@jules79 wrote:
For a credit card-authorized user to be reported on Equifax, Transunion, and Experian:
(1) Do I have to reside at the same address as the primary card owner, or directly related?
(2) Does anyone have any luck or issues with specifically (Citi, BOA, NFCU, Wells Fargo, Apple Card, and PNC)
(3) Do THEY also backdate the AU's credit report?
Whether they're reported doesn't seem to be a big issue, it's more about whether they affect your score. When people realized AU cards were a quick way to boost their credit, a secondary market for tradelines sprung up, and the 3 credit bureaus responded by discounting AUs they deemed to be fraudulent. AUs were originally intended for wives who lacked or were unable to get credit on their own, so things like living in the same house, having the same last name, and even being of opposite genders may help your odds of getting a score boost.
But even if the credit bureaus consider an AU card to be scoreable, that doesn't mean all lenders will. Many explicitly discount all AUs when making lending decisions.
Though based on my own experience, NFCU seems fine with AUs. They gave me a card with a $8K SL when I had just 6 months of credit history, and gave me $16K in CLIs over the next 9 months. While my scores were great (FICO 8s all above 760), it was only because of an old AU card.
Aside from a lack of negatives, age is the most important factor for an AU card. Mine was over 20 years old. The only lender I've heard of who doesn't report the full age is Amex.
