@JoeRockhead wrote:
@Varsity_Lu wrote:
@omgitsMatt wrote:
@Varsity_Lu wrote:
@AndySoCal
My teenage kids all carry my BCP card as an AU on my account. I limit their spending to $200 per cycle and they know that that card is only for gas and groceries for the family or true emergencies. They each work and have their own bank accounts and debit cards they can use for their own purchases. I've noticed that putting them on as AU allows them to get a FICO score once they turn 18 which is nice. I didn't do this with my oldest and they struggled a bit when they started pursuing a credit card.
If they don't use their AU card a particular month, are they being penalized? My account is the only card they have and they are under 18.
No, if they don't use their cards a particular month they are not being penalized.
They are being penalized if that's their only authorized user account and it's also reporting a zero balance.
To keep it simple, if you want to maximize your score potential, make sure if you or whomever has an authorized user account that the account reports a small balance. (That is not the same thing as not using their card)
Ok. So it sounds like the bureaus can't differentiate which card is being used, just that the account is or isn't being used. Got it.
While individual lenders most likely track AU card usage for their own internal reasons, credit bureaus don't differentiate AU card usage vs primary cardholder usage. For all intents and purposes, the primary cardholder is the one financially responsible for the account. If an AU makes payments on the account, it only benefits the AU in that the account remains in good standing... for the primary cardholder.
If an AU maxes out the card, and then leaves the primary high and dry, even though the lender knows the AU card was used, they're coming after the primary, not the AU. The AU can effectively dispute the account as "not responsible for this account" and get it removed from their reports.
The all zero penalty for all AU accounts reporting all zero is very small... about 5 points
/edit
You should pull your EWS consumer report, the lender will report what an AU account spends down to the cent, it's not just internal. You'll see every Zelle transaction you ever performed, bank to bank ach transfer, how often you moved around fund internally and even your bill pay transactions.
Depending on who you've ever worked for and how much information they give up, you could find your entire work history on TWN (Equifax) with how much you were paid and how much you paid in state, local and federal taxes along with your cafeteria bill too if you had one. That could be for every single individual pay stub you've ever had with your employer too, not just your yearly totals. Amex is a big fan of utilizing those two, which is probably why people see adverse action now and again but nothing on their credit profile has actually changed.
The bureaus defintely know how much an authorized user is actually using their card.
Its more than that too in the score fluctations, depending on the model. Its 15, almost 20 for Fico 8s, depending on the profile. Its 5 to 10 for Fico 9s. You lose 20 to 30 on the Fico 5 if you're trying to maximize your Fico 8s by having an AU card report. Fico 4 you lose 10 to 15.
It depends a lot on the profile too and what score card its on. But there's not much reliable research on that. It could be significant for the right profile and depending on what they're trying to accomplish end up being way more than 5.
