Pros and Cons of Joint Credit Cards

Pros and Cons of Joint Credit Cards – There are several advantages and disadvantages of joint credit cards.Card Lenders allow “add ons” to most of their cards and this is easier than applying for a new card.

Why should you share a card?

Applying for a new credit card is a documentative process that dives deep into your credit history,debts,credit score,spending habits and repayment capabilities.To reiterate – owning a credit card is not a right,but a privilege and by adding a family member as a joint holder,you are sharing that privilege with the add on.

Pros of a joint credit card

no documentation

One of the best parts of a joint credit card is the fact that the existing card user has already gone through the entire verification process before he/she adds on another user to the card.When the add on happens,it is almost with no more documents,except for maybe identification proof.Occasionally a credit check for the new add on user may take place,but more often than not.

easy access for minors

In many a Hollywood movie you may have seen the blonde teenage daughter using her fathers credit card to shop.This is particularly useful for the card user to add one of their children as an add on user.It maybe noted that lenders  in some states require users to attain atleast 16 years of age before they can be made joint card users.

easier repayment

Some couples use this joint credit card feature if both are working a job.This has two distinct advantages –

• One they tend to spend less as both are using the same card and its easier to keep track on the others expenditure.
• Since both are working,it will also be easier to pay back the card payments every month

credit score

This could either be good or bad,depending on how the card is used.If the card payments are done on time every month and more than the minimum due is paid,it can have a positive impact on both the joint users.Also if one user has credit in bad standing because of a previous card but the payments on this card are going well,this too can leverage a few points towards increasing the users credit score.

Cons of a joint credit card

indiscriminate use

Many users that usually assign joint teenage children as add ons onto the card face this problem.It probably will not be done on purpose or to spite the other user,but indiscriminate  use can run up a big bill and in many cases even max out the card .This could spiral out of control because at this point there will be other penalties an charges added onto the card due to delinquency.
this due to one of the users careless use of the credit card,the other user will bear the brunt of it and could also affect the credit score of the primary user if it goes into collections.