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 Dear
Dr. Don,
My cousin was willing to put me as an authorized
user of her credit card to help me build my credit
score. She pays her bills promptly and it helped
my credit score. Now that I have my own credit
card, I would like to remove myself as an authorized
user from my cousin's card.
My question is, how will it impact
my credit score if I remove myself as an authorized
user? Is this the same situation as canceling
a credit card and lowering your credit score?
What is the best way to remove myself as an authorized
user without hurting my credit score? Thank you,
-- Gia Giveback
 Dear
Gia,
Turns out a lot of people's cousins were willing
to list them as authorized users on their credit
cards to help improve their credit, and it has
the credit scoring industry changing its scoring
models to stop looking at the payment history
of authorized users in the future. The Bankrate
feature, "FICO
credit score drops authorized users," explains
the issue in greater depth.
Piggybacking, as it's known in the trade, helped you to build your credit score. Having your cousin remove you as an authorized user won't take away the payment history up to the point you are removed from the account, but it can impact your credit score by reducing your available lines of credit and the ratio of outstanding balances/available lines.
Go ahead and ask your cousin to remove you from the account. Any setback to your credit score should be temporary and it's on the horizon regardless of your decision with the upcoming change in the scoring model(s).
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