Ashley Wade, WalletHub Analyst
@shlee
American Express can help your credit score if you are the primary accountholder or an authorized user aged 18 or older on an American Express credit card or charge card account. For an Amex card to be good for your credit score, the account must be kept in good standing with on-time monthly bill payments. Every month an open Amex account is used responsibly, positive information will be reported to the credit bureaus.
On the other hand, using an Amex card irresponsibly will often be bad––or at the very least, unhelpful––for the primary cardholder’s credit score. Mistakes such as missed payments should have no effect on an authorized user’s credit score, though, because Amex will stop reporting on the additional cardholder once an account becomes delinquent.
While account status and eligibility determine whether an Amex card will help your credit, other factors influence how much your credit score will improve. For example, credit card primary accountholders will build credit slightly faster than charge card primary accountholders, and charge card primary accountholders will build credit slightly faster than authorized users. That said, any primary or additional cardholder who has only positive credit information reported monthly to credit bureaus can build excellent credit with enough time.
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