Was the AU card an Amex? They don't backdate AUs.

[Duke_Nukem]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Problem is when I checked experian it said one factor that is hurting my score is not enough account length history, it said my longest account history is only 2 years. I thought the purpose of being added as AU is that it will increase your history to whatever the AUs is, how come that has not happened for me?

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Where did you check your age metric on Experian's site? 

For me, the Credit Summary page (under the "Reports & Scores" tab) includes the AU "Credit History Length" with my own.

When you go into the "Fico Scores" tab, "Score Ingredients" tab, and "Length of Credit History" tab... it only shows my actual credit history value without including AU accounts.

If they are the same value, then the anti-abuse algorithm may be excluding the AU history from being calculated.  The mortgage scores don't usually exclude AU accounts, so there was probably a change there.  Also keep in mind, the AU account will need to post some sort of balance to keep from being hit with the AU Zero Balance penalty.