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

[Car Jack]

I've been selling tradelines on a Capital One card and they always send a card for the AU. I just realized after months of throwing the unopened envelopes in a drawer that they are all metal cards. So no I have a stack of 8 metal credit cards, each with a different name and number. What is the best way to destroy/dispose of these? There were a few envelopes to return them to Capital One, but I feel like it would be very suspicious to send back multiple cards with different names in one envelope.

I have yet to receive any metal cards, but expect that they are aluminum.  What I'll do if/when I get any is to cut them up with tin snips, which I have in my garage.  They're big, hefty scissors that will shear sheet metal.  They'll laugh at aluminum.  I'll discard the pieces in my aluminum scrap bin, which goes with me to the eScrap yard for cash about once a month.

[frugalnacho]

My wife finally has some cards aged enough to start selling tradelines on.  I'm going to sign her up at the old company, but they don't allow referrals for spouses.  Can she be referred by someone else here, or are they going to deny a referral since we are spouses in the same household, even though I won't be the one getting the referral?   

[secondcor521]

My wife finally has some cards aged enough to start selling tradelines on.  I'm going to sign her up at the old company, but they don't allow referrals for spouses.  Can she be referred by someone else here, or are they going to deny a referral since we are spouses in the same household, even though I won't be the one getting the referral?

I don't know for sure, but I'm willing to give you my referral info.  Will send PM here in a minute.

[Nutty]

Old Company - I added the spouse's cards to my account and only have one account with them.  Been working fine.  Didn't see a benefit to keeping 2 accounts going.  May be one if there are tax advantages or IRA benefits. 
Cheers

[katsiki]

Old Company - I added the spouse's cards to my account and only have one account with them.  Been working fine.  Didn't see a benefit to keeping 2 accounts going.  May be one if there are tax advantages or IRA benefits. 
Cheers

Same here.  Old company advised I could do either 1-2 years ago.  I thought 1 account would be simpler.

Since the private note field has been broken for a while now, I might go with 2 accounts now :)  It is easy to mix them up when similar ages/limits are involved.

[Nutty]

Old Company - I added the spouse's cards to my account and only have one account with them.  Been working fine.  Didn't see a benefit to keeping 2 accounts going.  May be one if there are tax advantages or IRA benefits. 
Cheers

Same here.  Old company advised I could do either 1-2 years ago.  I thought 1 account would be simpler.

Since the private note field has been broken for a while now, I might go with 2 accounts now :)  It is easy to mix them up when similar ages/limits are involved.

That was something I was looking at.  Just starting out with a handful, it's easy to keep track.  If this gets more complicated, I can see where 2 accounts would be simpler. 

[arebelspy]

2) They're opening enrollment again for all cards they accept starting Aug 1. Huzzah! This happens ~once/year, so if you don't currently have your cards enrolled with Old Company, I'd recommend doing so at that time. PM me if you need the info, otherwise contact them in about two weeks.

3) They're opening enrollment--for the first time ever--to American Express cards. Yes, AmEx doesn't report the tradeline history (only the limit), so it's more for a niche of borrowers looking to drop their DTI (or who have a long credit history but not much available credit), and it will be at a lower commission than other cards, but it is a chance to use your AmEx cards now if you wish. He is supposed to email me the commission schedule for AmEx tomorrow, and I'll post it soon.

Please do not contact them now (wait until August 1) about enrolling more cards or enrolling your AmEx. They're busy dealing with the Barclays thing, and anticipate August 1 to be working on items 2 and 3 above, you can contact them them. Just wanted to give you all a heads up. :)

Here's the AmEx commission schedule:

Spoiler: show

2-Month Cycle Commission for Amex (limit only)
1. Limit $10,000 - $15,000 = $50 per spot
2. Limit $15,001 - $20,000 = $100 per spot
3. Limit $20,001 - $30,000 = $150 per spot
4. Limit $30,001 - $40,000 = $175 per spot
5. Limit $40,001 - or more = $200 per spot

Age of the card is irrelevant for Amex.

[frugalnacho]

Anyone have experience with a synchrony care credit card?  My wife has lasik a few years ago, and they offered 0% financing, which ended up being the credit card in question.  We've paid off the lasik, but never actually used the card for anything.  I see the old company will take it for tradeline sales though so I'd like to enroll it and sell spots.  But I have no idea how the credit card works.  It claims it's for health related expenses, and taken at a number of different retailers like walgreens, but specifies it's for "qualifying products", but how do they differentiate between qualifying and non qualifying products?  Does it have to be used at the pharmacy counter?  Are they able to ring a mixed order up of qualifying items and a candy bar? 

[katsiki]

2) They're opening enrollment again for all cards they accept starting Aug 1. Huzzah! This happens ~once/year, so if you don't currently have your cards enrolled with Old Company, I'd recommend doing so at that time. PM me if you need the info, otherwise contact them in about two weeks.

3) They're opening enrollment--for the first time ever--to American Express cards. Yes, AmEx doesn't report the tradeline history (only the limit), so it's more for a niche of borrowers looking to drop their DTI (or who have a long credit history but not much available credit), and it will be at a lower commission than other cards, but it is a chance to use your AmEx cards now if you wish. He is supposed to email me the commission schedule for AmEx tomorrow, and I'll post it soon.

Please do not contact them now (wait until August 1) about enrolling more cards or enrolling your AmEx. They're busy dealing with the Barclays thing, and anticipate August 1 to be working on items 2 and 3 above, you can contact them them. Just wanted to give you all a heads up. :)

Here's the AmEx commission schedule:

Spoiler: show

blah / deleted

Age of the card is irrelevant for Amex.

Nice!  I am no expert on Amex TL sales but that rate schedule looks better than what I received for one of my cards with a competitor.  Excited to enroll the card with my favorite company too.

[Car Jack]

That's good news/bad news on the AMEX for me.  I've got a pretty new one that has a $20k limit while my near oldest card is an AMEX that they just dropped my limit for non use from $25k to $1k.  I've also pulled one other high limit, old card out of the new company, since I get like 1 sale a year on it with them.  3 cards total to submit on the 1st.

[Riker626]

Anyone have experience with a synchrony care credit card?  My wife has lasik a few years ago, and they offered 0% financing, which ended up being the credit card in question.  We've paid off the lasik, but never actually used the card for anything.  I see the old company will take it for tradeline sales though so I'd like to enroll it and sell spots.  But I have no idea how the credit card works.  It claims it's for health related expenses, and taken at a number of different retailers like walgreens, but specifies it's for "qualifying products", but how do they differentiate between qualifying and non qualifying products?  Does it have to be used at the pharmacy counter?  Are they able to ring a mixed order up of qualifying items and a candy bar?

I got a Credit Care card about 2 months ago and have been experimenting with it.  It needs to be used for medical expenses which include over the counter medication and an assortment of services, check their website.  I've not experimented with vitamins or supplements yet.  At Walgreens I was able to mix the purchase of an OTC med and soda, but I'm not sure if this will work at other locations.  On a side note my general experience at Walgreens was the low point of my month and won't be back.  Card site says it can be used at Walmart.  I tired to use it for normal stuff at Walmart but was declined.  I will try again with just an OTC.  If that works I will try again by mixing the purchase.  I'm not sure if we need to make the purchase in the pharmacy or the regular cashiers.

[Padonak]

2) They're opening enrollment again for all cards they accept starting Aug 1. Huzzah! This happens ~once/year, so if you don't currently have your cards enrolled with Old Company, I'd recommend doing so at that time. PM me if you need the info, otherwise contact them in about two weeks.

3) They're opening enrollment--for the first time ever--to American Express cards. Yes, AmEx doesn't report the tradeline history (only the limit), so it's more for a niche of borrowers looking to drop their DTI (or who have a long credit history but not much available credit), and it will be at a lower commission than other cards, but it is a chance to use your AmEx cards now if you wish. He is supposed to email me the commission schedule for AmEx tomorrow, and I'll post it soon.

Please do not contact them now (wait until August 1) about enrolling more cards or enrolling your AmEx. They're busy dealing with the Barclays thing, and anticipate August 1 to be working on items 2 and 3 above, you can contact them them. Just wanted to give you all a heads up. :)

Here's the AmEx commission schedule:

Spoiler: show

2-Month Cycle Commission for Amex (limit only)
1. Limit $10,000 - $15,000 = $50 per spot
2. Limit $15,001 - $20,000 = $100 per spot
3. Limit $20,001 - $30,000 = $150 per spot
4. Limit $30,001 - $40,000 = $175 per spot
5. Limit $40,001 - or more = $200 per spot

Age of the card is irrelevant for Amex.

This is great news. Are they going to send an email about that or can we just contact them on Aug 1 to add Amex cards?

[arebelspy]

They should send out a newsletter. Just giving a heads up. :)

[kindoflost]

Hello again,
I am just getting started with the old company and with a third company and just saw this news about Amex.
What would be the best Amex to open just for this? I mean what would be the Amex card with the highest potential credit limit? Any good into offers?
Thanks
PS regarding the AU limits. I've read many posts about a 99 limit but I am not clear on whether that's a rolling number. I mean if one would only do 8 AU a month that'd be below the 99 limit, correct?
Thanks again

[harrydogyo]

You can do 99 in a month if you want.  all online all easy.

Blue Cash Preferred for the supermarket benefit is pretty good.

Also Amex after a year is usually pretty generous with credit increases.

[frugalnacho]

Me, prematurely quitting my job on August 1 when 6 additional tradeline cards will be eligible for sales and I can potentially earn enough income to bridge the spending gap between my actual budget and what my 'stache can support:



Up yours Krabappel!

[dantheman46]

I noticed my payment for July pending in my checking account today from the old company, however it does not include any money from the Barclay's cards that didn't post. Was there an email that came out that said they were going to pay 50% for these? I can't seem to find it. Anyone else have this happen?

[arebelspy]

I noticed my payment for July pending in my checking account today from the old company, however it does not include any money from the Barclay's cards that didn't post. Was there an email that came out that said they were going to pay 50% for these? I can't seem to find it. Anyone else have this happen?

They are paying 50% for Barclays that didn't post, and they did send out an email about it.

Reach out to them, and lmk if you have any issues.

[secondcor521]

I noticed my payment for July pending in my checking account today from the old company, however it does not include any money from the Barclay's cards that didn't post. Was there an email that came out that said they were going to pay 50% for these? I can't seem to find it. Anyone else have this happen?

I don't see a pending payment yet.  I was affected by one June Barclays AU not posting.  Tradeline master shows no commission to be paid.

Since it's a one off situation, they may have to do a manual process somehow.  It's conceivable to me that it could be a separate payment that is slightly delayed.

Thanks for the heads up; I'll also plan to follow @ARS's suggestion and will check with old company if the half payment doesn't show up after a week or two.

[EliteZags]

You can do 99 in a month if you want.  all online all easy.

Blue Cash Preferred for the supermarket benefit is pretty good.

Also Amex after a year is usually pretty generous with credit increases.

Anyone know if it's up to 99 in a calendar year, or just 99 within a year of eachother or based on when card was opened or something?

[EliteZags]

Me, prematurely quitting my job on August 1 when 6 additional tradeline cards will be eligible for sales and I can potentially earn enough income to bridge the spending gap between my actual budget and what my 'stache can support:

looking forward to this some day, what do you estimate your avg monthly sales to be 

[frugalnacho]

Me, prematurely quitting my job on August 1 when 6 additional tradeline cards will be eligible for sales and I can potentially earn enough income to bridge the spending gap between my actual budget and what my 'stache can support:

looking forward to this some day, what do you estimate your avg monthly sales to be

My post was mostly joking and unrealistic.  4 Amex X $50/AU X 99 AU/yr = $19,800/yr just from the amex.   I suspect in reality it will be some small fraction of that.

[EliteZags]

yea just curious if anyone has gotten close to some consistent amount where they're earning enough to nearly live of off (as single no kids) while they can just let their investments ride, I'd imagine it'd have to be through other companies to be getting enough volume- and would be interested in seeing the number/age/limits of cards enrolled

[secondcor521]

yea just curious if anyone has gotten close to some consistent amount where they're earning enough to nearly live of off (as single no kids) while they can just let their investments ride, I'd imagine it'd have to be through other companies to be getting enough volume- and would be interested in seeing the number/age/limits of cards enrolled

I have a policy of not disclosing income or asset amounts, so I can't answer this question with much specificity.  I can say I've been doing this for about three years, with six to nine cards, anywhere from 2 to 25 years old, with a variety of what would generally be considered high limits cultivated over many years of credit card hacking.

I don't make enough to live off it, but it's enough of an impact to where I need to account for it in my financial planning, and it does allow me to take less from my investments.  My gross WR is about 2.03%, my piggybacking activities account for just about 0.34%, and with my other gig income my net WR is running about 1.11%.

(Single, three adult offspring in the process of launching.)

[Riker626]

For the America Express 99 limit, not only do we not know if that is a calendar year or rolling calendar year, but also if that 99 is lifetime, nor if it's for 1 card or all cards combined?

[harrydogyo]

99 limit is per card I’ve added close to 90 in the past year and when I’m at 99 I’ll move the credit to another Amex card and sell another 99

[solon]

I just added an AU to my wife's card. She is the sole owner of the card, and this is the first AU on it. The first question out of the CSR's mouth was "Can I have your name?" I wasn't sure what to say, so I said my wife's name. They didn't bat an eye. Her name is feminine, there wouldn't be a man with that name. I didn't try to disguise my voice or anything like that.

Apparently, as long as you give them the name on the card, you can get away with impersonating the owner.

[MoMoney88]

I posted on here last August that my 16 yr old Capital One card had it's credit limit reduced from $30k to $10k, due to low usage...  That was a bummer.

Well.....

*$%#!!!   It finally happened.  I just had my first card shut down!  Yesterday I went to lunch at Genghis Grill and went to pay with my CapOne card but it was declined.  So I called just now and they said it had been closed, please hold.  Next person says she has no idea why, transferred me to Fraud.  Fraud guy comes on and says I have no idea.  Let me talk to my Manager.  Then he came back on and said Manager didn't know but I should be receiving a letter from Cap One.
I chewed him out a little and told him to tell his manager that it's ridiculous to just close my account without ANY warning, no discussion.  Tell your manager I am pulling out my wife's car loan from Cap One and closing my Cap One money market and taking my money elsewhere.

I know that's the risk, but sucks when it happens.

Here are the details just fyi...
Started tradelines on this card in March 2018.
I just added my 30th AU on 7/13/21.
Removed an AU on 7/26/21.

Can't complain, I made $9,300 off of that card.

[MoneyTree]

yea just curious if anyone has gotten close to some consistent amount where they're earning enough to nearly live of off (as single no kids) while they can just let their investments ride, I'd imagine it'd have to be through other companies to be getting enough volume- and would be interested in seeing the number/age/limits of cards enrolled

I’m regularly selling 2 slots on 4-5 cards every month. Average limit around $15K. Average age is 10 years or so. I could sell more cards, but some I am withholding because I don’t want to lose them. Others I am seasoning to sell later. I don’t make anywhere close to enough to cover expenses (HCOL and married with 1 kid), but it’s enough to greatly reduce my risk of failure to the point where I don’t fear sequence of returns risk anymore. It’s probably covers around 15-20% of my expenses.

I’m not going to count on this income for my FIRE calculations, but just treat it as a nice quality of life boost if it continues. (But no reason to think that it won’t).

The other effect is that I find myself more willing to spend on “nice to have” purchases now. Spending choices that I previously would have felt some guilt for, I now find myself being ok with them.

[secondcor521]

I noticed my payment for July pending in my checking account today from the old company, however it does not include any money from the Barclay's cards that didn't post. Was there an email that came out that said they were going to pay 50% for these? I can't seem to find it. Anyone else have this happen?

I don't see a pending payment yet.  I was affected by one June Barclays AU not posting.  Tradeline master shows no commission to be paid.

Since it's a one off situation, they may have to do a manual process somehow.  It's conceivable to me that it could be a separate payment that is slightly delayed.

Thanks for the heads up; I'll also plan to follow @ARS's suggestion and will check with old company if the half payment doesn't show up after a week or two.

I got paid today for the exact amount I expected, including the 50% payment for the Barclays non-posting AU.

[ilsy]

yea just curious if anyone has gotten close to some consistent amount where they're earning enough to nearly live of off (as single no kids) while they can just let their investments ride, I'd imagine it'd have to be through other companies to be getting enough volume- and would be interested in seeing the number/age/limits of cards enrolled

Yes, next year I would be able to live off my TL income only.

I do have 2 very talented offsprings and an elderly mom living with me. Live in LCOL area but very expensive hood. Next year I would pay off my primary residence, and my average monthly income from TLs would cover my expenses. I'm FI but didn't retire bc I can't find anything I could occupy myself whole day and I really like my work now, but can leave it at any time. I can live off my renal income and all my rentals are free and clear, my salary alone also covers all my expenses and more right now. But, if I really want to, I can live off my TL income only, starting from the next year.

My TL cards: Usually, I have 9-12 cards enrolled w/1-3 AUs on each. I got one Care Credit (Synch) closed (I think last year), but was able to get two more right away and now I mature them. Got 3 BOA cards closed this year (only one was enrolled in TL). Discover put a limit on AUs till November, I think. This month 4 Cap One cards got restricted and all 4 were enrolled. They are still reporting as far as I can tell and I won't close them bc that would be at least 60K CL. I think I still have at least 5 cards enrolled. But since I constantly get new cards - I always have new to enroll. My CL on enrolled cards ranges from 8K -25K, age from 6m to 10 years. I only work with the old company.

[Padonak]

Which Synchrony cards did you get @ilsy ?

[ilsy]

Care Credit and Car Care. I'm not sure, I would be able to enroll Car Care, but I access it the same way as Care Credit - so, I assume everything else is the same. They also have Home Care which I would get probably sometime later, much easier to make purchases on that card for me. The biggest problem with the Car Care card for me - I have no idea what 'car-related' expenses I can put on it every month (but I'll figure that out when the time comes). My car isn't that old to pay for expensive repairs that I can put on 6m financing.

[dantheman46]

I noticed my payment for July pending in my checking account today from the old company, however it does not include any money from the Barclay's cards that didn't post. Was there an email that came out that said they were going to pay 50% for these? I can't seem to find it. Anyone else have this happen?

I don't see a pending payment yet.  I was affected by one June Barclays AU not posting.  Tradeline master shows no commission to be paid.

Since it's a one off situation, they may have to do a manual process somehow.  It's conceivable to me that it could be a separate payment that is slightly delayed.

Thanks for the heads up; I'll also plan to follow @ARS's suggestion and will check with old company if the half payment doesn't show up after a week or two.

I got paid today for the exact amount I expected, including the 50% payment for the Barclays non-posting AU.

Is there anything showing under commission for your Barclay cards in TradelineMaster? I have one added 6/1 and the other 6/11 and nothing is showing in the commission column for either one and as far as I can tell, they didn't pay me.

[secondcor521]

I noticed my payment for July pending in my checking account today from the old company, however it does not include any money from the Barclay's cards that didn't post. Was there an email that came out that said they were going to pay 50% for these? I can't seem to find it. Anyone else have this happen?

I don't see a pending payment yet.  I was affected by one June Barclays AU not posting.  Tradeline master shows no commission to be paid.

Since it's a one off situation, they may have to do a manual process somehow.  It's conceivable to me that it could be a separate payment that is slightly delayed.

Thanks for the heads up; I'll also plan to follow @ARS's suggestion and will check with old company if the half payment doesn't show up after a week or two.

I got paid today for the exact amount I expected, including the 50% payment for the Barclays non-posting AU.

Is there anything showing under commission for your Barclay cards in TradelineMaster? I have one added 6/1 and the other 6/11 and nothing is showing in the commission column for either one and as far as I can tell, they didn't pay me.

No, it is blank.

[frugalnacho]

2) They're opening enrollment again for all cards they accept starting Aug 1. Huzzah! This happens ~once/year, so if you don't currently have your cards enrolled with Old Company, I'd recommend doing so at that time. PM me if you need the info, otherwise contact them in about two weeks.

3) They're opening enrollment--for the first time ever--to American Express cards. Yes, AmEx doesn't report the tradeline history (only the limit), so it's more for a niche of borrowers looking to drop their DTI (or who have a long credit history but not much available credit), and it will be at a lower commission than other cards, but it is a chance to use your AmEx cards now if you wish. He is supposed to email me the commission schedule for AmEx tomorrow, and I'll post it soon.

Please do not contact them now (wait until August 1) about enrolling more cards or enrolling your AmEx. They're busy dealing with the Barclays thing, and anticipate August 1 to be working on items 2 and 3 above, you can contact them them. Just wanted to give you all a heads up. :)

Here's the AmEx commission schedule:

Spoiler: show

2-Month Cycle Commission for Amex (limit only)
1. Limit $10,000 - $15,000 = $50 per spot
2. Limit $15,001 - $20,000 = $100 per spot
3. Limit $20,001 - $30,000 = $150 per spot
4. Limit $30,001 - $40,000 = $175 per spot
5. Limit $40,001 - or more = $200 per spot

Age of the card is irrelevant for Amex.

So can we just email them now that it's August 1?  I don't see anything on the portal, and I didn't receive an email announcement. 

[arebelspy]

Good question.

That was the plan last we spoke on July 14 (and nothing indicated that was changing when he sent me the Amex commission schedule on the 21st), so I would expect an email to cardholders in the next day or two (today being a weekend where they aren't working).

He did indicate they were dealing with the Barclay situation in July thus waiting until August to open enrollment and deal with that, so it's possible there's a delay. I'll ping them to find out either way and post here.

[nickelwise]

I noticed my payment for July pending in my checking account today from the old company, however it does not include any money from the Barclay's cards that didn't post. Was there an email that came out that said they were going to pay 50% for these? I can't seem to find it. Anyone else have this happen?

I don't see a pending payment yet.  I was affected by one June Barclays AU not posting.  Tradeline master shows no commission to be paid.

Since it's a one off situation, they may have to do a manual process somehow.  It's conceivable to me that it could be a separate payment that is slightly delayed.

Thanks for the heads up; I'll also plan to follow @ARS's suggestion and will check with old company if the half payment doesn't show up after a week or two.

I got paid today for the exact amount I expected, including the 50% payment for the Barclays non-posting AU.

Is there anything showing under commission for your Barclay cards in TradelineMaster? I have one added 6/1 and the other 6/11 and nothing is showing in the commission column for either one and as far as I can tell, they didn't pay me.

Most of my June Barclays AUs were showing as "Didn't Post" and I received the 50% payout, but I had one that was showing neither "Posted" nor "Didn't Post". The status was just blank, and I didn't get paid anything. I emailed Old Company about the issue. I was told that it's because the user has put in a dispute that the tradeline did not post, but has not yet provided the proof that Old Company requires to validate the dispute (credit reports from all three bureaus showing that the line did not post). They told me that if the proof is provided, it will move to "Did Not Post" status and we'll get the 50% payout as promised. Otherwise, if proof isn't provided by the deadline, it will go to "Posted" status (even though it probably didn't actually post) and we'll get paid out in full.

[arebelspy]

Confirmed: Old company is opening enrollment right now.

One thing to note about American Express:

For Amex cards, it’s still a bit of a trial as we go since it’s a new lender for us. A few things to keep in mind/share with other cardholders. We can only do Amex branded cards for now, example - Amex Blue Cash, Everyday, Delta. We can’t use any charge cards, Green, Gold, Platinum, and Centurion Amex cards do not qualify. (Charge cards only report the balance on the card). When cardholders send their card information, it'll be extra important that we have the card type. I'll be extremely busy this week so enrolling new cards will be a slow process, but I'll get to them all as I can.

They're also taking Huntington Bank cards now (new as of today):

As a side note, we'll also start taking Huntington Bank cards. This is also a new lender for us. It's easy to add (online), and they're absolutely fantastic at posting. However it seems like a pretty rare card. If anyone has this card we'll enroll it regardless of limit/age or time of year. Let me know if you have any questions.

They expect to get the enrollment newsletter out this week.

[arebelspy]

Making this a separate post, as I think it deserves its own post.

OldCompany is opening enrollment for all cards.

They accept: American Express, Barclays, Capital One, Chase, Citibank, Discover, Elan/Fidelity, Huntington Bank, NFCU, PNC, Synch Bank (Care Credit), TD Bank, and US Bank cards.

Amex is newly accepted as of right now.

They only open enrollment about once per year, for a few weeks. The last time was 1 year ago, August 2020. The last time before that was April 2019. If you have cards you want to sell tradelines on, now is the time.

As has been documented in this thread, OldCompany seems to be the best Tradeline company in the business. Tons of sales, automated payments, super good customer support, and great business practices (like the recent payout with Barclays nonpostings that they straight lost money on and didn't just pass that onto cardholders).

Personally, I'd be switching any cards you have for tradelining to OldCompany, if you aren't already there. IMO, anyone with cards for tradelining should be enrolled with them. And since they only open up signups for cardholders once a year or so, in the last few years, it's worth jumping on and getting your cards enrolled when they do.

Feel free to PM me if you need a referral. :)

[Rusted Rose]

Thanks ARS!

Can anyone inform whether we can decline having a physical AU card sent from Amex and/or if it shows up with someone else's name on the mail if we can't shut that off?

Many thanks to all helpful thread denizens!

[Archipelago]

Hey folks,

I've got some pretty bad news to share. Enrolled with Old Company 3 months ago. Signed up my Barclays card, sold 2 spots, got paid, everything is good. Then enrolled an Elan card, had my first AU spot sold not long after. 6-8 weeks go by and I find the card is declined when I'm at the grocery store. Try to log in to online access, tells me to call technical support. This past Friday I get on the phone with support, said my account was flagged for suspicious AU activity. The rep tells me that the AU had personally called in and said they didn't know why (my) credit history was showing up on their credit report. In my mind, I try to keep things as simple as possible and confirmed I added the AU on the stated date, and the relationship to me was a colleague.

I'm told someone from the verification team would be in touch. Just got off the phone with the Elan again today. My account is permanently closed with no chance to contest or reopen. The rep basically said "we don't allow piggybacking because it creates too much risk for the bank". They specifically used that term, so they must've deduced the card was being used for TLs or the AU tipped it off when they called.

I will say that the support I received from Old Company was very good. I brought up the issue right away, they tried all day Friday to get ahold of the AU. When they finally did, AU basically said they forgot they had signed up for and paid for the service (lol what?). They must've panicked or something when they saw it come up on their credit report and contacted the lender directly (big yikes, this is strictly forbidden in Old Company's rules).

On a brighter note, Old Company permanently disbarred said AU from any future business, kept AU's fee, and still paid me the $75 commission. Sucks that this happened so early on the very first AU spot, but hey, that's what you sign up for when engaging in this kind of side hustle. Not a card I really cared about or really used. $14k credit limit with 3 year history. Just unlucky, oh well.

Questions for moving forward:

1. Will that account closure raise alert to other lenders that I'm participating in tradelines? Do I need to lay low for a while?
2. How do I check and pay any open balances on the closed card, so that I'm not docked for late payments?
3. Anyone know if this will hurt my credit? I don't believe it will outside of overall utilization limit plus the credit history removal after 7 years.

P.S. Old Company said that the events above are very rare to occur. And apologized profusely. No hard feelings by me. Again, that's what you're signing up for. Old Company handled it professionally, even called me at 6:00 pm on a Friday to help with resolution.

[frugalnacho]

That's insane.  WTF is going on in that AU's life that they could forget about doing this in such a short time frame?  Even if you forgot, how do you not put 2 and 2 together and figure it out once you see that on your credit history?  Did they go into this with zero understanding of how the process works?  My mind is boggling. 

[Archipelago]

That's insane.  WTF is going on in that AU's life that they could forget about doing this in such a short time frame?  Even if you forgot, how do you not put 2 and 2 together and figure it out once you see that on your credit history?  Did they go into this with zero understanding of how the process works?  My mind is boggling.

Old Company rep and I shared similar feelings of disbelief. Must've glossed it over. I don't really blame Old Company for this. Just a stroke of bad luck. Good news is no one else here will have to play Russian roulette with that person in the system lol.

[secondcor521]

Questions for moving forward:

1. Will that account closure raise alert to other lenders that I'm participating in tradelines? Do I need to lay low for a while?
2. How do I check and pay any open balances on the closed card, so that I'm not docked for late payments?
3. Anyone know if this will hurt my credit? I don't believe it will outside of overall utilization limit plus the credit history removal after 7 years.

I've added dozens of AUs and had a similar situation only once.  So I agree that it's rare.

Answers:

1.  No, and only if you want to, respectively.
2.  Contact the credit card company.  I think you can just pay the outstanding balance on your next regular payment date.
3.  No, other than your available credit will drop and your average account age might change.

Also, FWIW, I don't use TL cards for regular spending in order to avoid the above happening to me.  However, this does raise the risk that a credit analyst looking at my account would more easily see that I'm piggybacking.  My approach is to try to behave in such a way that credit analysts never have occasion to look at my accounts.

And of course, ARS's comments at the beginning of this thread still are true:  don't piggyback on any card you're not OK with it getting shut down.

And @frugalnacho, these TL customers are not the brightest bulbs in the box and/or don't have the best memories / organizational skills.

[Zamboni]

Thanks, @arebelspy, for the update on old company taking new cards at this time. I couldn't figure out how to add a new card on their investor portal online, so perhaps we have to contact them another way about the new cards? What is your best advice for mode of contact. PM is fine if you'd rather not post that on the msg board. Thanks again!

[Nutty]

In 7 short months, I've had 2 former AUs call card companies and have themselves removed from my tradelines.  I got paid for both and both broke their contract (1st confirmed, 2nd I'm guessing).  I hope I'm an outlier and unlucky but the 2 cards haven't been canceled.  Sorry to hear yours was and that Elan is sensitive to it.  Old Company's customer service is wonderful.

@Zamboni  - I email old company the information on new cards to sign up.  Just like when you started.  They will add it to the portal, if accepted.

For Discover, I'm stopping my AUs at 6 per rolling 12 months to avoid the 7 limit and them telling me when I can add another AU.  Anyone have more information?  I'm a little gun shy after the AU issues.

[Zamboni]

^Thank you for this info! That is what I will do.

[missundecided]

Can we email them now or wait for the official e-newsletter?

[arebelspy]

I couldn't figure out how to add a new card on their investor portal online, so perhaps we have to contact them another way about the new cards? What is your best advice for mode of contact.

Can we email them now or wait for the official e-newsletter?

Yep, emailing them is great.

Anyone can feel free to PM me if you don't have that info.