Can my credit be affected if I am an authorized user on someone’s credit card in another country?
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at
9:07 am
Emily asked:
My uncle in Europe has offered to add me to his credit card as an authorized user (not co-signer or joint user) to help me pay for some school expenses — which is really generous of him — however, I know he is working through some identity theft issues and has less than perfect credit. Will his credit affect mine? If ID theft is still an issue, could I somehow wind up stuck with the balance on his card if he defaults or something? I don’t know much about credit cards.
My uncle in Europe has offered to add me to his credit card as an authorized user (not co-signer or joint user) to help me pay for some school expenses — which is really generous of him — however, I know he is working through some identity theft issues and has less than perfect credit. Will his credit affect mine? If ID theft is still an issue, could I somehow wind up stuck with the balance on his card if he defaults or something? I don’t know much about credit cards.
Tagged with: Co Signer • Credit Cards • Id Theft
Filed under: Identity Theft
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Credit card companies report to the credit bureau the following:
Late payments, monthly balances, credit line
If you are an authorized user on that account, all of the those will be reported to the credit bureau and affect your credit score. If there is ID theft issues, I suggest alerting them and putting a credit monitor on your credit rating.
If the monthly minimum payments are not made, that will affect your score as well. Since the your name is on that card and account as well, you are jointly responsible.
I am authorized user on my parents credit card. When I looked up me credit report, the information from that card appears on my credit report and is used to determine my credit score. This is a good way to help someone establish credit when they are young.
If your uncle’s credit card account is in good standing and the minimum due is always paid on time then it should reflect good on his as well as yours (when you become an authorized user).
It doesn’t matter if your Uncle has good credit or not, just that the credit card (that your authorized to use) is being paid.
If you uncle starts missing payment, then his and your credit scores will start to fall.