What Happens If I Add Someone to My Credit Card?

Adding someone to your credit card account can be a practical way to manage shared expenses or help another individual establish a credit history. This decision involves understanding the specific roles, responsibilities, and potential financial impacts for both the primary cardholder and the person being added.

Defining the Authorized User

An authorized user is an individual granted permission to use a primary credit card account’s credit line. This arrangement differs significantly from a joint account holder, where both parties are equally and legally responsible for the debt.

Authorized users are not legally responsible for any debt incurred on the account. Their privileges include making purchases and, depending on the issuer, accessing limited account information such as their own spending activity. An authorized user cannot change account terms, close the account, or add additional users.

Primary Cardholder Responsibilities and Impacts

The primary cardholder retains full and sole legal responsibility for all charges made on the account. If authorized users overspend or fail to reimburse the primary cardholder, the primary account holder remains accountable for the entire balance.

Adding an authorized user and their subsequent spending activity can directly affect the primary cardholder’s credit score. Timely payments and maintaining low credit utilization across the entire account benefit the primary’s score. Conversely, missed payments or high utilization, even if caused by the authorized user, can negatively impact the primary cardholder’s credit profile. The age of the account and its comprehensive payment history are reported under the primary cardholder’s credit profile, encompassing all activity.

The primary cardholder maintains complete control over the account. They can monitor all activity, and some issuers allow them to set spending limits for authorized users. The primary cardholder also has the unilateral right to remove an authorized user at any time.

Authorized User Experience and Credit Implications

An authorized user can make purchases using the credit card linked to the primary account. Authorized users are not legally obligated to repay any debt incurred on the account.

Credit card activity may be reported to the major credit bureaus—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion—for the authorized user. This reporting is not guaranteed and varies by credit card issuer. If reported, positive account management, such as consistent on-time payments and low credit utilization by the primary cardholder, can help the authorized user build or improve their credit history. However, negative activity, such as late payments or high balances, can also affect the authorized user’s credit score.

Authorized users have limited access to account information, often restricted to their own spending details. They cannot make changes to the account, such as requesting a credit limit increase, nor can they access the primary cardholder’s personal financial details.

Steps to Add or Remove an Authorized User

To add an authorized user, the primary cardholder needs to provide specific identifying information. This includes the authorized user’s full name, date of birth, and address. The Social Security Number may also be required for credit reporting purposes.

Primary cardholders can initiate this request through the credit card issuer’s online banking portal or mobile app. A phone call to customer service is another method. After the request is processed, a new card bearing the authorized user’s name is mailed, to the primary cardholder’s address on file within 7 to 10 business days.

Removing an authorized user follows similar methods. The primary cardholder can remove an authorized user via the online portal, mobile app, or by contacting customer service directly. Upon removal, the authorized user’s card will be deactivated. It may take some time, potentially a billing cycle or two, for credit bureaus to update their records and reflect the removal if the authorized user’s credit was being reported.