The Value of Joint Credit Cards

Posted by: Michael S. | Oct 21,2007


Right after the wedding a lot of newlyweds decide to get a joint credit card account.  Sometimes, couples do this before the wedding, but this of course depends on the length of the engagement.  Generally, the days leading up to the wedding are more carefree and then when the wedding is over, it’s time to get serious and start planning your life together.  Joint accounts are a big part of this: joint credit cards, bank accounts, investments, loans, and other joint ventures.  

As this is a credit card site, let’s focus in on credit cards.  Getting a credit card together takes some extra work than applying for a credit card individually.  First, you’ve got to get your credit situation in order.  Are you weighted in one credit direction or the other?  In other words, does one spouse have great credit and the other does not?  This shouldn’t necessarily stop you from getting a card together, but it will limit the number of cards you can apply for, as you’ll only be able to get a card for good credit borrowers or lower.  

You have one of two options:

1. Apply for an individual credit card plan for the person with a lower credit rating.  In doing so, you can start repairing his or her credit before you open up an account together.  Of course, if he or she has five outstanding cards, all maxed out, this isn’t much of an option.  In this case, you’ve got enact an aggressive debt-control strategy before opening up a joint account.  
2. The second option is to go right ahead and open up a joint account.  The good news is this can help elevate your spouse’s credit rating.  The flip side is that this will drag down the spouse with the better rating.  It really depends what sort of credit difficulty one spouse is in.  If a spouse has moderately bad credit, a joint account is a good idea.  If the spouse is on the edge of bankruptcy, you’ve got to clear up those debt problems as soon as possible.  

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