Credit Score Surprises

When I finally got my credit report (which looked good, although I didn’t opt to pay the $9.95 or whatever it was for my actual credit score) there were only two surprises: apparently I still have my American Eagle credit card open from when I was oh, sixteen (balance-less, thankfully). And, two, I am still recorded as an authorized user of one of my parent’s credit cards. I forgot I had it, but I do have it buried in a drawer at my place – my parents wanted me to have it as a last-ditch safety net of sorts. In case of emergencies. However, I started wondering if this affects my credit rating in any way, and started investigating. Not that I necessarily think my credit rating is better than theirs, but now I’m curious. The answer I found: up until now, yes – you were associated with the credit of the actual user. So you have the perks of their line of credit, but also have all of their credit flaws attached to your record as well (late payments, etc.).

But according to WikiAnswers, this will be changing this year, and the use of authorized user accounts will no longer be involved in the computation of the FICO score, and there will probably be a negative impact as a result:

The '08 version of the FICO scoring software, available in September 2007, will completely bypass any accounts listed as Authorized User. Fair Isaac expects that about 30% of consumers will see a drop in their FICO score as a result of this.

These two sources also paint the other side of the picture – the “guilt by association” effect of being an authorized user... we shall see when this takes effect.
BCS Alliance
Bankrate