Does AU card need activation for it to report?

[GeorgiaBulldog]

To help out a friend in his rebuild, I added him as an AU to my oldest BofA CC.  I received his card recently.  He will not actually be using it, so I am wondering if I even need to activate it for it to show on his credit report.  I know it can sometimes be a bit of a crapshoot with AUs in terms of reporting regardless.  Just wondering if actually activating the card is necessary.

[DantGwyrdd]

I'm guessing no, but if they didn't ask for his SSN when you added him it may not show up on his report unless you've shared a recent address.

[RobertEG]

Technicaly, activation is a security measure to ensure that the card was received.

Yes, they could report the AU status.

Whether they do so without activation is entirely up to them.  They may have an internal policy not to place reporing into active status until they have received acknowledgement of receipt.

[DantGwyrdd]

Also, if the plan is for him not to actually have it available for use, but just for credit reporting why not just activate and shred?

[RonM21]

I don't think it is needed, as long as the account is reported. But I guess as with anything else, there is no guarantee.

[Anonymous]

Nope. I actually did the exact same thing you did and funny enough with BoA too. Never gave him the card and it shows on his report. Turns out my help was for nothing. He was able to get 2 Capital One cards with my help, but he since got both cards charged off for non payment and is currently sitting with a 490 credit score. Oh well....I tried.

[takeshi74]

Activation is always for the card and not for the account.  Whether the card is activated or not has no impact on the reporting of the account.

---

@GeorgiaBulldog wrote:

I know it can sometimes be a bit of a crapshoot with AUs in terms of reporting regardless.

---

It's not totally random.  Creditors that report for AU's will report for AU's.  Those that do not will not.  However, accounts where one is an AU are not necessarily considered in all situiations by scoring models and creditors.  There are supposedly anti-piggybacking measures in place in some cases just for things like this.  If you want to help your friend then verify that the creditor reports for the AU, however, keep in mind that your friend won't necessarily benefit in all cases.

He really needs to focus on addressing the issues with his reports where possible and building his own tradelines.