Comments on: FICO Will Eliminate Common Way to Build Credit

By: Dan Ray

Dan Ray — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:50:45 +0000

FICO announced yesterday that it has reversed its decision. Jeremy Simon of CreditCards.com wrote a piece on it today. (Disclosure: I’m his boss, and proud of him breaking the story.)

By: Credit Card Reward Geek

Credit Card Reward Geek — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 02:30:36 +0000

This is a bummer. When I was a teenager my Dad helped me build my credit by making me an authorized user on one of his credit cards and teaching me all about how to use credit cards to my advantage. (Then he made me run purchasing errands for him. : ) )

I was planning to do the same for my kids.

By: Margo

Margo — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 12:27:38 +0000

I’m pleased with the new changes. I don’t think anyone – even someone’s kids – should get to piggyback off their good credit.

I asked for a credit card in high school so my parents wouldn’t have to clothing shop with me. I got a checkbook instead, and the advice that “when your good name is enough to get credit, then you can have it.”

I started with a $500 limit and now have $15K because I knew there was no bailout, I respected it.

By: Flexo

Flexo — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 02:00:22 +0000

Wanda: It seems to me that the algorithm will be changed for everyone, so you could very well see your score drop. That’s just speculation on my part.

I suppose there is a possibility that they will “grandfather” those who were authorized users before a certain date to maintain their credit score, but it doesn’t seem likely. It seems more likely that once the new score formula goes into effect, it will affect everyone.

By: Wanda

Wanda — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 00:01:54 +0000

Would the scores be recalculated to reflect the new system? For example, I have a 700+ credit score that is due largely to my 10-year credit history (curtesy of being Mom’s authorized user… or joint user.. actually, I’m not sure.. hmm). Should I now prepare for a lower credit score because the credit card under my own name is only a year old?

By: Lazy Man and Money

Lazy Man and Money — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 18:00:29 +0000

“The options arenÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t as good, however.” – I’m glad you got that in there, because this definitely opens up a lot of potential dangers. There’s no way my parents would have trusted me as a joint user on their account (and they shouldn’t have).

By: Archetypical

Archetypical — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 17:42:08 +0000

I think this is an excellent idea. People should not be getting a leg up as credit-worthy unless they have full access and full accountability assigned to them.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 14:40:38 +0000

I’m just amazed ANYONE would sell out their credit history the way some people have been doing. It just seems like an awfully big risk — you are selling them authority to USE your credit line even if they then promise not to do so. There may be some safeguards in place (like not revealing to the buyer the card number and expiration date), but the risk still seems huge.