What’s an authorized user? If you have a credit card that was applied for in your name only - yet you want to give someone else access to make purchases on the card too - then you can make that person an authorized user.

In other words, you’re essentially saying this:

“I trust you enough to give you full access to charge up stuff on my credit card, yet you’re not really responsible for making the payments.”

Does that make you shudder? It should.

Allowing someone authorized user status on your credit card can make sense in certain situations.

It makes sense if you’re married, but your spouse’s horrible credit would stop you from getting approved for a card together.

It doesn’t make sense if you give authorized user status to your new boyfriend/girlfriend because you want to impress him or her.

It makes sense if you send your son or daughter off to college with authorized user status on a credit card with a small credit limit for emergencies.

It doesn’t make sense if you give authorized user status to your unreliable friend who begs for help in getting a credit card.

You need to understand that making someone an authorized user does not make that person responsible for making payments on the card, even if the authorized user is the one who wracks up the bill. The bill still comes to you, and you’re still expected to pay it.

You may think that the person you choose as your authorized user will certainly pay you for the charges, but you would be amazed at how quickly relationships can dissolve when money is involved. You may be best friends with someone today, but see how well your relationship can withstand your friend suddenly owing you some money and not being able to pay.

If you have good credit as a result of paying your bills on time and not going too crazy with your purchases, you may be putting all this at jeopardy if you allow someone to be an authorized user on your credit card. That is, of course, unless you don’t mind paying for other people’s shopping trips.

Don’t let someone talk you into giving them authorized user status on your credit card because they want to build up their credit. Being an authorized user on a credit card won’t always show up on credit reports, so it won’t really help in that respect. You would be better off giving your friend a few hundred dollars to put into an account so he or she can open up a secured credit card…but only if the money is a gift and you never expect to see it again. Nothing ruins a friendship like one person owing the other person money.

Adding someone as an authorized user isn’t all doom and gloom, but you do need to choose an authorized user wisely and after a lot of consideration. No matter how much you want to swoop in and solve the credit problems of your friend or the person you’ve wanted to date for months, keep in mind the long-term consequences of your decision.

Everyone knows how easy it is to forget about the eventual result of impulse shopping with a credit card, but it may be even easier to dismiss the nagging feeling of “I really shouldn’t be buying this” if deep down you know that you’re not really responsible for the bill.

Do you really want to give someone this option?