How being an authorized user affects your credit

There are many ways to improve your credit score. You can open a secured card, look into alternative credit scoring methods or keep the credit accounts you currently have, paying off any outstanding debt and watching your score improve as your age of credit increases.

Or, you could become an authorized user on someone else’s credit card.

An authorized user is a person who is able to make purchases on somebody else’s credit account. People often add partners and spouses as authorized users on their credit cards, for example, and parents sometimes add their teenage children as authorized users to help teens build a credit history and learn how to use credit responsibly.

Authorized users receive credit cards that are connected to the primary cardholder’s line of credit, but they are not responsible for paying off the charges they make on those cards. The person whose name is on the credit account is fully responsible for all charges made to the card.

In other words, if you make someone an authorized user on your credit card and they run up a huge debt, you’re the one who’s ultimately responsible for paying off your credit card debt.

Does being an authorized user affect your credit?

Being an authorized user can affect your credit in both positive and negative ways — but it can also have no effect on your credit whatsoever. There are two factors you need to consider:

1. Whether the lender reports authorized users to the credit bureaus
2. Whether both the credit account owner and the authorized user use their shared account responsibly

In order for your authorized user account to affect your credit, the lender or credit card issuer needs to report that account to the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion). If the lender doesn’t report activity from authorized user accounts to the credit bureaus, then those accounts won’t influence your credit rating.

Authorized user accounts must show up on your credit report to affect your credit score. As for how long it takes for authorized users to show on credit report, you might see your score change as soon as the lender starts reporting that information to the credit bureaus, which can take as little as 30 days.

Once the authorized user account is part of your credit history, it can benefit your credit score as long as both you and the primary account holder use the account responsibly. If the account holder makes regular on-time payments, for example, you would also get credit for those payments (pun intended), and your credit score could go up. On the other hand, if you and the credit account holder run up a high revolving balance on the credit account, both of your credit scores could take a hit.

How does an authorized user build credit?

An authorized user builds credit when the credit account holder maintains responsible credit habits that help a credit score grow, such as making on-time payments and paying off balances in full.

You can also build your credit by taking out at least one credit card in your own name in addition to your authorized user card. A secured credit card is an excellent way to build credit. You put down a small deposit in exchange for a small line of credit. Once you’ve proven you can handle your credit card responsibly, you’ll get your deposit back and receive a credit line increase. Here are our picks for the best secured credit cards.

If you’d rather not take out a secured credit card, you can also look into our top picks for credit cards for people with bad credit. These cards might come with higher interest rates and fewer rewards than cards for people with good or excellent credit, but they’re still solid options for people who are hoping to build their credit scores.

The risks of being an authorized user

There are always risks involved with being an authorized user.

For starters, keep in mind that being an authorized user might not impact your credit score at all. In order for a credit account to impact your credit score, it must be reported to the credit bureaus. If your credit card issuer doesn’t report authorized user activity to one of the three credit bureaus, your credit score will not be impacted.

If the issue does report it, then being an authorized user can hurt you just as easily as it can help you — because now your score is tied to the habits of another person. Piggybacking on someone else’s credit card account can backfire if the primary cardholder pays the bill late or runs up a big balance, for example.

If being an authorized user starts to negatively impact your credit, you can remove yourself from the equation. Oftentimes it just takes a phone call or submitting an online request to the credit card issuer to remove yourself from the account.

Graduating to primary cardholder

When you start your credit journey as an authorized user, it’s important to establish a few goals before diving in blind. And one of those should be your exit plan. You probably don’t want to be an authorized user forever, but while you are, it’s a great time to learn how to use credit wisely. By taking on the responsibility as an authorized user, you are working towards building strong credit habits while establishing a credit score you can use to your advantage when you are ready to take the next step.

Once you feel ready to take the next step, ideally within one-to-two years, consider applying for a starter credit card of your own. By this point, you should have a credit score that will allow you to be the primary cardholder on your next card. Here are our picks for the best starter credit cards.

Now, you may be wondering if removing yourself as an authorized user affects your credit, and the short answer is potentially. If the credit account you are removing yourself from is your oldest line of credit, your credit history will be shorter because of this. Length of credit history makes up 15 percent of your overall FICO score, so your score may be affected. But you can minimize the impact by applying for a credit card as soon as possible. At the end of the day, payment history has a larger impact on your overall creditworthiness than length of credit history.

The bottom line

Becoming an authorized user can help you build your credit history and boost your credit score, but it shouldn’t be the only tool in your credit-building toolbox. You should also take out credit cards in your own name and practice using those cards responsibly in order to see your score improve over time.