At 17, you can’t open a credit card or loan in your own name, but you can start building a credit history by being added as an authorized user on a parent’s or guardian’s credit card. That is the practical answer to how to build credit at 17. A cosigned installment loan is a narrower second option. Everything else waits until your 18th birthday, and even then some limits stick around until 21.
Why You Can’t Open Your Own Accounts Yet
Two things are working against you. First, contracts signed by minors are voidable under the infancy doctrine, so a 17-year-old could legally walk away from a credit agreement while the lender stays bound. No card issuer accepts that risk. Second, the CARD Act bars issuing a credit card to anyone under 21 without either a qualifying cosigner who is at least 21 or proof of independent income sufficient to make the payments.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1637 – Open End Consumer Credit Plans A minor can’t be bound by the cosigned agreement in the first place, which closes that door.
Emancipation doesn’t change this in practice. Even minors who have been granted adult legal status by a court are turned away by major issuers, who set their own floor at 18.
Get Added as an Authorized User
The most reliable way to start a credit file before 18 is to have a parent or guardian add you as an authorized user on one of their credit cards. If the issuer reports authorized-user activity to the credit bureaus, that account’s payment history, credit limit, and utilization show up on your credit report. You benefit from the primary cardholder’s track record without signing anything yourself.
Check the Issuer’s Age Rule First
There is no federal minimum age for authorized users, and issuers set their own rules. American Express requires authorized users to be at least 13.2American Express. Additional Card Membership Some banks let a parent add a child at any age but hold off on reporting the account to the bureaus until the authorized user turns 18. Chase, for example, allows a child to be added but does not report the history to bureaus during the minor years.3Chase. Ways to Establish Credit History for Your Child Before your parent submits the request, they should call the issuer to confirm both the age minimum and whether the account will actually be reported while you’re 17. An unreported account doesn’t build credit.
What the Bank Will Ask For
Banks have to collect identifying information on anyone added to an account. The primary cardholder will need to provide your full legal name, date of birth, and taxpayer identification number, which for most people is a Social Security number.4eCFR. 31 CFR 1020.220 – Customer Identification Program Requirements for Banks The name should match your Social Security card exactly, or the credit bureaus may fail to link the account to your file. The request can usually go through the primary cardholder’s online banking portal or a call to the number on the back of the card. Once approved, the issuer mails a card in your name to the primary holder’s address.
Pick a Healthy Account
Not every account helps. The one you’re added to should have a consistent record of on-time payments and a low balance relative to its limit. Utilization well under 30 percent is the working rule, and single digits is better for your score. If the account has late payments or a chronically high balance, that history can also land on your report once you’re added, and it can pull your score down before you’ve even started.
Know the Risks
Being an authorized user is a two-way street. If the primary cardholder is 30 days late on a payment, that late mark can show up on your credit report at some bureaus. High utilization on the account can drag your score down even though you never made the charges. Reporting practices differ: Experian does not include the primary holder’s late payments on an authorized user’s report, but other bureaus may. If the account starts hurting you, ask the issuer to remove you. Once removed, the account is typically deleted from your credit report as well.
A Cosigned Loan Is the Other Path
Some lenders will issue an installment loan to a minor if an adult with established credit cosigns. Private student loans are the most common example available to 17-year-olds heading to college. The cosigner takes full legal responsibility for the debt, which is what makes the lender comfortable approving a borrower who couldn’t be bound to the contract on their own.
Joint liability cuts both ways. The lender can pursue the cosigner for the entire balance, not just missed payments,5Federal Trade Commission. Cosigning a Loan FAQs and late payments or defaults show up on both credit reports. One missed payment damages two people’s credit at once. Lenders will ask the cosigner for government-issued ID, proof of income such as recent pay stubs or W-2s, and consent to a full credit check, and they price the loan largely off the cosigner’s credit score, income, and debt-to-income ratio.
Federal student loans work differently. They don’t require a cosigner or a credit check because they’re awarded through the FAFSA based on enrollment and need. They also don’t help you build a payment history during school, because payments generally don’t start until after you leave.
Lock Down Your Credit File
A minor who has never had a credit account shouldn’t have a credit report at all. If one exists, it usually means someone has been using the Social Security number fraudulently. Between 13 and 17, you can request your own report through AnnualCreditReport.com.6AnnualCreditReport.com. Requesting Reports in Special Situations
Federal law gives parents the right to place a free security freeze on the credit file of a child under 16, and requires the bureau to create a file for the sole purpose of freezing it if none exists.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c-1 – Identity Theft Prevention; Fraud Alerts and Active Duty Alerts8Federal Trade Commission. New Protections Available for Minors Under 16 At 17 you fall outside that provision, but you can place a freeze on your own file by contacting each bureau directly. That’s worth doing if you aren’t actively applying for anything and want to keep accounts from being opened in your name.
What Opens Up at 18
Turning 18 gives you the legal capacity to sign binding contracts, which is what makes your own accounts possible. The CARD Act still applies, though, until you turn 21. Between 18 and 20, you can get a credit card only if you can show independent income to cover the minimum payments, or if you have a qualifying cosigner who is at least 21.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1637 – Open End Consumer Credit Plans
Qualifying income is broader than a paycheck. It includes wages from full-time, part-time, or seasonal work, self-employment earnings, interest and dividends, public assistance, and money regularly deposited into an account you hold, including a joint account.9Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 12 CFR 1026.51 – Ability to Pay What doesn’t count is money you only expect to have access to, like a parent’s salary, unless state community property law gives you an ownership interest or the funds are deposited into your account.
Secured Cards
A secured credit card is usually the easiest first account at 18. You put down a refundable cash deposit, typically $200 to $300, and that deposit becomes your credit limit. Because the issuer is holding your money as collateral, approval standards are lower than for a standard card. Small purchases paid off in full each month build a positive payment history without letting a balance run away from you.
Your Authorized-User History Carries Over
Any authorized-user history you built before 18 generally stays on your report afterward. Issuers that held off on reporting during your minor years may start reporting once you turn 18. You don’t need to convert the account into your own; it can sit alongside any new accounts you open. As your independent credit grows, that authorized-user account matters less, and you can ask to be removed when you no longer need it.