Authorized User Questions

[TNTransplant]

Hi All,

I was just added as an authorized user on a family member’s Amex Blue.  My hope is that it will help with my utilization %, as that’s the primary issue I have right now.  It has an $11,000 credit line, with anywhere from a $0 - $100 balance monthly.  The card was opened in 2006 and has a perfect history, so my question is, will I also benefit (as an AU) from the age of the account?

Thanks.

[haulingthescoreup]

Nice card!

If your AAoA is less than the age of the card, it can help, depending on how much it changes your AAoA.

If your AAoA is greater, the card will lower your AAoA, and that could hurt if it drops enough.

In what month of 2006 was it opened?

[TNTransplant]

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@haulingthescoreup wrote:

Nice card!

If your AAoA is less than the age of the card, it can help, depending on how much it changes your AAoA.

If your AAoA is greater, the card will lower your AAoA, and that could hurt if it drops enough.

In what month of 2006 was it opened?

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My AAoA is showing 4 yrs (EQ) and 5.5 yrs (EX, TU) --> I had a Sears card back in the 90's that I closed out.  I now have another one, and TU/EX are backdating to the old account, but EQ is not.  Should I contact EQ and ask them to update the AAoA?

The Amex Blue was opened in 3/2006, so that's a good thing - open longer than my AAoA.  

Thanks for your input.

[RobertEG]

The secondary, and unanswerable, question with respect to the scoring of a consumer based on the inclusion of an AU account of another in that score is..how do other credtiors view your score when they see it is based in part on the credit of another?

They realize that the inclusion of the AU does not accurately reflect the evaluation of the individual consumer's risk, and my thus choose to discount the score when making their decisions.  Having no way to separately exclude the specific score inflation based on inclusion of the AU account information, it might be viewed as casting the entire value of your FICO score into doubt as part of their decision making.  It is not all just about a three-digit number.

[TNTransplant]

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@RobertEG wrote:

The secondary, and unanswerable, question with respect to the scoring of a consumer based on the inclusion of an AU account of another in that score is..how do other credtiors view your score when they see it is based in part on the credit of another?

They realize that the inclusion of the AU does not accurately reflect the evaluation of the individual consumer's risk, and my thus choose to discount the score when making their decisions.  Having no way to separately exclude the specific score inflation based on inclusion of the AU account information, it might be viewed as casting the entire value of your FICO score into doubt as part of their decision making.  It is not all just about a three-digit number.

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Thanks for your input, RogerEG.

I'm gardening right now (nothing to do but pay off high utilization % cards on my part), and that will take a couple of years to do.  I have no plans to apply for credit during the next 24 months, so hopefully this won't affect any creditor's decisions.  I fully expect to be in the mid-to-high 700s after I get my cards paid off, so I'm hoping that my credit will be able to stand on its own merits.  If it's really an issue at that point I'll just have myself removed as an AU from the account, as there won't be any hit to my AAoA.

Thanks for sharing...

[TNTransplant]

Does anyone know if it would be feasible to ask for Equifax to back date to my old Sears account that was closed (as EX/TU have done)?  There is approximately a one year difference in AAoA currently (4 vs. 5.5 years), so would this even make that much of a difference in my score?

Thanks.

[haulingthescoreup]

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@TNTransplant wrote:

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@haulingthescoreup wrote:

Nice card!

If your AAoA is less than the age of the card, it can help, depending on how much it changes your AAoA.

If your AAoA is greater, the card will lower your AAoA, and that could hurt if it drops enough.

In what month of 2006 was it opened?

---

My AAoA is showing 4 yrs (EQ) and 5.5 yrs (EX, TU) --> I had a Sears card back in the 90's that I closed out.  I now have another one, and TU/EX are backdating to the old account, but EQ is not.  Should I contact EQ and ask them to update the AAoA?

The Amex Blue was opened in 3/2006, so that's a good thing - open longer than my AAoA.  

Thanks for your input.

---

Hmmm. I think you got lucky on the Sears card reported date. I guess I'd be afraid that if I asked EQ to report the old date (thus updating the AAoA), they might contact Sears to confirm the account date, and Sears would switch the reporting on the other two to the newer (correct) date.

But then, I'm chicken!

[haulingthescoreup]

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@TNTransplant wrote:

Does anyone know if it would be feasible to ask for Equifax to back date to my old Sears account that was closed (as EX/TU have done)?  There is approximately a one year difference in AAoA currently (4 vs. 5.5 years), so would this even make that much of a difference in my score?

Thanks.

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It could make a difference in your scores, either upward or downward, as 5 years is one of those age breaks. But see my reply to your earlier post as to why you might want to think twice.

I'd at least wait for the 2006 AmEx date to start reporting and see what that does to your AAoA. (Unless you have a sharp pencil and the back of an envelope, and you want to figure it yourself.)

[TNTransplant]

haulingthescoreup

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It could make a difference in your scores, either upward or downward, as 5 years is one of those age breaks. But see my reply to your earlier post as to why you might want to think twice.

I'd at least wait for the 2006 AmEx date to start reporting and see what that does to your AAoA. (Unless you have a sharp pencil and the back of an envelope, and you want to figure it yourself.)

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That's what I was wondering - I think I'll leave well enough alone and just ignore it. 

Thanks!

[vanillabean]

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@RobertEG wrote:

The secondary, and unanswerable, question with respect to the scoring of a consumer based on the inclusion of an AU account of another in that score is..how do other credtiors view your score when they see it is based in part on the credit of another?

They realize that the inclusion of the AU does not accurately reflect the evaluation of the individual consumer's risk, and my thus choose to discount the score when making their decisions.  Having no way to separately exclude the specific score inflation based on inclusion of the AU account information, it might be viewed as casting the entire value of your FICO score into doubt as part of their decision making.  It is not all just about a three-digit number.

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Given our EX reports refer to the other jointly, even spousally, in several places, DW and I hope the creditors have the imagination to assume the AU charges both ways are paid for by our shared household income. I agree that the use af AUs is somewhat risky when outside the household. Of course so is crossing the street or eating a pretzel.