TRADELINE TRUTH
The whole authorized user strategy. Nothing to sell.
Being added to someone's credit card can help your credit — or do nothing, or hurt. We explain the mechanism, the caveats and the checks, with a primary source behind every claim.
Start with the question you have
How does it actually work?
What gets reported, what doesn't, and why two people get different results.
I need a mortgage or a car loan.
Where an authorized user account helps, and where a lender's own rules take over.
Someone is selling me a tradeline.
What the FTC has challenged, and seven red flags to check before you pay.
Does my card's issuer report authorized users?
Published policies, dated, with unknowns marked unknown.
Which score am I even looking at?
Reports versus scores, FICO versus VantageScore, and how to get all three reports free.
Latest episodes
EP. 11
Can a spouse's or family member's bad credit hurt you as an authorized user?
Your spouse's score doesn't transfer to you, but the card you share can affect your report. What to check together, who owes the bill, and how to step away.
EP. 10
New to U.S. credit? Starting with an authorized user account
New to U.S. credit? What an authorized user account can add, the ID and reporting questions to ask first, ITIN facts, and building credit in your own name.
EP. 09
How FICO 8, FICO 9 and VantageScore treat authorized user accounts
How FICO 8, FICO 9, VantageScore 3.0 and 4.0 treat authorized user accounts, what public guidance leaves out, and how to compare scores without misreading them.
Free tools
30-Day Authorized User Score Tracker
Record what each bureau actually shows. Excel, printable and Google Sheets.
Utilization calculator
See your numbers with and without an authorized user account.
Question scripts
Word-for-word questions for the issuer, a lender, or the family member you're asking.
Why we sell nothing
Most of what you'll find about tradelines is written by someone who sells them. That changes what gets said. We don't sell tradelines, credit repair, or placement on anyone's account, and we don't link to people who do. What we offer is the fine print, translated: how issuers report, how scoring models treat what's reported, and what a lender still decides on its own.
Educational only. Not financial advice. We don't sell tradelines.