海角大神

If you鈥檝e got good credit, it鈥檚 natural to want to give someone close to you a little credit boost. Whether it鈥檚 your child, your significant other or a close friend, adding another person to one of your credit card accounts as an authorized user聽could help improve his or her聽credit. But聽how much of a risk will this person pose to your good credit history?

Adding other people as authorized users means they鈥檒l have their own credit card聽with their name on it, but it will be tied to your account. You will be responsible for any purchases聽they make with the card. If they聽don鈥檛 pay, your credit will suffer.

What are the chances that authorized users will cause trouble on your credit card account? Here are seven聽things to watch for before sharing your card.

1. They聽don鈥檛 have steady income

Unless you鈥檙e prepared to pay for all of their purchases 鈥� which may be the case anyway if the authorized user is your dependent聽鈥� make sure they have money coming in on a regular basis. Talk frankly with your authorized users聽about their income, their spending habits, and how they will reimburse you for their purchases.

2. They spend impulsively

Think about how聽you鈥檝e seen them聽handle money. Do they make large, unplanned purchases? Does their bar tab make your eyes pop聽when you go out together? If their spending makes you uncomfortable even when they鈥檙e not walking around with a credit card tied to your account, you probably don鈥檛聽want to share your card with them.

3. They haven鈥檛 learned from past mistakes

Even the best of us can make聽mistakes with credit cards. But if your friend or relative has messed up before, it鈥檚 reasonable to want to know how they would do things differently this time around. If they talk about those past mistakes in a way that blames someone or something else for their problems, they may not be taking responsibility for their actions. And they may not be ready to handle credit again, especially not your credit.

4. They won鈥檛 share personal information with you

Sharing a credit card account is very intimate. To add people聽to your account,聽you may need their personal information such as聽date of birth and Social Security number. Once they use聽the card, you鈥檒l be able to see all their purchases on your statements.聽Unless you both feel comfortable with that, adding a user聽probably isn鈥檛 a good idea.

5.聽You don鈥檛 know them well

Do you know how much they earn? How much they spend on things such as聽rent, utilities and groceries? Do you know how they react in聽a stressful financial situation? How they handle difficult conversations? Even if you feel close to someone, you may not know much about how he聽handles money, or how well she communicates about it. If there are any big questions, it鈥檚 important to talk them through before you share your credit card account.

6. They can鈥檛 get a credit card on their own

There are some very good reasons for not being able to get a solo credit card account. Maybe the person is under 21, which means she either needs a co-signer to get a card or needs to be an authorized user on someone else鈥檚 account. Or maybe he is an聽, and doesn鈥檛 have a credit history in this country. Besides, some people can end up with damaged credit because of huge medical bills or a sudden job loss, and not due to聽irresponsible behavior.

The point is that聽it鈥檚 important to ask聽why聽they can鈥檛 get a credit card of their own before adding them to your account. The answer might surprise you.

7. They have unrealistic expectations

It鈥檚 true that having authorized user status will help improve that person鈥檚聽credit 鈥� as long as the credit card聽bills are paid on time and you keep your card balance low relative to the credit limit. But it won鈥檛 build users鈥� credit聽. Unless you鈥檙e a couple who share all financial accounts, the authorized user arrangement probably should be only one piece of the financial puzzle as users聽try to improve their credit.

The authorized users should continue to pay any other loans on time, and should eventually apply for a聽聽in their own name. Between authorized user status on your account and a carefully managed secured credit card of their own, they should be able to get an unsecured card before too long.

Best practices

Even if you are聽confident that someone聽will make a good authorized user, it鈥檚 still a good idea to sit down and talk about ground rules. If you will expect the聽users聽to reimburse you for their purchases, talk about how quickly they鈥檒l need to pay you back. If you鈥檒l be covering their expenses and yours, how much money are you comfortable having them spend? What kinds of expenses do you expect them to put on the card? Is there a certain dollar amount they can spend without talking to you first?

Giving authorized user status can make sense, especially if you鈥檙e sharing other financial responsibilities already with that person. And if you are a pro at handling credit cards, always paying your bills on time and keeping your balances relatively low, your good behavior will reflect well on your authorized user鈥檚 credit history.聽Just make sure any red flags are investigated and addressed before you move forward.

Virginia C. McGuire is a staff writer at聽NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email:virginia@. Twitter:聽.

This article first appeared at .