Selling Tradelines / Piggybacking Part II: $1000+/hr, 20-40k/yr. Side Gig

[ducky19]

Mrs. Ducky and I were visiting with some old friends this weekend, and the subject of tradelines came up. They are doing well now, but a few years back they fell on some hard times which took a toll on their credit. He mentioned that he would like to get his credit score up high enough to be able to qualify for a decent rate on a mortgage, so I offered to add him to some lines. The only thing I asked was that he update me each time an account showed up on his credit report and what impact it had on his score. I'm hoping to get some good data points, and I'm particularly interested in seeing what impact the AmEx cards have. I will post updates as I get them from him in case anyone else is interested.

[ss17]

ducky19,
I wanted to let you know that AU's on AmEx cards post like they just got a new card for whatever your limit is, so they don't add to the Average Age of Accounts.  Won't help your friends credit much if any.

[HBFIRE]

ducky19,
I wanted to let you know that AU's on AmEx cards post like they just got a new card for whatever your limit is, so they don't add to the Average Age of Accounts.  Won't help your friends credit much if any.

This probably depends on his credit profile.  For someone with a low overall credit limit, increasing the limit can have a very big impact.  For another person who already has a very large overall credit limit, the new credit might have a small negative impact.  Typically those with poor credit can use the benefit of a higher overall credit limit.  Credit available to credit used ratio is a large component of credit score modeling.

[ducky19]

ducky19,
I wanted to let you know that AU's on AmEx cards post like they just got a new card for whatever your limit is, so they don't add to the Average Age of Accounts.  Won't help your friends credit much if any.

This probably depends on his credit profile.  For someone with a low overall credit limit, increasing the limit can have a very big impact.  For another person who already has a very large overall credit limit, the new credit might have a small negative impact.  Typically those with poor credit can use the benefit of a higher overall credit limit.  Credit available to credit used ratio is a large component of credit score modeling.

Exactly. As I stated in this post, age is only one factor that helps - available credit accounts for around 30% of the score. So even though the age is a brand new account, if he suddenly has $60k of available credit he didn't have before, it will still have a decent impact on his score. I like experiments like this because I can tell exactly what impact it had - that's what I want to report back. I know most tradeline companies don't use AmEx because of the age, but you can still improve scores dramatically with available credit.

My niece's husband needed some help with his credit score for a car loan, so I added him to several of my cards - three of which were AmEx. I had her send me an update each time his credit score updated with a new account. All told, his score went from a 550 to a 720! Several of the larger boosts he got were when an AmEx card posted. While arebelspy is correct that they show as being a new account and you don't get the age benefit, it seems that the available credit portion made up for that. Total available credit from AmEx from the cards that I added him to was ~$50,000 total from three cards. Obviously, other factors on their credit (bankruptcy, foreclosures, etc.) may keep it from having as significant of an impact as it did in his case, but AmEx cards can help. Something to keep in mind if you have someone close to you who needs a boost that you don't want to add to a card being used for tradelines.

[secondcor521]

Open question to the thread audience:

I have a Chase card listed with New Company with 2 AU slots.  Both slots are currently filled with New Company clients.  But one AU was added in April and - I think - should have come off by now.

I have a private client interested in a slot on this same Chase card.

I have asked New Company about the April AU and they say I need to leave that AU on until September, which seems way too long.  I have shared this opinion with them but they haven't gotten back to me yet today.

1.  Has anyone had experience with having 3 AUs on a Chase card - pro or con?

2.  Would you:
     a.  Wait for mid-September to remove the April AU, possibly disappointing and/or losing the private client?
     b.  Add the private client now and have three AU's for a bit, possibly jeopardizing the two AU's with New Company and the Chase line?
     c.  Remove the April AU early and hope that New Company doesn't notice, possibly jeopardizing relationship with New Company?
     d.  Other?

[arebelspy]

Open question to the thread audience:

I have a Chase card listed with New Company with 2 AU slots.  Both slots are currently filled with New Company clients.  But one AU was added in April and - I think - should have come off by now.

I have a private client interested in a slot on this same Chase card.

I have asked New Company about the April AU and they say I need to leave that AU on until September, which seems way too long.  I have shared this opinion with them but they haven't gotten back to me yet today.

1.  Has anyone had experience with having 3 AUs on a Chase card - pro or con?

2.  Would you:
     a.  Wait for mid-September to remove the April AU, possibly disappointing and/or losing the private client?
     b.  Add the private client now and have three AU's for a bit, possibly jeopardizing the two AU's with New Company and the Chase line?
     c.  Remove the April AU early and hope that New Company doesn't notice, possibly jeopardizing relationship with New Company?
     d.  Other?

If it was added in April (and closed in April), 3 months is the max. I'd read your agreement carefully, and check with them again and clarify if the AU has paid to be on longer (and, if so, when your extra payment will be). The owner is out of town for the next week, but any of the other primary ladies you've dealt with should be able to look it up if you email them directly (PM me if you need the info).

I wouldn't do b, personally. Not worth raising flags with Chase.

I'd ask about if they paid to extend, and, if so, do A. If not, do C.

[secondcor521]

Open question to the thread audience:

I have a Chase card listed with New Company with 2 AU slots.  Both slots are currently filled with New Company clients.  But one AU was added in April and - I think - should have come off by now.

I have a private client interested in a slot on this same Chase card.

I have asked New Company about the April AU and they say I need to leave that AU on until September, which seems way too long.  I have shared this opinion with them but they haven't gotten back to me yet today.

1.  Has anyone had experience with having 3 AUs on a Chase card - pro or con?

2.  Would you:
     a.  Wait for mid-September to remove the April AU, possibly disappointing and/or losing the private client?
     b.  Add the private client now and have three AU's for a bit, possibly jeopardizing the two AU's with New Company and the Chase line?
     c.  Remove the April AU early and hope that New Company doesn't notice, possibly jeopardizing relationship with New Company?
     d.  Other?

If it was added in April (and closed in April), 3 months is the max. I'd read your agreement carefully, and check with them again and clarify if the AU has paid to be on longer (and, if so, when your extra payment will be). The owner is out of town for the next week, but any of the other primary ladies you've dealt with should be able to look it up if you email them directly (PM me if you need the info).

I wouldn't do b, personally. Not worth raising flags with Chase.

I'd ask about if they paid to extend, and, if so, do A. If not, do C.

Thanks.  I'm pretty sure they didn't pay to extend, but will call New Company and ask.  The thing I worry about a little bit is that the New Company person I deal with might not like the fact that I have a private client, and so may be obstructing a little bit.  She's usually pretty good and on point but in this particular exchange she has been less so.  I understand; there's no real incentive for her to be helpful to me in this regard.

FWIW, in the portal in the card history, it shows from June to December with the other AU filling a slot in August and September.  All the other slots are listed as AVAILABLE or UNAVAILABLE; the April AU is not listed anywhere on that screen.

Also, April AU was added on April 12, card received and activated April 20, statement closed on April 23, shows "posted" on May 3, and I received payment from New Company on July 20.

[PointsLawyer]

I paid the minimum for those two months.
You felt paying interest would look less suspicious?

NO, Once Cap One placed me on restricted status,  I was not able to add AU, however the ones on there still posted. I paid the minimum to make my small balance last 3 months, in that way I am assured the AU will post adn I will get paid for those two. But now we are done - unable to add any more AU.

Two updates from my world.

1. Wrapped up first batch of piggybacking-closure cases favorably!

2. For another forum member I dug into Capital One cardmember agreements, and folks who have old Cap1 cards might have some recourse via arbitration.

For the past few years, Cap1 has removed its arbitration provisions. But there was an arb provision back in 2009, and it explicitly says it survives any changes to the agreement. My argument (which I'm in the process of testing) is that anyone with an account opened in or before 2009 still has the benefits of that arbitration provision, even if it was removed after the fact.

[topshot]

FWIW, in the portal in the card history, it shows from June to December with the other AU filling a slot in August and September.  All the other slots are listed as AVAILABLE or UNAVAILABLE; the April AU is not listed anywhere on that screen.

The AU that they claim is supposed to be on for at least 5 months doesn't even show on the screen???

I did have an AU re-up, but they notified me of that fact.

[secondcor521]

FWIW, in the portal in the card history, it shows from June to December with the other AU filling a slot in August and September.  All the other slots are listed as AVAILABLE or UNAVAILABLE; the April AU is not listed anywhere on that screen.

The AU that they claim is supposed to be on for at least 5 months doesn't even show on the screen???

I did have an AU re-up, but they notified me of that fact.

It's because the AU was in the April/May time frame, which has already aged off the left side of the calendar that they show.

I did get a reply from New Company, and they said they were looking at the wrong AU, and that I could remove the April AU now.  I removed that AU and blocked out the next two months with New Company and am now working with my private client to add them.  All's well that ends well, I guess.

ETA:  But this does seem to indicate that the removal notices are either not fully automated or are not perfectly processed.  I think this is the second time I've had to ask about removing with New Company when the AU had been on a longer time that I thought.  I do know that I have an AU on one of my cards that they're wanting me to leave on for longer because of an ongoing audit...IIRC that is one with USBank.

[topshot]

ETA:  But this does seem to indicate that the removal notices are either not fully automated or are not perfectly processed.  I think this is the second time I've had to ask about removing with New Company when the AU had been on a longer time that I thought.

Agreed. Their communication is not that great. Perhaps simply because they were overwhelmed with MMM folks the past 2 years and grew way too fast. Even though I did have some sales for the 11 months I've been doing this, I have rested my cards with them and moved elsewhere.

[arebelspy]

ETA:  But this does seem to indicate that the removal notices are either not fully automated or are not perfectly processed.  I think this is the second time I've had to ask about removing with New Company when the AU had been on a longer time that I thought.  I do know that I have an AU on one of my cards that they're wanting me to leave on for longer because of an ongoing audit...IIRC that is one with USBank.

Yeah, that's really weird. I've always gotten notified when it's time to remove an AU. I wonder if they turned off notifications for removal for you because of that one or something?

[secondcor521]

ETA:  But this does seem to indicate that the removal notices are either not fully automated or are not perfectly processed.  I think this is the second time I've had to ask about removing with New Company when the AU had been on a longer time that I thought.  I do know that I have an AU on one of my cards that they're wanting me to leave on for longer because of an ongoing audit...IIRC that is one with USBank.

Yeah, that's really weird. I've always gotten notified when it's time to remove an AU. I wonder if they turned off notifications for removal for you because of that one or something?

Maybe.  To be clear, I think I have been notified to remove AU's by automatic portal email in the past.  But it's not 100% of the time, which is odd but instructive.  :shrug:

[I_want_to_make_a_million]

Hey everyone, I have a friend who was selling their tradelines with their capital one card, but one day signed in to his account to find it was put on hold. She believes it was due to the authorized users. Has anyone had a similar expedience? Also, what is the amount of users to have to stay under the radar?

[Joel]

I also had issues with not receiving removal notices with the whopping 3 tradelines I sold in 2017.

[frugalnacho]

ETA:  But this does seem to indicate that the removal notices are either not fully automated or are not perfectly processed.  I think this is the second time I've had to ask about removing with New Company when the AU had been on a longer time that I thought.  I do know that I have an AU on one of my cards that they're wanting me to leave on for longer because of an ongoing audit...IIRC that is one with USBank.

Yeah, that's really weird. I've always gotten notified when it's time to remove an AU. I wonder if they turned off notifications for removal for you because of that one or something?

Maybe.  To be clear, I think I have been notified to remove AU's by automatic portal email in the past.  But it's not 100% of the time, which is odd but instructive.  :shrug:

I got email notification of the first couple, but it seems like they've turned that feature off.  Now I have to note the removal date and set myself a reminder.


What happens if you don't charge anything on a card during the billing period? I don't regularly use one of my cards so I set a reminder to charge one thing to it, then schedule payment for the due date. Billing cycle just ended so I went to schedule payment and apparently I fucked up and didn't make a charge this month because my balance is $0. So that card won't report anything? How does this affect the tradeline?

[Car Jack]

I would expect that if you had zero balance, it wouldn't report.  If the buyer needed that report to up his score, that didn't happen, so he's going to want his money back so you're not getting paid.

If you're lucky, the buyer already took a snapshot of his score and whoever he's trying to buy from already checked and recorded his score from a previous month and he actually doesn't need it anymore, in which case, you'd be in the clear.

When I have an AU, I go buy $10 in gas on each card with an AU on it in one visit.  That way, it's done. 

I actually do the same thing with my low balance forgiveness card.  Pump in $0.95, then $1.99 with another, then $0.93 with another.....  I do tend to pick dead times of the day to do that and if the station gets busy, I stop and mark my list for cards used, then resume next time.

[arebelspy]

It depends. I've had them report with no charge on it. It definitely helps to have the charge, to help make sure it reports, but it's not guaranteed to not post if it doesn't. You'll pretty much just have to wait and see.

[frugalnacho]

I would expect that if you had zero balance, it wouldn't report.  If the buyer needed that report to up his score, that didn't happen, so he's going to want his money back so you're not getting paid.

If you're lucky, the buyer already took a snapshot of his score and whoever he's trying to buy from already checked and recorded his score from a previous month and he actually doesn't need it anymore, in which case, you'd be in the clear.

When I have an AU, I go buy $10 in gas on each card with an AU on it in one visit.  That way, it's done. 

I actually do the same thing with my low balance forgiveness card.  Pump in $0.95, then $1.99 with another, then $0.93 with another.....  I do tend to pick dead times of the day to do that and if the station gets busy, I stop and mark my list for cards used, then resume next time.

BoA doesn't have an auto payment option (it's the only card that doesn't) so I have to log on manually and schedule a payment.  I have a monthly reminder set up for the day after closing and I log on an schedule the full payment for the due date.  I usually leave the reminder up on my phone and just make my next purchase charged to the card, then I clear out the reminder.  I may lose some cash back by using my BoA 1% card instead of a better card for whatever the next purchase is, but the tradeline income easily makes that worthwhile.  Between my crazy ass busy job, and my crazy ass wife, and my crazy ass infant that is having sleep issues I am just floating through life like a zombie on auto pilot.  I pretty much just move from task to task constantly chugging my way through life without much thought about anything.  If it's important I write it down on a list or create a reminder for it, and then I clear that mental bandwidth and don't worry about it until I get reminded or I'm crossing items off my list.  I thought I made a charge to the card and cleared the reminder, but apparently I never charged anything.  I did add an AU before the closing date (but after last month's closing date), so I would expect that if this $0 balance didn't post that they would see no change in their score.  I'm hoping it posts anyway.  So far it is listed as neither "posted" or "did not post" in my portal.

I did have a weird thing happen with my other card a couple months back (I made several posts about it).  Got 2 orders right before the closing date (like 1 days notice), but I was busy and did not get around to adding them to the card until AFTER the closing date of the card and was told by the tradeline company that I would not be getting paid as I added them after the date so they needed to add them to someone else's card immediately rather than waiting for another month for my next closing date. But then before my next closing date one of the AU was listed as "posted" and one as "did not post".  I have no idea how one was different from the other since I added them in the same phone call.  Also not sure how one was "posted" since I added him after my closing date (and it was "posted" before my next closing date).

Hopefully they don't boot me from the program for being unreliable and flaky. 

[Imustacheyouaquestion]

Also no longer receiving notifications for removing AUs from "new company." Shrug.

[arebelspy]

Talked to the TL company about the notifications. They believe everything is working as normal, but people not getting notifications are likely expecting them for Capital One or US Bank, both of which are on hold (apparently even from removing AUs) due to ongoing audits. I guess removing AUs right now during the audit may raise a red flag?  I guess this was mentioned in a recent email newsletter they sent out.

Additionally, B of A, Capital One, and Chase cards require AUs to stay on for 75 days after the card reports (approximately 82 days from the add request), rather than 60 days of other issuers.

Email them if you have any questions, or PM me and I can try to get it addressed.

[frugalnacho]

I am still being instructed in my portal to remove au on a specific date but I never get notifications via email.  This applies to my boa and Citi cards with new company.

[arebelspy]

I am still being instructed in my portal to remove au on a specific date but I never get notifications via email.  This applies to my boa and Citi cards with new company.

Do you get the texts?

I got an email/text today. If it's just the emails not showing up, maybe your ISP is filtering them as spam or something?

[monarda]

Talked to the TL company about the notifications. They believe everything is working as normal, but people not getting notifications are likely expecting them for Capital One or US Bank, both of which are on hold (apparently even from removing AUs) due to ongoing audits. I guess removing AUs right now during the audit may raise a red flag?  I guess this was mentioned in a recent email newsletter they sent out.

Additionally, B of A, Capital One, and Chase cards require AUs to stay on for 75 days after the card reports (approximately 82 days from the add request), rather than 60 days of other issuers.

Email them if you have any questions, or PM me and I can try to get it addressed.

Related to the Capital One ongoing audit. I had an old AU (new company) that I hadn't removed because of the audit, that Capital One removed for me because he was in "legal trouble". Probably shouldn't try using that card for a while. And my other one was shut down, so now I'm card-less with respect to tradelines. But in another year, a bunch of my cards will turn 2 years old.

[frugalnacho]

I am still being instructed in my portal to remove au on a specific date but I never get notifications via email.  This applies to my boa and Citi cards with new company.

Do you get the texts?

I got an email/text today. If it's just the emails not showing up, maybe your ISP is filtering them as spam or something?

I don't get any texts; I didn't know text notifications were an option.  I still get email notifications to add new AU.

[Car Jack]

BoA doesn't have an auto payment option (it's the only card that doesn't) so I have to log on manually and schedule a payment.

I have 4 BoA cards and they're all on auto payment.  They could be cumbersome or somewhat hidden to get to, but they're definitely there somehwere.

[frugalnacho]

BoA doesn't have an auto payment option (it's the only card that doesn't) so I have to log on manually and schedule a payment.

I have 4 BoA cards and they're all on auto payment.  They could be cumbersome or somewhat hidden to get to, but they're definitely there somehwere.

There is an auto payment option but only for a fixed dollar amount, I cannot choose to pay the balance in full.  Legend has it that it can technically be done if I want to call boa and request a special form that I fax back after filling out with my bank details and signing.  I thought I was going crazy  because surely they must have auto payment option like every other card in  existence? but no, they make it intentionally cumbersome.  I decided to boycott boa rather than jump through those hopes so I didn't use the card for several years.  I've only started using it again since I started selling tradelines and they still have no auto payment option

[arebelspy]

Do you use Amazon ever? Set up an Amazon gift card balance auto fill for $2, and a BofA auto pay for $2.

Assuming you spend at least $24/yr on Amazon, you'll use the small gift balance eventually.

[frugalnacho]

Do you use Amazon ever? Set up an Amazon gift card balance auto fill for $2, and a BofA auto pay for $2.

Assuming you spend at least $24/yr on Amazon, you'll use the small gift balance eventually.

Not a bad idea, but the minimum appears to be $5

We spend hundreds (maybe thousands) annually on Amazon.  Probably our number 1 retailer.

[arebelspy]

Good to know. Same principle though.

I'm betting most people in the US, on this forum, that don't boycott Amazon spend at least $60/yr there.

[hgjjgkj]

Would the new or old company take cards with high limits (>15k) but are only 1 year old? I know the used to but I am not sure now.

[frugalnacho]

Good to know. Same principle though.

I'm betting most people in the US, on this forum, that don't boycott Amazon spend at least $60/yr there.

This worked out surprisingly well because now I won't have a variable balance each month with BoA, I'll have exactly $5 so I can set up auto pay for $5 which I already did.  Manually scheduled october's payment, and starting november it will be on auto pay.  I wish I would have done this before.  I could have potentially prevented a $175 fuck up from happening.

[secondcor521]

BoA doesn't have an auto payment option (it's the only card that doesn't) so I have to log on manually and schedule a payment.

I have 4 BoA cards and they're all on auto payment.  They could be cumbersome or somewhat hidden to get to, but they're definitely there somehwere.

There is an auto payment option but only for a fixed dollar amount, I cannot choose to pay the balance in full.  Legend has it that it can technically be done if I want to call boa and request a special form that I fax back after filling out with my bank details and signing.  I thought I was going crazy  because surely they must have auto payment option like every other card in  existence? but no, they make it intentionally cumbersome.  I decided to boycott boa rather than jump through those hopes so I didn't use the card for several years.  I've only started using it again since I started selling tradelines and they still have no auto payment option

I am set up for autopay balance in full on my BofA cards, and I didn't have to fax anything.  They do make it quite tricky to set up, though.  IIRC it's a two step process of enabling e-bills and then doing the autopay but they don't call it autopay.

I don't know if it's still true but years ago BofA used to have different IT setups for different states and regions.  If that is still so, it may be a YMMV situation.

[Mesmoiselle]

My mustachian problem of the day is that my oldest card I want to start selling Tradelines on declined raising the limit due to low utilization of the card. I guess my monthly charity contribution for the last two years to keep the account "active" is meaningless. Now I will have to switch spending over to it for a month? one billing cycle? before requesting again. Wonder how much is "enough."

Anybody got a clue?

[solon]

My mustachian problem of the day is that my oldest card I want to start selling Tradelines on declined raising the limit due to low utilization of the card. I guess my monthly charity contribution for the last two years to keep the account "active" is meaningless. Now I will have to switch spending over to it for a month? one billing cycle? before requesting again. Wonder how much is "enough."

Anybody got a clue?

I have exactly the same problem. My plan is to switch to that card until I'm allowed to ask for a CL increase again, 6 months.

[Mesmoiselle]

My mustachian problem of the day is that my oldest card I want to start selling Tradelines on declined raising the limit due to low utilization of the card. I guess my monthly charity contribution for the last two years to keep the account "active" is meaningless. Now I will have to switch spending over to it for a month? one billing cycle? before requesting again. Wonder how much is "enough."

Anybody got a clue?

I have exactly the same problem. My plan is to switch to that card until I'm allowed to ask for a CL increase again, 6 months.

I did a double take at your 6 months before requesting again, and went to go look at my rejection letter. 6 months only comes up as the wait time if the limit got changed. Since I was rejected, not approved for "too little" There is no wait time for me so far as I can see based off the letter.

[solon]

My mustachian problem of the day is that my oldest card I want to start selling Tradelines on declined raising the limit due to low utilization of the card. I guess my monthly charity contribution for the last two years to keep the account "active" is meaningless. Now I will have to switch spending over to it for a month? one billing cycle? before requesting again. Wonder how much is "enough."

Anybody got a clue?

I have exactly the same problem. My plan is to switch to that card until I'm allowed to ask for a CL increase again, 6 months.

I did a double take at your 6 months before requesting again, and went to go look at my rejection letter. 6 months only comes up as the wait time if the limit got changed. Since I was rejected, not approved for "too little" There is no wait time for me so far as I can see based off the letter.

Well, I wonder how many months of elevated activity they would like to see before granting the request? My guess is 1 month is too low; 6 months is probably more in the range.

[Mesmoiselle]

..... declined raising the limit due to low utilization of the card.....Now I will have to switch spending over to it for a month? one billing cycle? before requesting again. Wonder how much is "enough." Anybody got a clue?

I have exactly the same problem. My plan is to switch to that card until I'm allowed to ask for a CL increase again, 6 months.

I did a double take at your 6 months before requesting again, and went to go look at my rejection letter. 6 months only comes up as the wait time if the limit got changed. Since I was rejected, not approved for "too little" There is no wait time for me so far as I can see based off the letter.

Well, I wonder how many months of elevated activity they would like to see before granting the request? My guess is 1 month is too low; 6 months is probably more in the range.

That's a long time to go without my consistent/confirmed 3-5% cash back and I still got some Churning to do. I think I will go two billing cycles, then ask again. There is no time limit on the asking. But if I want them to raise it super high, then I should probably get it up to the max and keep it there for two cycles (paying off in full, obviously.)

*scratches head* do I even have enough bills to do that... good thing I got a deal going where I let my BIL charge his bills to my card and he pays me cash, I may just be able to hack it.

[ravevan]

Can you remove an authorized user from Citi via secure message? Has anyone tried and succeeded in it? Thanks.

[frugalnacho]

BoA doesn't have an auto payment option (it's the only card that doesn't) so I have to log on manually and schedule a payment.

I have 4 BoA cards and they're all on auto payment.  They could be cumbersome or somewhat hidden to get to, but they're definitely there somehwere.

There is an auto payment option but only for a fixed dollar amount, I cannot choose to pay the balance in full.  Legend has it that it can technically be done if I want to call boa and request a special form that I fax back after filling out with my bank details and signing.  I thought I was going crazy  because surely they must have auto payment option like every other card in  existence? but no, they make it intentionally cumbersome.  I decided to boycott boa rather than jump through those hopes so I didn't use the card for several years.  I've only started using it again since I started selling tradelines and they still have no auto payment option

I am set up for autopay balance in full on my BofA cards, and I didn't have to fax anything.  They do make it quite tricky to set up, though.  IIRC it's a two step process of enabling e-bills and then doing the autopay but they don't call it autopay.

I don't know if it's still true but years ago BofA used to have different IT setups for different states and regions.  If that is still so, it may be a YMMV situation.

https://thefinancebuff.com/autopay-bank-america-credit-card.html

Apparently there are two options, both somewhat convoluted, to set up auto pay.  When I last inquired I was informed about filling out the form that I had to fax (or snail mail) back, and it took at least 1 billing cycle to set up.  Technically doable, but my response at the time was "fuck you boa, how about I just never use your card again" just out of spite for them making it so damn difficult.  Literally every other bill I have can be set up to auto pay in the full amount perpetually with just a few minutes and a few clicks.

Since I'll be charging an exact amount ($5 amazon gift card) every month I am just going to use their set amount auto pay.  I won't ever use the account outside of that $5 purchase, mostly out of spite, but also because the rewards are garbage.

[frugalnacho]

Can you remove an authorized user from Citi via secure message? Has anyone tried and succeeded in it? Thanks.

Yes.  That is now how the new company instructs you to remove AU from citi now.  I removed my last 2 that way.  I got a notification about 15 minutes after I sent the message that the AU had been removed.  So much easier than calling in and dealing with citi. 

[robartsd]

BoA doesn't have an auto payment option (it's the only card that doesn't) so I have to log on manually and schedule a payment.  I have a monthly reminder set up for the day after closing and I log on an schedule the full payment for the due date.  I usually leave the reminder up on my phone and just make my next purchase charged to the card, then I clear out the reminder.  I may lose some cash back by using my BoA 1% card instead of a better card for whatever the next purchase is, but the tradeline income easily makes that worthwhile.  Between my crazy ass busy job, and my crazy ass wife, and my crazy ass infant that is having sleep issues I am just floating through life like a zombie on auto pilot.  I pretty much just move from task to task constantly chugging my way through life without much thought about anything.  If it's important I write it down on a list or create a reminder for it, and then I clear that mental bandwidth and don't worry about it until I get reminded or I'm crossing items off my list.  I thought I made a charge to the card and cleared the reminder, but apparently I never charged anything.  I did add an AU before the closing date (but after last month's closing date), so I would expect that if this $0 balance didn't post that they would see no change in their score.  I'm hoping it posts anyway.  So far it is listed as neither "posted" or "did not post" in my portal.

I don't usually pay any my credit cards through the issuer's website, I pay them through bill pay on my Capital One 360 account. Capital One 360 is set up to receive the bill electronically and automatically set up the payment to pay off the balance. You might see if you can set up BoA to be paid off automatically like this. I prefer this over having the issuer pull the payment because the scheduled payment shows up in my Capital One 360 account allowing me to project future balances of the account more easily.

[SilverAg47]

https://thefinancebuff.com/autopay-bank-america-credit-card.html

Apparently there are two options, both somewhat convoluted, to set up auto pay.  When I last inquired I was informed about filling out the form that I had to fax (or snail mail) back, and it took at least 1 billing cycle to set up.  Technically doable, but my response at the time was "fuck you boa, how about I just never use your card again" just out of spite for them making it so damn difficult.  Literally every other bill I have can be set up to auto pay in the full amount perpetually with just a few minutes and a few clicks.

Navigating Bank of America's site to set up credit card auto pay is like the search for the holy grail.

[dragoncar]

https://thefinancebuff.com/autopay-bank-america-credit-card.html

Apparently there are two options, both somewhat convoluted, to set up auto pay.  When I last inquired I was informed about filling out the form that I had to fax (or snail mail) back, and it took at least 1 billing cycle to set up.  Technically doable, but my response at the time was "fuck you boa, how about I just never use your card again" just out of spite for them making it so damn difficult.  Literally every other bill I have can be set up to auto pay in the full amount perpetually with just a few minutes and a few clicks.

Navigating Bank of America's site to set up credit card auto pay is like the search for the holy grail.

Just don’t choose.... poorly

[kpd905]

https://thefinancebuff.com/autopay-bank-america-credit-card.html

Apparently there are two options, both somewhat convoluted, to set up auto pay.  When I last inquired I was informed about filling out the form that I had to fax (or snail mail) back, and it took at least 1 billing cycle to set up.  Technically doable, but my response at the time was "fuck you boa, how about I just never use your card again" just out of spite for them making it so damn difficult.  Literally every other bill I have can be set up to auto pay in the full amount perpetually with just a few minutes and a few clicks.

Navigating Bank of America's site to set up credit card auto pay is like the search for the holy grail.

Glad I'm not the only one who has trouble with BOA's site.  Their business card dashboard is really strange too with a Corp Account and then a separate account for your card.  I don't know why they need to make everything so difficult.

On a different subject....Madfientist posted an article today with his account, who is an expert on the new 20% passthrough deduction (he actually wrote a book on how to maximize it).  In the comments he said that as long as you report tradeline sales on a Schedule C correctly, they should qualify for the passthrough deduction. 

Comments are here: https://www.madfientist.com/section-199a/#comments

I don't know how to link to a specific comment, but if you search "tradeline" you can find it.  If anyone has more specific questions to ask him regarding this, now would be a good time as he seems to be responding to most comments.

[ditkanate]

Have had a couple adds with my 2 Discover cards recently.  Just added an AU to one of them yesterday, the add seemed to go through fine online.  Today I get a call from Discover's fraud prevention department.  Asked me if the AU's were added by me.  Yes.  What is your relationship with them?  Ahhh... business associates.... ?

They asked me to verify the last names of all the AU's on each card.  Anyway, I had my spreadsheet handy so I answered them fine and they let it all go through. 

But now I'm nervous. 

[kpd905]

Have had a couple adds with my 2 Discover cards recently.  Just added an AU to one of them yesterday, the add seemed to go through fine online.  Today I get a call from Discover's fraud prevention department.  Asked me if the AU's were added by me.  Yes.  What is your relationship with them?  Ahhh... business associates.... ?

They asked me to verify the last names of all the AU's on each card.  Anyway, I had my spreadsheet handy so I answered them fine and they let it all go through. 

But now I'm nervous.

I had the same phone call the first time I added multiple AUs to my Discover card.  I confirmed the names and was fine for months and probably 20+ more AUs.  The card did eventually get closed though, but a long time after that phone call.

[arebelspy]

Yep, got the same call from Discover for my first adds a few years ago. No issues, card is still open, still add AUs.

I wouldn't worry about it at all, just their fraud prevention making sure you were the one that added the AUs.

[arebelspy]

Old tradeline company is looking for cards with high limits (over 20k, at least 5 years old) or very old (over 8 years, any limit).

Companies: Discover, Barclays, US Bank, PNC, Capital One, USAA, NFCU, Bank of America, Chase

If you have a very old/high limit card (45k+, 8+ years old), they're offering a $200 signup bonus right now (actually a referral bonus, but if you use my signup info they'll send it to you when your first AU payment posts).

Overall, nothing's changed on my recommendations; I'd be using new company on cards that are 2+ years, 5k+ limits, or old company on 10k+/5+yr cards.

I continue to look into other companies, and check in with ones I've looked into before, to see if anything has changed and I can recommend them, but for now, still just these two. :)

[Pizzabrewer]

Is the 2-year age a hard and fast minimum?  I have a few 18-month old cards, including Duscover with $19k limit.