Adding Wife To card

[Alex311]

I want to add my wife to one of my cards as an authorized user. My score is SLIGHTLY lower than hers (690 compared to 720)  but on that particular card I have a zero balance and a flawless payment history. My main reason of doing so would be to help age her credit , card is 5 years old and she only has 3 cards all of which have a balance on them. Would I hurt her score by adding her?

[Alex311]

I'd also like to add that the card has a high limit, ($8000)

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@Alex311 wrote:

I want to add my wife to one of my cards as an authorized user. My score is SLIGHTLY lower than hers (690 compared to 720)  but on that particular card I have a zero balance and a flawless payment history. My main reason of doing so would be to help age her credit , card is 5 years old and she only has 3 cards all of which have a balance on them. Would I hurt her score by adding her?

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so it would help her utilization as well.... 

[SouthJamaica]

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@Alex311 wrote:

I want to add my wife to one of my cards as an authorized user. My score is SLIGHTLY lower than hers (690 compared to 720)  but on that particular card I have a zero balance and a flawless payment history. My main reason of doing so would be to help age her credit , card is 5 years old and she only has 3 cards all of which have a balance on them. Would I hurt her score by adding her?

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1. Which lender?

2. What is the age of her cards?

3. What are the limits and balances on her cards?

[Alex311]

Her cards are no more than 3 years old. I have a discover card I'm trying to add her to. 

[JoeRockhead]

Some time in the not too distant past, FICO stopped factoring AU accounts into at least their FICO 8 scores altogether. There's been mixed reports on them still factoring into older scoring models like the older mortgage scores, and even reports that they can still use them in newer scoring models if deemed to be from a spouse, but I've been unable to get a straight answer on this even after speaking to CSRs from MyFico.

I have two AU accounts and they don't seem to count the age and the monthly balance against my overall UTI, but not the CLs of those two accounts. AU accounts are still fully used and credited on Vantage scores.

As long as it's an account in good standing, it certainly wont hurt to add her, and then see if you get any kind of particular results from it. You can always remove her if it should have a negative impact for some reason.

[AndySoCal]

@Alex311  This should help her score yes.  By how many points I would not venture a guess.

@JoeRockhead   Authorized users on the older models of the FICO scores pre 2008 had a greater impact. One of the contributing factors in that led to the FICO changing the score model was the piggybacking scheme. Basically, people were paying money to be added as an authorized user on peoples cards for a certain period of time.  This scheme had a very negative affect on mortgages and the housing market. When this started interest were very low. People would qualify on the lower teaser rate were able to make the payments on a variable rate mortgage. When rates when up they could no longer make the payments at the higher rates. Foreclosures were very common.  One consumer using this scheme raised their score over a hundred points if I remember correctly and qualified for a loan. All that said FICO has figured out how to determine what I call a "true authorized user "  and what is not.  This one example and their are more. Let us say their is a stay at home mom or dad because of a child with special needs or illness. The stay at home mom or dad is added as authorized user to the others credit card(s) to help take care of the household needs.  In general it would have potentially a greater impact on the score the credit profile would determine how much if any. The orginal purpose of the authorized user was for cases like the one I just gave and  @Alex311. It was never meant to be used as friends helping friends raise their credit score.