2. Best Credit Cards For AU Trade-Lines

Hello, and welcome to this module. Best credit cards for authorized user trade lines. So in this module, I’m going to just break down high level. Some of the key banks you want to be looking for, for when it comes to authorized user trade lines, especially if you’re going out and you’re seeking to do this on your own for free. So here is what we are going to cover. So the first thing I’m going to do is really break down what banks offer back data, reporting history, because not every bank is going to offer back data reporting history. And then the banks I’m going to cover are really just a major banks. So you may be working with or banking with a, a mom and pop bank or a local credit union, or a state credit union, or a regional bank that may or may not have rules applicable to this.

So you really just want to ask the right questions before becoming an authorized user. The other thing I’m going to do is just break down just some of the bank issuer policies when it comes to reporting authorized users, just so you know, and really get your, your wheels turning towards what you should be thinking about when becoming an authorized user, the Credit Bureau policies, when it comes to reporting. Then the last thing is why accounts don’t show up. So let’s go ahead and hop right in. So like I’m saying every bank isn’t going to offer back debit credit reporting. Uh, for instance, I know I spoke about a lot about American Express, um, in the previous module, when I have a previous module, one of the, one of the weeks of this course and American Express is awesome. However, American Express specifically stopped offering back dated authorize user reporting history.

So what does this mean? This means if you are becoming an authorized user on an American Express card for the purposes of getting the credit history, American Express, isn’t going to be a good fit because they’re not offering that backdated reporting. So if you don’t plan on using that card for the perks moving forward, it’s not going to be a good option. So the banks I’m getting ready to list are the best ones as it stands right now. Now things are always changing. Banks change their policies all the time. So you want to make sure you ask these questions. i.e. are you offering backdated reporting? If I become an authorized user on this credit report on this credit card, where you ask the person who you’re approaching to become an authorized users to, Hey, look, could you just reach out to your bank and figure out if I become an authorized user, or if you add me as an authorized user, will they backdate the reporting history of your credit report?

i.e. how long, however long you’ve had that card. And if so, then this is safe to bet. It’s a safe bet. So Barclays, BBVA, these are the banks right here that are going to offer that back data reporting. So BBVA, Bank of America, Chase and Chase is like one of those ones that they, again, you’ll notice that Chase. This is this a phenomenal bank, man. Um, Capital One, Citi, and Discover. And then again, we have some other ones. So, so Fidelity/Elan, Navy Federal, which is an awesome bank as well its actually a credit union, PNC bank, Synchrony bank, US bank, USAA, and Wells Fargo. So historically these banks that offer credit cards are going to backdate report, whatever the amount of history is associated with that, for that account. So for instance, let’s just say you have a friend or a mother or whoever that has a Navy federal credit card.

And they’ve had that Navy federal credit card for 15 years, and it meets all the data points in the criteria that we’ve outlined prior. And they add you as an authorized user on that, on that card. And they keep the card. You don’t get access to the card. Well, you just got 15 years of history added to your file once that reports on the reporting date. So these are lists of banks that you want to be looking for. It doesn’t mean that your local or state bank or your local or state credit union won’t offer back data reporting. But these are the major banks that do offer back data reporting. And I did a lot of research trying to identify this, these major banks. And these are the ones you want to go go to. So notice I already kind of broke out American Express notice American expresses and all here, right?

Because they’re, they’re just not going to, they’re just not going to offer it. Right. And so anyway, so you want to go and reach out and figure out if your bank does, but these are the list of banks. That’s going to, that I know for a fact now bank issuer policies, and really what this means is typically banks are going to report to all three bureaus, but as you know, banks, aren’t going to report to all three bureaus or in, in, or in some scenarios, they may not report authorized user accounts to all three bureaus. So you just need to understand that if you get an authorized user, account may only show up on TransUnion and Experian or Experian and Equifax or so on and so forth based off that banking, that banking, that banks relationship with that credit Bureau. So don’t be surprised if it doesn’t show up on all three bureaus.

The other thing is that in typical student scenarios, you must be 18. Some banks and or credit card companies will allow 16 years old. So really this point is if you’re looking to add your child as an authorized user to one of your credit reports, I did figure out and find out that discover will allow 15 years old. So if you have a child that’s at least 15 years old, you can add them to your discover card. Obviously you want to make sure you have all the good payments and get utilization because that’s going to literally start impacting their score. Um, you also need to know that bank are going, the banks are going to report to the credit bureaus, both positive and negative account history of the primary account holder. So that’s why it’s so important to make sure if you’re looking to allow someone else, really your child, to be an authorized user, that you, you have that good history to help them to help boost them up.

Right? But that also, you need to understand that if you’re going to somebody, which you wouldn’t do that that’s going to report as well. Um, now Credit Bureau policies, this is pretty, pretty straight forward. Uh, basically this is how the Credit Bureau is going to report their authorized user report. So this is as of February, 2019 during the, this doesn’t change, it changes every few years. So I’d be led to believe it hasn’t changed as of yet, but really Equifax. This is how they’re going to do it. So, yes, they’re going to report the authorized user account. If it’s at least 16 years old, notice this is a little bit different than what the banks are doing. So the banks are saying what they’re saying, but Equifax is saying, if we get this data, if they’re at least 16 years old, um, we’re going to report both positive and negative information, so that both positive and negative information will be reported.

So that’s why it’s so important. If you’re doing this for a child that you don’t put them in a position to where you start messing up their credit before they even turn 18. Um, the other thing is Experian. They are going to report this information, but if the primary account holder becomes derogatory, the account is removed from the authorized user credit report, which I found to be pretty, pretty interesting. Pretty cool. So what Experian is saying is, Hey, look, if, if that account goes derogatory because it’s an AU, we’re going to remove it because it’s hurting the person’s file. And then TransUnion, they’re going to, they’re going to work very similar to Equifax and report both positive and negative information. And that, that will be included. So this is like the Bureau specific policy. Now, typically, you know, this is a common question why I became an authorized user.

Why isn’t the accounts showing up? Why don’t the account show up? Well, the first thing is is you, you, you have to wait to the reporting date. So if you just became an authorized user, let’s just say today, and it’s, and it hasn’t, it hasn’t, it’s in the middle of a billing cycle. Then you may need to, in most scenarios, make sure that when the next time that bank reports to the Credit Bureau, that’s when it’s going to be able to be included. Because now that reporting date is going to include you as an authorized user when they report. And then that will show up on your credit report. So chances are, if you just did it, or you did it within the last one to two weeks, and it hasn’t crossed over that statement, date, either reporting date, it’s not going to show up.

The other thing you want to take into account is some banks. Again, I broke them down already, but some banks just, Hey, look, they may not offer, um, or report authorized user activity. So that’s why it’s important to be, to really ask upfront, Hey, look, especially if you don’t have any intent on using the card and you just looking to do this specifically for the history you need to know upfront, especially if it’s one of those smaller banks, Hey look, do you report authorized user activity? i.e. do you report all of my primary holder activity at the Bureau, you know, to the bureaus, right? Uh, then the primary holder, this I’ve seen this happen. So the account holder may not have required, include all the required information. So there could be some information that’s missing from the application or from the submission. So you may have to redo it, or they may have to redo it.

Like, again, it could be a technical issue with the bank as well. So generally speaking, it’s not, but it could be. Um, and the other thing is, and not having covered this up until this point, if you become an authorized user on a business credit card, business charge card, any type of business card, it’s, it’s typically not going to report to your personal credit. Now with the exception, Capital One and Discover Bank do report to personal credit. However, if it’s just like a Chase or any of those other major banks that are broke down and you become an authorized user, you’re not going to get that history at all. Because business credit cards don’t report the personal, even though they’re tied to your personal credit. And the other reason why is because the account could have been closed. So these are the reasons why accounts won’t show up as an authorized user.

So you just need to be aware of how that works. The last thing is how do you get removed from an authorized user, which really easy. So unlike getting like a primary or an account that you are the primary account holder or the most, the person that was financially responsible, you really can just call the bank directly and just, Hey, look, I want to request to be removed, um, you know, request to be removed by calling the bank directly. So you can just call them and say, Hey, look, I want, I want to be removed. And, you know, generally speaking about 90%, 95% of the time, they’re going to remove you. Now, if that doesn’t work, um, you can actually contact the bureaus directly and you really would just do these steps. Just go file, file, a dispute online. It’s okay to do this dispute online just because it’s an authorized user.

So it’s not like you’re primary account holder and just select the account, which you’re an authorized user on. Obviously don’t select one of your primary accounts. Um, and then just ask to get that removed information removed, to say, I’ve become that liable for this account as an authorized user. And then just submit the form on the website, whether it’s Equifax, TransUnion, Experian, and you will be removed. This is like the worst case scenario. That simplest way is just to call the bank and then they’ll just remove you. Okay. But this is how this works. And I will see you in the next module.