FAQs

1. What is Piggybacking?

Credit Piggybacking, sometimes called Credit Boosting, is achieved when an individual is added as an Authorized User (AU) to a credit card account of another individual, and as a result inherit positive factors that may drastically increase their credit score in a short amount of time. Simply put, piggybacking enables the entire history of someone else’s credit card account to be placed on your credit report. 

Positive credit boosting factors include:

• Perfect payment history

More credit card accounts, higher credit limits, and older accounts mean a bigger boost.

2. How long does it take to see the benefits of piggybacking and how long do they last?

Another benefit of piggybacking is the speed at which a tradeline account is added to your credit report after the request is made to the card company — typically within 30 days. The tradeline will report on an authorized user's credit report until they are removed. When you purchase a tradeline, it will be reported for 60 days (2 reporting cycles) with the option to extend month-to-month. If you do not extend, you will be removed as an authorized user and reporting will end after the 2 reporting cycles.

3. Will piggybacking hurt me in any way?
It can. If you are added as an authorized user and the card holder misses a payment or maxes out a credit card, your credit could be negatively impacted. You’ll want to make sure you are only added to accounts of people you can trust to keep accounts in good standing with a perfect payment history and the utilization percentage consistently low so that the account can continue to help boost your credit. This is where I come in!

Additionally, when an authorized user is removed, the card issuer stops reporting the account on the authorized user’s credit report. Some creditors will remove the account’s history from the authorized user’s credit report entirely, which can cause their credit history to revert back.

4. Will I receive a credit card as an Authorized User?

No. As an authorized user, you will not receive any credit cards for tradelines you are added to, and you will not have any access to the accounts. The only benefit you will reap from piggybacking is seasoned tradelines with great payment history and low utilization.

5. What happens if the tradeline does not report to the credit bureaus?

My Money Back Guarantee provides that if a tradeline does not post to any 2 out of the 3 credit bureaus, you will be issued a refund for that tradeline. In the unlikely event that a tradeline falls off your credit sooner than 60 days, you will be issued a pro-rated refund.

6. What information do I need to provide to get started?

In order to get added as an authorized user, you will need to provide your full legal name, address, date of birth, and social security number. This information will be transmitted via phone or secure encrypted email, per your preference.

In addition, you will need to create a Credit Karma account and provide the login details (username and password). This is required for monitoring purposes to ensure tradelines are properly reporting.