Victor asked: I am looking to raise my credit score. I currently have a 598 score. My wife has a good score. I am looking to try and piggyback on one of her credit cards to increase my score so we can get a better mortgage rate. The bank said that this would not raise my credit score and her “financial advisor” states that adding me to her and would not affect anything, although there are countless credit websites and credit advisors that differ from this opinion. Can you please advise on whether this will increase my score. Also my wife believes that this will drop her score. Please advise on this also.
Answer: If your wife’s card has a low balance, high limit and good payment history, then adding you to her account will DEFINITELY help your score. You should know that if she adds you as a joint account holder, as opposed to a authorized user, then you are liable for her debt.
Bankers and financial advisors are NOT credit experts. I should know. I was one of them. I can tell you without reservation that I did not have a clue compared to what I have learned since starting Score More Credit. Back then, I probably would’ve said the same.
Adding you to your wife’s account will not effect her score at all. the only way you could hurt her score is by running up the charges on her card, if she gave it to you, but you could do that now without being on her account, right?
I say go for it. It will save you both thousands in the long run, though I’d take the Authorized User route.
