BEING ADDED AS AN AUTHORIZED USER (AU) TO BOOST SCORES

[ambersunParticipant]

Not sure if this is relevant, but I have read where having someone with execellent credit add you on to their account as an authorized user can help give your score a boost. Do you have a parent or grandparent who has excellent credit who wouldn’t mind helping you out? You don’t have to use their account, I wouldn’t even advise it, but just being an AU on their account if the account has been opened for years, has a high limit and low utilization and excellent pay history, I think this would help out tremendously. I’m especially directing this to ppl with thin files. This may help veterans also, I’m not sure. Again, some creditors don’t even report the accounts to the credit bureaus if you are an authorized user, but I have read somewhere that this can help and also help you to apply for that company if they see that account on your reports as an AU and it has an execellent history.

If someone has more insight, please chime in, thanks!

[Christie0909Participant]

I have thought about doing this with my mother in laws jcpenny account, but I do not know if it will work or not.

[AmyParticipant]

Being an AU definitely can’t hurt, so do that if you can. However, a lot of scoring models, especially newer ones, do not take into account any authorized user data. It really depends on the creditor’s scoring formula.

[fontanamanModerator]

I used to have an unsecured card with bank of america for which I had added my wife as an authorized user and I remember that my account was showing on her credit report. I’m not sure wether or not it was counting towards her credit score as a card of her own, but it was there so I suppose it was counting for something.

Just make sure that you get someone with a great credit history who’s unlikely to default. I’m sure my wife’s score took a hit when I defaulted and my card was closed…

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