Authorized user tradelines
Tradeline FAQ
Ten questions, answered plainly. If yours is not here, the ordering guide and refund policy cover the rest.
1. What is an authorized user tradeline?
An established credit card account on which the primary cardholder adds you as an authorized user. Most issuers then report the account on your credit file with its opening date, credit limit and payment history. You do not receive a card and cannot spend on the account.
2. How is this different from what Pinnacle usually does?
Pinnacle's core work is forensic FCRA dispute and enforcement on your own accounts. Tradelines add someone else's account history to your file. They do not correct, dispute or remove anything, and they are sold separately from every Pinnacle engagement. This service is not credit repair, legal advice or financial advice.
3. How long does the line stay on my file?
Four months from the date it first reports. The norm in this market is about two months. At the end of the term you are removed from the account. You may renew for a further four month term at 35 percent off the listed price.
4. Will my credit score go up?
We do not promise any score change and no reputable seller can. An authorized user account adds age, limit and history to your file. How a scoring model treats that depends on your whole profile, and FICO states that recent versions of its score give authorized user accounts less impact than primary accounts. Lenders may also weigh authorized user history differently from your own.
5. When will the line show up?
The purchase deadline on each card is the account's statement closing date. The issuer reports after that date and the bureaus update afterward. The account typically appears within three to ten calendar days after the closing date. Reservations close three days before the closing date; inside that window the line shows the following cycle's date, so what you see is what you get.
6. Which bureaus will it report to?
All three. Every line reports to all three bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. If the account does not appear on all three within two reporting cycles, the refund policy applies.
7. Can the cardholder remove me early?
Yes. The primary cardholder retains full control of the account and may remove an authorized user or close the account at any time without notice. If that happens before your term ends, the refund policy sets out the remedy.
8. What do you need from me, and how is it stored?
Full legal name, date of birth, current address, and the last four digits of your Social Security number. You supply these through a secure, single-use link emailed immediately after payment, never in the cart, on this site's public pages or by email. They are encrypted when stored, viewable only by an administrator with every view logged, kept for 30 days after the cardholder submits the addition to the issuer, in case it has to be resubmitted, then purged. They are kept entirely apart from Pinnacle's dispute client files.
9. Can I get a refund?
In full at any time before the addition is submitted, and for five days after purchase under the California Credit Services Act. After submission, a refund depends on whether the line posts and stays in the stated condition. The refund policy has the detail.
10. How many seats are there, and why do lines sell out?
Each card carries a fixed number of authorized user seats per cycle, because issuers limit how many can be added and because too many additions harm the account's reporting. Each line opens 20 seats per cycle. When a cycle's seats are taken, the line shows as sold out until the next statement closing date opens the following cycle.