To add someone to your credit card, log in to your card issuer’s website or app, find the option to add an authorized user under account management, and enter the person’s full legal name, date of birth, Social Security number, and mailing address. You can also do it by phone using the number on the back of your card. The request usually processes in minutes, a card in the authorized user’s name arrives within 7 to 10 business days, and from that point forward you are responsible for every charge they make.
What You Need Before You Start
Card issuers ask for four pieces of information about the person you’re adding:
- Full legal name, matching their government-issued ID.
- Date of birth.
- Social Security number, or ITIN.
- Mailing address where the new card will be sent.
Some issuers will add an authorized user without a Social Security number, but the account may not appear on that person’s credit report if you skip it. If credit building is the reason you’re adding them, provide the SSN.
The Three Ways to Submit the Request
Most issuers offer the same three channels:
- Online. Log in, look for “Add Authorized User” or “Manage Users” under account settings, enter the information, and submit.
- Mobile app. Same flow as the website, from account management.
- Phone. Call the number on your card, verify your identity through security questions or a one-time passcode, and give the representative the details.
Online and app submissions typically go through within minutes. The new card usually arrives within 7 to 10 business days, and some issuers offer expedited shipping that delivers in one or two.1USAA. Credit Card Authorized User The card has to be activated through the issuer’s site or activation number before it can be used.
Issuer Rules That Vary
There is no federal minimum age for authorized users. The CARD Act’s under-21 rules apply to people opening their own accounts, not to authorized users added to someone else’s.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1637 – Open End Consumer Credit Plans That’s why parents can add young children to their accounts.
Issuers set their own minimums. American Express and Barclays require authorized users to be at least 13. Discover sets the floor at 15. Wells Fargo requires 18. Chase, Capital One, and Bank of America have no published minimum age.
Issuers also cap the number of authorized users per account. Fidelity, for instance, allows up to seven authorized users plus one joint owner.3Fidelity Investments. Fidelity Rewards Visa Signature Credit Card – Authorized Users Most fall somewhere between five and ten.
Standard cards usually don’t charge a fee to add an authorized user. Premium cards often do. The American Express Platinum charges $195 per authorized user per year. The American Express Gold is free for the first five and $35 for each one after that. Any fees post to the primary cardholder’s balance.
You’re Liable for Everything They Charge
This is the single most important thing to understand before you add anyone. As the primary cardholder, you owe the issuer for every purchase on the account, including everything the authorized user buys. The authorized user has no legal obligation to the card issuer for any part of the balance.
If the person you added runs up charges and refuses to pay you back, the issuer will not help you recover the money. Your options come down to pressuring them to reimburse you or pursuing them in small claims court. That risk is the reason to think carefully about whom you add and, when possible, to set controls before you hand over the card.
The same rule applies on business cards. If you add an employee as an authorized user, the business or account holder remains liable for every charge, and the employee has no personal liability to the issuer.4Capital One. Adding an Authorized User on a Business Card
How It Affects Their Credit
Once the account appears on the authorized user’s credit report, usually within one to two billing cycles, the payment history, credit limit, and account age all feed into their credit profile.5Experian. Will Being an Authorized User Help My Credit? For someone with a thin file or no credit history, that can move a score meaningfully.
The catch is that your account has to look good for it to help. Long on-time payment history and low balances relative to the limit lift the authorized user’s score. Missed payments or high utilization drag it down. Newer versions of the FICO scoring model give authorized user accounts less weight than primary accounts, though older versions treat them the same.6myFICO. How Do Authorized User Accounts Impact the FICO Score?
Some issuers only report authorized user activity when the user is 18 or older. Chase, American Express, and Wells Fargo all follow that practice. If you’re adding a minor mainly to build credit, confirm your issuer reports for people under 18 before assuming it will help.
Controlling What They Can Spend
American Express lets you set a spending limit as low as $200 per authorized user, and Capital One offers a similar feature. Chase does not offer per-user spending limits on personal cards but does on business cards, and lets you lock and unlock an authorized user’s card at any time through your online account.7Chase. Setting a Spending Limit for Authorized Users Bank of America, Citi, and Discover do not allow spending limits for authorized users on personal cards.
Most issuers let you turn on text or email transaction alerts, and you can review the authorized user’s charges separately in your online account. Purchases they make earn rewards at the same rate as your own, and you control how those rewards are redeemed.
One quirk worth knowing: under federal Regulation Z, the right to dispute billing errors belongs to the primary cardholder, not the authorized user.8eCFR. 12 CFR Part 226 – Truth in Lending (Regulation Z) If the authorized user sees a fraudulent charge, you have to be the one to call the issuer.
Authorized User Is Not the Same as Joint Account Holder
These arrangements sound similar and are often confused. Most major issuers no longer offer joint credit card accounts, so authorized user is now the standard way to share a card. The differences matter:
- An authorized user has no legal duty to pay the balance. A joint account holder shares full responsibility, and the issuer can pursue either person.
- An authorized user can be added or removed in minutes. A joint account holder can only be removed by closing the account.
- Adding an authorized user does not trigger a credit inquiry. Applying as a joint account holder produces a hard inquiry that sits on the applicant’s report for two years.
- When an authorized user is removed, the account disappears from their credit report. For a joint account holder, negative information stays on the report for seven years even after the account closes.
How to Remove Them
The primary cardholder can remove an authorized user at any time through the online portal or by calling customer service. In most systems you go to account management, select the user, and choose remove or deactivate. The issuer sends a confirmation.
The authorized user can also request their own removal by contacting the issuer directly. No permission from the primary cardholder is required.9Experian. Removing Yourself as an Authorized User Could Help Your Credit That’s useful to know if you were added to someone else’s card and their handling of the account is hurting your score.
Once the removal goes through, the card is deactivated immediately, the account drops off the authorized user’s credit report, and it stops factoring into their credit scores. Some issuers recommend physically destroying the old card so it can’t be used after deactivation.