Authorized user

When the issuer reports authorized users, the card's history, limit and balance can appear on the user's credit report. FICO announced in 2008 that FICO 8 would count authorized user accounts while limiting the effect of people renting spots on strangers' cards. The account helps most when it's old, has no late payments and carries a low balance. When the primary cardholder runs it badly, it can hurt instead.

Because you aren't liable, issuers generally remove you on request, and the CFPB explains how the primary cardholder can take you off. If the account still shows after removal, dispute it with each bureau listing it. Mortgage underwriting is more cautious: Fannie Mae's Selling Guide has its own rules for how authorized user tradelines count, so a borrowed history may carry less weight there.