One of the first pieces of advice I give to people who have suffered severe financial crises and want to learn how to build credit is to become authorized users on credit cards. Authorized users are allowed to use credit cards but have no contractual obligation to pay the bills.
For this reason, a person does not need to have a high credit score to qualify for authorized user status on a credit card. However, the credit card’s history will often be reported on the authorized user’s credit report, so long as the authorized user is related to the account holder.
Becoming an authorized user on a family member’s credit card will quickly raise your credit score (even after bankruptcy or other financial disaster) by allowing you to “borrow” the account holder’s clean credit history.
However, the account holder—fearful that you will rack up huge charges you cannot or will not repay—might be reluctant to add your name to his or her account. Let the account holder know that she or he can be protected.
- First, the account holder should shred the credit card that arrives for you.
- Second, the account holder should never give you the account number, credit card expiration date, or card security code.
In this way, your credit score will increase while still protecting the account holder from any irresponsible behavior on your part.
Authorized users should also protect themselves by choosing the account wisely. Only authorized users who are related to the account holders will see their bad credit scores benefit from this strategy. Therefore, be sure you choose an account holder who is also a relative. Try to choose someone with the same last name and address. Otherwise, the credit-scoring bureaus might not recognize your status as an authorized user, and your credit score might not improve.
To make sure that the credit card company is reporting your status as an authorized user, call them and ask. You can also check your credit report to see if the account is appearing. If not, choose another account holder.
Be sure that you also choose a responsible relative with an account in good standing. If you become an authorized user on an account that becomes delinquent, guess what happens? Your score will drop. As such, be sure to pick an account with a clean history of payments. Be sure, too, that the balance on the card stays low—preferably about 30 percent of the limit. If the balance exceeds 30 percent, or if the account holder makes a late payment, you should immediately remove your name as an authorized user so the negative information does not hurt your credit score.
Authorized users usually see a quick jump in their score. After twelve or eighteen months, you might be able to remove yourself from the account and qualify for loans on your own.
