How much can being an authorized user raise your credit score?

It depends on the primary account holder's credit profile. Being added to a card with 10+ years of history, zero late payments, and low utilization can add significant positive history to your report. Some people see gains of 20–100+ points, especially if they had thin or no credit history.

Do I need to actually use the credit card as an authorized user?

No. In most cases you don't need to have the physical card or make any purchases. The account history gets added to your report regardless. Many families use this strategy with the authorized user never touching the card.

What happens to my credit if the primary cardholder misses a payment?

If the account goes delinquent, that negative history can appear on your report too. This is the key risk — you're tying your credit to someone else's behavior. Only accept authorized user status on accounts with perfect payment history from someone you trust.

Can a stranger add me as an authorized user?

Credit tradeline rental services exist where people pay to be added as authorized users on strangers' accounts. This is a gray area — it's not illegal but some lenders look for it and may discount the history. The most legitimate version is a family member or close friend with strong credit.

How Being an Authorized User Can Boost Your Credit Score

The authorized user strategy is one of the most powerful — and most underused — tools in credit building. It shows up in nearly every successful credit rebuild story in the credit repair community.

Done right, it can add years of positive credit history to your report almost overnight.

What Is an Authorized User?

An authorized user is someone who is added to another person's credit card account. The primary cardholder gives you permission to use the card, but they remain solely responsible for the debt.

Here's the powerful part: when you're added as an authorized user, that account's entire history appears on your credit report — including the account opening date, payment history, credit limit, and current balance.

If the primary cardholder has a 10-year-old card with perfect payment history and low utilization, all of that shows up on your report as if it were your own.

How It Affects Your FICO Score

FICO includes authorized user accounts in its scoring calculations. Specifically:

Payment history (35%) — every on-time payment on the account shows as your payment history
Amounts owed / utilization (30%) — the account's utilization affects your overall ratio
Length of credit history (15%) — the account's age becomes part of your average age of accounts
Credit mix (10%) — if the primary account is a type you don't have, it adds mix

The score impact depends on the quality of the account you're being added to. An older account with a high limit, perfect payment history, and low utilization is the ideal.

What Makes a Good Account to Be Added To?

Age: The older the account, the better. A 15-year-old account is more valuable than a 3-year-old one.

Payment history: Must be perfect or near-perfect. If the account has missed payments, those show on your report too — and hurt you.

Utilization: Should be low — ideally under 30%, and preferably under 10%.

Credit limit: Higher limits increase your total available credit, which lowers your overall utilization ratio.

Avoid: Any account with recent late payments, high utilization, or a history of maxing out.

Who to Ask

This strategy works best within trusted relationships because:

You need someone who trusts you enough to add you to their credit account
Their credit behavior will directly affect your score

Best candidates:

Parents or grandparents with long credit histories
A spouse or partner with stronger credit
A sibling who has managed credit well for years
A close friend you trust completely (with full transparency about the arrangement)

The key conversation: Be honest about why you're asking. Explain that you don't need to use the card (in fact, you shouldn't be given the physical card unless necessary). You're only asking to benefit from the account's history in the credit bureau records.

Do You Need to Use the Card?

No. You don't need to ever touch the card.

Many authorized user arrangements involve the primary cardholder never giving the physical card to the AU. The AU simply gets added to the account, the account history appears on the AU's credit report, and that's it.

This is the cleanest arrangement — no spending risk to the primary cardholder, no temptation for the AU, and the score benefit is still fully realized.

Risks to Understand

Risk to the authorized user:

If the primary cardholder starts missing payments or maxing out the card, your score is hurt too
You have no control over the account

Mitigation: Monitor your credit report monthly. If the account suddenly shows late payments or high utilization, ask to be removed immediately.

Risk to the primary cardholder:

If you have the physical card, you could run up charges they're responsible for
Adding you may affect their credit slightly (a new authorized user appearing in their account records)

Mitigation: The primary cardholder should not give you the physical card unless they trust you completely. In most authorized user arrangements for credit building, the card stays with the primary cardholder.

How to Get Added as an Authorized User

The primary cardholder calls their issuer or logs into their account online
They provide your name, date of birth, and sometimes Social Security Number (SSN required for credit reporting to work properly — without SSN, the account may not appear on your report)
They confirm the request
Within 30–45 days, the account appears on your credit report
Monitor your report to confirm the account posted with the full history

Not all card issuers report authorized users to the credit bureaus. Most major issuers (Chase, American Express, Bank of America, Citi, Capital One, Discover) do. Smaller credit unions may not.

Combining Authorized User with Your Own Accounts

The authorized user strategy is most powerful as part of a broader plan, not as a standalone fix.

Ideal combination:

Authorized user account → adds age, positive history, available credit
Secured credit card → builds your own positive payment history
Credit builder loan → adds credit mix (installment loan)

Together, these three can take someone from no credit or bad credit to a 680–720 score within 12–18 months.

What About Tradeline Rental Services?

You may have seen companies offering to sell "authorized user tradelines" — they add you to a stranger's account for a fee, you get the credit boost, then they remove you after a few months.

This is technically legal but increasingly ineffective. FICO has built algorithms specifically to detect and ignore tradelines that look like rented accounts. And some consider it a form of credit fraud.

Stick to family and trusted friends. The benefit is the same, the risk is lower, and you're not paying hundreds of dollars for a service that may not work.

The Bottom Line

The authorized user strategy is real, legal, and effective. Nearly every credit rebuild success story you read involves someone being added to a family member's account.

The key: find an account with age, low utilization, and perfect payment history. Get added with your Social Security Number so the account reports. Monitor monthly to make sure the account stays healthy.

Then let the years of positive history do their job. Pair this with a secured credit card and you'll have a complete foundation — see our full guide to building credit with no credit history for the complete order of operations.

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