Should you add your child to your credit card?
Adding a child as an authorized user on a credit card builds their credit history, as long as all payments are made on time. However, negative payment history will damage their score and many lenders now discount authorized user accounts due to widespread fraud, making it less effective than in past years.
Transcript
ELLEN: …as long as that card is being paid on time. You don't want to pass negative credit history down to your child. Is it good to add your child to your credit cards so that they start out with a good history? It can be, yes. As long as they're responsible. It can be very helpful to have that credit history, as long as your credit history is good, as long as that card is being paid on time. You don't want to, you know, pass negative credit history down to your child. So, you know, if there's a chance of that being late, it's actually probably better to not add them. But I’ll also say: some scammers have taken to something called authorized user fraud, where you can pay to be added as an authorized user on someone's account. And so, 20-plus years ago, I would 100% say add your kid to your credit card. But now, actually, a lot of companies will disregard authorized user trade lines because of some of the scams or fraud, you know, where you can buy that credit. So, it can be good, but, you know, it's not as good as it used to be.
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