highops

The real answer for me is I don't know.

But, as a data point Chase has me at the max they'll allow as new cards require moving credit or come with small limits. This has not stopped my wife from getting cards and listing me as AU.

We have had up to 11 Chase cards between us at times. We are AU on each other's accounts and have one joint account from back when that could happen.

quizolk

care to share what the max is?

highops

Around 50K including the joint card and business cards.

gooselee

I wouldn't think being an AU has an impact. Ultimately the primary cardholder is liable for that credit line, not the AU, so that's whose max the CL would count against.

mrmandel

I'm guessing it does count for the ratio of total credit limits to income, but doesn't count for the internal limit banks set for each individual customer.

gooselee

If you're referencing credit reports and FICO scores, it generally does not. I am an AU on a number of Mrs. Lee's cards, and vice versa, and the AU cards do not appear on our respective credit reports.

Possibly a bank-by-bank case, but our CC's are spread across multiple financial institutions and they all seem to follow this rule.

PimpTheMonkey

I'm less concerned about FICO scores than I am about the internal impact, but I don't want to do anything that would trash the FICO and make it harder to keep churning.

Here's what I've pieced together:

- AUs are (usually) added to the credit report of the AU, with an indication that it is an AU. And this frequently happens without ever giving the bank the SSN of the AU.

- AUs can impact the credit score of the primary only by having increased utilization.

- The credit score of the AU is impacted by having that account on their credit report. I am unsure (and I think there is some discrepancy by lender) whether the AU gets account age from when the primary account was opened, or only from when the AU was added. Anyone know more about that?

- The AUs total credit available is increased. This can be good for utilization, but high limits added to someone with a low income may be too much total exposure for the AU to be as successful in getting CCs.

- Based on Highops, it sounds like for Chase at least, the internal CLs are distinct.

Bottom line from what I'm seeing so far sounds like AUs have no negatives for either party (except for non-payment by the primary or over-utilization on either, but I consider those non-issues). I'm still interested in more hard data points, because knowledge is power.

gooselee

This all depends on the bank/issuer of the card, as the credit reports just represent what the issuer has reported to the credit bureau.

For example, Amex is relatively well known for reporting any new account opened with an age backdated to the oldest currently active Amex account for that person (which is great for AAOA).

Can't speak to Chase, but my total CL with a few issuers is quite high. When opening new primary accounts, I've often been told that they are taking CL from an existing account to open the new one (thus keeping the same total CL with that issuer), but I've never had an issue being added as an AU to my wife's accounts.

At the end of the day, adding an AU doesn't open up more potential liability for the issuer. Whether it's one person with a $50k limit or twelve people sharing it, the issuer still won't ever be floating more than $50k to that account (assuming they enforce their CL).

Samrofoc

Hi,

I churn every six months and so does my partner. We have a cycle so that we get credit cards every 3 months. My turn is coming up in 2 months. However on his last round of applications, he added me as an authorized user on his Amex and it showed up on my credit report as a new account. Will this affect me negatively at all when I apply?

cks30

I'd like to add my wife as an AU on my AmEx Plat, or maybe Gold, but they always request the SSN. Will this result in a HP on her credit report?

worldiswide

There should not be a hard pull for Auth buyers as the Auth buyer is not being underwritten. The ssn is a more common request and is part of the know your customer requirements that banks must comply with

italdesign

I applied for the Club Carlson card after a break in new apps. It was declined on "lot of new accounts". I sighed thinking these guys really have a conservative definition of "lots". So imagine my shock when I pulled up CreditKarma and saw 19 new accounts in the last 6 mo. I about had a heart attack. That's not just too many for US Bank, but probably for any bank. With a quick look, it looks like CreditKarma included my family's accounts on which I was an AU (I'm AU on each card to help them meet min req). Is this a normal TU behavior? More importantly, has anyone been able to get these removed from their TU report? I was unaware that any CRA included accounts on which you were only AU. This may crush my chances of getting any new credit cards from any bank that pulls TU.

Fretman

As far as I'm concerned, this is normal credit report behavior. I think removing yourself as an AU will wipe the history from your credit report as I don't remember ever seeing closed AU accounts on credit reports.

MDtR-Chicago

Your question has been merged with the AU master thread. Plenty of reading material here.

This is normal behavior by all the major CRAs. If you have the AU authorization removed, the tradelines should drop from your reports. If not, people on myfico have had some success with disputing them off.

Nick92

Ime, the reps just submit them for removal without actually disputing them. I usually just remind them that I am not responsible for the account, that I am no longer an authorized user and if they can just delete.