American Express Membership Rewards - stupid question about credit report

Hey all, I was wondering if you more knowledgeable people could help me out with something I've wondered about. If I have an Amex card that's on my parents' account, does my credit report reflect this? Do my parents' good credit scores transfer to my own report? The reason I ask is that I wanna get my own Amex, but I'm still in college (read: no job). I have my own Citibank AA MC and I have no idea how I got it on my own. The only thing I can think of is that I have a decent credit report, even though I had nothing besides my parents' cards to build it up.

Amex has a card for students so you can be the primary which is better than being secondary.

Yeah, but my underlying question was if being a secondary cardmember affects my credit score. I'm primary with the AA MC and the student Amex doesn't interest me.

Unless you make a habit of not paying your bills, you shouldn't have any problem at all getting an AMEX. They have a green card and a Blue card specifically for students.

As far as being an authorized user on your parents' card, it should affect your score in that it establishes a longer credit history, but it will also note that you aren't responsible for payments on it.

[This message has been edited by Flying Dutchman (edited 06-07-2003).]

Your parent's card will almost definitely show up on your credit report, and if it has a good history, will improve your score.

AmEx's criteria for most cards isn't terribly stringent at this point anyway. If you don't have any negative items on your credit report, you'll probably be fine.

d

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by b-real:
If I have an Amex card that's on my parents' account, does my credit report reflect this? Do my parents' good credit scores transfer to my own report?</font>

I don't know for sure if the Amex account will show up on a secondary cardholder's credit report. But I can say that overall, your parents' good credit rating will not transfer to your credit report. Assuming that this account is paid on time, the best that will happen is that you'll have a good account appear on your credit report. The worst is that nothing will appear. But, the other details of your parents' credit report won't be tied to yours just because you have a joint account.

I recently obtained a copy of my credit report from the three major bureaus.

In addition to the cards that I am the primary (and only) user, I am an authorized user on 3 accounts. One of these accounts is an Amex.

My credit report shows me as an "authorized user" on the non Amex accounts. The Amex account does not appear at all. I have had that account for over a year so there has been plenty of time for them to report it.

TW

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by b-real:
Hey all, I was wondering if you more knowledgeable people could help me out with something I've wondered about. If I have an Amex card that's on my parents' account, does my credit report reflect this? Do my parents' good credit scores transfer to my own report? The reason I ask is that I wanna get my own Amex, but I'm still in college (read: no job). I have my own Citibank AA MC and I have no idea how I got it on my own. The only thing I can think of is that I have a decent credit report, even though I had nothing besides my parents' cards to build it up. </font>

If you are a supplemental card holder you will not establish credit. It may be reported to the credit bureaus, but only as an authorized user.

If you a enrolled in a four year college, you can get a student card, as long as you do not have negitive credit. You can use an allowence from parents, scholarships, grants, and financial aid as your source of income.

there are lots of ways to get a free credit report:

1) search google for free credit report.
2) Apply for credit. When you get turned down you can request a free report.
3) Some states have laws providing free reports every year. Or

Pay $8.00 for one bureau or $30.00 for all 3. This way you know instead of having to guess what your credit is.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by jerry crump:
Pay $8.00 for one bureau or $30.00 for all 3. This way you know instead of having to guess what your credit is.</font>
In addition, you can get your FICO (http://www.myfico.com) scores. You will get a report with your scores that describes why the scores are high or low. You'll then have a better idea of what affects your score.

www.creditnet.com (http://www.creditnet.com) and www.fool.com (http://www.fool.com) both have excellent discussion group / forum about credit information.

You will have more than enough to read from these sites so have a look.