Authorized user

Ignorant question: added my kid as an authorized user for my credit card account, mainly to help him build a credit profile.

How does this help him when they didn’t ask for his SSN to add him?

I’m definitely interested in this topic, as my kids will be of the appropriate age for this before too long.

I didn’t know the answer, but I plugged your question WFW into ChatGPT. Here was the response:

—————

Not ignorant at all. The SSN isn’t necessarily required to add an authorized user, but it can matter for credit reporting.

If your card issuer reports authorized-user accounts to the bureaus, your kid’s account history can appear on his credit report—even without an SSN initially. The issuer/burea use identifying information such as name and date of birth to match the account.

The important catch: it depends on your issuer’s reporting practices and your kid’s age. If the account doesn’t get reported to his credit file, being an authorized user won’t help build his credit.

(Source: nerdwallet.com)

We didn’t do that for either of our kids.
My son just opened a credit card, very low limit, and will only use it once a month for something small and pay it off right away.
We trust him, if our daughter did, we would have concerns.

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The grammar of this sentence made me read it three times. I get it now, but at first, I was like, why would your daughter not trust your son and why would I care?

Brobbs used ChatGpt. This is what Claude says…


I just read it, fair

Comma splices are the new normal :wink:

I’m not being facetious. I used to avoid them at all costs, and after texting casually for a couple years I started doing it myself, even consciously :slight_smile:

Spelling and phone numbers were the first to go due to technology.
Now grammar has hit the skids.

I assume name and address. I put my daughter at 12. I don’t remember giving he social put.

She had a 750 credit score at 18

I did the same for my daughter. When she went off to college, the bank that held my mortgage offered her a credit card with a $300 limit. Not a secured card - a credit card. I told her to put her gym membership on it and pay it off every month. It got her an excellent credit rating

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Yes the best way is for them to get their own card, use it, and pay it off. They don’t get credit as an authorized user. They are not held responsible if you don’t pay

Lol are you saying my sentence was a run-on?

I don’t think so. Proper use of conjunctions between clauses. :face_blowing_a_kiss:

No, not directed at you

Mine are probably run-ons from a style perspective (i.e. lacking style) even if not technically by grammar. These days I typically do sentence fragments consciously.

My HS English teachers would be ashamed of me.

Mine was a bitch, so I don’t care.

Thé card has arrived and there are no numbers on it. Is this a new thing or because he’s an authorized user, not an account owner? it seems hé can tap with it, but not order anything that requires the cc number.

That seems odd. Is the number on the back of the card?

Interesting. Yes, it turns out it is. I’ve never seen that before.

It’s a security feature. I don’t get it but that’s what they claim