Authorized user on a credit card: what you owe and what shows on your report

An authorized user can use someone else's credit card account, usually with a card in their own name. A joint account holder owns the account together with the other holder. The two can look the same on a plastic card. They are not the same in what they owe.

Who owes the balance

• Joint account holders each owe the full balance, whoever made the charges, the CFPB says. The card company can collect from either one.
• An authorized user generally does not owe the debt. That is the CFPB's answer for an authorized user on the account of a relative who has died.
• A cosigner is a third role, and owes the debt in full (see cosigning a loan).

Unsure which you are? The card agreement and your statements say who the account holders are. Ask the card company in writing if they do not.

What can show on your credit report

Joint accounts affect both holders' credit scores, the CFPB says. For spouses, Regulation B adds a rule: when a creditor reports an account that a spouse may use or is liable on, it must report it so the information can be found under each spouse's name. Either spouse can ask in writing to have an existing account reported that way, and the creditor has 90 days to do it.

The CFPB lists a specific error to look for: an account that reports you as the owner when you are only an authorized user. If you find one, dispute it with the bureau and with the lender that reported it (see how to dispute a credit report error).

Getting off an account

The account holder removes an authorized user by calling the card company, the CFPB says, and may want a new card number if the authorized user knows the old one. The CFPB also suggests telling the authorized user once they have been removed.

A joint holder who wants out should ask the card company about the options. You may have to close the account to stop owing for new charges, and each joint holder still owes the balance as it stood at closing.

When the account holder dies

An authorized user generally is not liable for the balance; a joint holder may be. A collector may talk with a surviving spouse or the estate's representative about paying from the estate. It may not suggest you must pay from your own money when you are not responsible (see debts after someone dies).