Jun 14, 2026
Making a child an authorized user on a credit card can be one of the greatest gifts parents can give. The short-term gift is that the teen or young adult uses the card to pay for essentials, such as gas or textbooks. The longer-term benefit is that the child can start building credit.
But what happens when that “gift” turns into a major burden?
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Imagine Emily, who received a credit card from her parents when she was 16. Emily is now 22 years old and just graduated from college. She’s had this credit card for six years and knows she’s only charged around $6,000 over that time.
But she sets up a Credit Karma account and, when reviewing her profile, discovers this credit card has a whopping $40,000 balance. To top things off, the debt has tanked her credit score. She starts to panic. How did she accrue all of this debt — and worse, how is she going to pay it off?
How can Emily dig herself out of this hole?
How authorized credit cards work
Many teens or young adults don’t understand the logistics of being an authorized user on a credit card when their parents hand it to them. (Heck, the parents may not fully understand, either.) The kid might think this is their credit card. Or, they know they’re an authorized user, but they don’t actually grasp what that means.
When Emily’s parents gave her a credit card with her name on it, they were the primary users on the account. So, purchases made by all three people show up on the credit card statement.
Instead of Emily’s parents just giving her money for gas, they decided to add her as an authorized user on their credit card so she could swipe it at the gas station. Since her name and credit profile were attached to the card, she could start building credit from a young age.
How would she build credit? Ideally, her parents would make regular payments on the card. Payment history comprises 35% of your FICO score. Credit age makes up another 15%, so by already having a credit card for six years by the time she graduated from college, Emily’s credit score should have been solid.
Her parents may have intended to help Emily build credit, but this $40,000 credit card debt has actually hurt her score. By not making regular payments and allowing debt to accrue, that 35% payment history section of her score has taken a major hit. Also, amounts owed make up another 30% of her FICO score. The $40,000 is likely a large percentage of their available credit on that card, which hurts her score even more.
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When children are authorized users on their parents’ credit cards, their financial habits affect their parents. But the opposite is also true — in this case, her parents’ debt has directly impacted Emily.
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The $40,000 credit card debt isn’t her responsibility
The $40,000 credit card debt may affect Emily’s credit score, but there is good news: She is not legally responsible for paying off the amount her parents accumulated.
Her parents are the primary account holders, so they are the ones required to repay the $40,000 and any associated late fees. Collection agencies may reach out to Emily about the debt simply because they made a mistake, and unethical collectors could contact her, hoping they can convince an authorized user to repay the debt. Regardless, she is not on the hook, and those agencies cannot force her to pay.
What if Emily’s parents don’t pay down the debt? What if they accumulate even more? While this would be a tough situation for the family overall, Emily could minimize the damage to her credit by removing herself as an authorized user.
How to remove an authorized user from a credit card
The steps to removing herself as an authorized user from her parents’ card depend on which credit card company Emily’s family uses. Some will allow her to make the decision herself, while others will require a primary cardholder to do so.
The latter situation may be difficult and lead to an uncomfortable conversation with her parents. But if her low credit score is impacting her life, then the pros will likely outweigh the cons.
Emily and/or her parents can call the number on the back of the credit card to contact customer service and request a removal. They may also be able to do it on their computer or through the card’s app.
Once Emily is no longer an authorized user, she should check her credit report to ensure the account has been removed from her profile. Her credit score may actually dip afterward, especially if the credit card was her oldest form of credit. But with a fresh start, she can begin rebuilding her credit score by getting a secured credit card, making on-time payments, and keeping her balance low.
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Laura Grace Tarpley is a contributing reporter for Moneywise who has been covering personal finance and working in digital media for 10 years. Her expertise spans banking, investing, retirement, loans, mortgages, and taxes.
