The Truth About Buying Primary Tradelines: Fact, Fiction, or Fraud?
The Truth About Buying Primary Tradelines: Fact, Fiction, or Fraud?
For most people trying to build credit and have good credit lines available to them, primary tradelines are usually the goal. Building credit with the help of another is often a great way to begin that journey to achieving strong credit options.
However, there is a big difference between becoming an authorized user and trying to buy an actual primary account. After all, by definition, a primary account is a credit line that is issued by the creditor to you as the borrower.
Therefore, if a creditor does not actually issue you credit, then acquiring a "primary account" may involve actions that are questionable at best and possibly illegal in some of the worst cases—even though they may be advertised by businesses that appear legal. Not only that, but buying primary tradelines may not even help as much as you may hope, or as much as other options.
This website attempts to shed light on some of the tactics that may exist in the marketplace in regard to buying primary tradelines.
Official Primary Tradeline, Governmental, Credit and Help Resources.
Access Our Comprehensive Database
Take control of your financial future with our curated collection of official resources. With over 17 years of experience in the credit education space, we understand how overwhelming it can be to find accurate, trustworthy information on your own.
That's why we've vetted and organized hundreds of links to credit bureaus, government agencies, and non-profit counseling services—all in one place. Every resource has been carefully selected to ensure you are connecting with legitimate organizations that can genuinely help.
Whether you're disputing an error with Equifax, learning your rights from the FTC, or connecting with a certified credit counselor, our Resource Center puts the tools you need at your fingertips. No more endless searching or wondering if a source is credible—we've done the hard work for you.
Start building better credit health today with resources you can trust, backed by nearly two decades of industry expertise.
Unlike authorized user tradelines, primary accounts build credit history based on your own financial behavior.
What Is a Primary Tradeline?
A primary tradeline is a credit account that is opened in your own name, in which the creditor extends credit to you as the borrower. When you open up a credit card on your own, you have a primary tradeline. This means that you are responsible for the transactions that occur on this tradeline.
Mortgages, auto loans, and credit card accounts under your name are all examples of common primary tradelines. As you can see, you're probably already familiar with primary tradelines—they're the most common type of tradeline out there. Chances are, you already have a primary tradeline in your own name!
How to Add Primary Tradelines to Your Credit Report
The best way to add primary tradelines to your credit report is to open accounts in your own name and keep them in good standing by always paying on time and keeping the utilization low. Examples of primary tradelines you could apply for include credit cards, auto loans, home loans, or any line of credit on which you are the primary account holder. This is a foundational step in building a balanced mix of credit.
What Is the Difference Between Authorized User Tradelines and Primary Tradelines?
With an authorized user (AU) tradeline, you are added as an authorized user to someone else's account, which means you are not responsible for charges made, but the account can still be added to your credit report. In contrast, you are responsible for the charges on your own primary accounts.
Since you are the one on the hook for the debt, primary accounts are often seen as a better indication of how financially responsible you really are. This is why it's important to have some primary tradelines in your credit file as part of your foundation for good credit. It is also why some believe that primary tradelines are superior to AU tradelines.
However, Authorized User tradelines are still very powerful tools, despite that buying authorized user tradelines can unfortunately be seen as a scam or fraudulent scheme to boost your credit scores.
Can I Purchase Primary Tradelines?
It is usually best to get free primary tradelines by opening them yourself rather than trying to purchase them. But yes, you can acquire primary tradelines from skilled vendors or professional information by opening a credit card or another type of reporting account.
There may be a few instances in which people can legitimately purchase primary tradelines, again by acquiring primary tradelines from skilled vendors or professional information by opening a credit card or another type of reporting account. It's just common sense. If a primary tradeline is an account opened in your name, of which you are the primary user, this is an account that is legitimate and an account that is in your name.
Primary tradelines are not created. Primary tradeline accounts are responsible credit building for legitimate purposes where someone opened a real credit account with a real vendor in their name.
Buying Primary Accounts in Default
One questionable method that we have heard of is buying other people's defaulted accounts that have gone to collections and transferring the account to a new owner. While it may sound like a clever way to acquire a primary account, if it comes with a credit history, then it also comes with a payment history. Why would you want to acquire an account that does not have a perfect payment history? Having a negative or derogatory payment history is practically the worst possible thing to have on your credit. It usually takes years to recover from those negative marks.
On the other hand, if the defaulted primary account does not come with a payment history, then there is no seasoning to the account. As we illustrated in our article "Why Age Is the Most Important Factor of a Tradeline," acquiring primary accounts with no payment history may not be as good as it may sound.
Purchasing Closed Accounts
We have seen examples of companies trying to sell closed primary tradelines. One problem with this option: what is a closed account really going to do for you? Perhaps it is a "primary account," but since it is closed, that means that this account is no longer available to you (which in reality never was available to you to begin with). This does not seem like a good investment, but it is entertaining to hear how salespeople try to sell this.
When you take a step back and use common sense, you probably have better uses of your money than buying someone else's closed account. There also may be fraudulent tactics on how they acquire these closed accounts, so buyer beware!
Paying an Annual Fee
One of the more legitimate ways to obtain a primary tradeline, if you can't qualify for a traditional credit card or loan, is to buy products and/or pay a fee from a business that will allow you to open a line of credit with them. The business must report this line of credit to at least one of the credit bureaus in order for this to have any impact on your credit file. However, this is not exactly "buying" a primary tradeline, but rather paying a steep yearly or even monthly fee to open one and have it reported.
The problem with this strategy is that the new tradeline will not have any age since you just opened it. Opening a new account actually hurts your credit until it has had some time to age and show that you can properly manage the account. Also, the line of credit in this scenario almost always can only be used at the business that issued it to you, so you cannot use it to pay for other expenses. You may not even need anything from that business, so you might be stuck buying something you don't want or need just to open your account.
The Joint Account Method
Some sources have said that one way to get a primary tradeline without directly opening one yourself could be to get added as a joint account holder and then remove the other joint account holder. However, many banks do not allow joint account holders to be added to existing accounts, so you would likely have to apply for a new account with the joint account holder. Sometimes they allow a joint account holder to be added, but not removed.
Many credit card issuers do not offer joint accounts at all, which leaves you with limited options. Not to mention the fact that you cannot "purchase" a joint credit account to begin with.
Plus, if you were to hypothetically open a joint credit account with someone, usually both parties have to accept the liability that the other person could damage their credit. In order to remove a joint account holder, you almost always have to just completely close that account, so then you end up with a closed account.
Another risk is what if the other person refuses to be removed and racks up debt on the account? As a joint account holder, you would still be 100% responsible for the debt, and your credit would be worse off than before.
This type of arrangement of being added as a joint account holder is valid, but we have not seen this type of business arrangement for sale, so in order to have this option you would need a close friend or family member to agree to do this for you. Even if you have a friend or family member willing to do this, you need to make sure you want to be connected to that person because if they mess up on that account, then it affects you, too.
Seasoned Primary Tradelines
As we mentioned above, in many of the most common tactics of buying and selling primary tradelines, the "seasoned" (aged) aspect is often either missing or actually comes with negative payments associated with the history.
Acquiring a primary tradeline with no seasoning is usually just not very valuable. After all, why pay money for something you can probably get for free by opening your own new account—which will also have no seasoning?
In general, there are probably not very many legitimate shortcuts to having seasoned primary tradelines. Remember that a primary tradeline means this is your account, where a creditor has issued you credit in your own name. So how exactly can a payment history be reported under your name if you do not actually have a history of paying on that account?
For the companies who claim to have a solution to this problem, the answer is that they are most likely committing fraud. If you tell a lie in the financial world, you are committing fraud. The reality is simple: those seasoned primary accounts were not your accounts, and you do not have a payment history on those accounts. It is never a good idea to use dishonesty to try to get around that fact.
The Fraudulent Primary Tradeline Argument
If you pay someone to report a primary tradeline to the credit bureaus in your name, who is to say they are not just creating a fraudulent "tradeline" out of thin air? In other words, they could essentially be making up false information and reporting a tradeline that does not actually exist.
Again, this is a fraudulent practice—and you would be liable for it. This is something you do not want to be involved with, especially since the FBI is actively cracking down on those using fake primary tradelines to falsely pump up their credit.
Because this tactic does exist in the market, if you are considering buying a primary tradeline, it is essential to know everything about that tradeline. Make sure you know who it belonged to originally, what the payment history looks like, and how exactly you can just "buy" this account and make it appear as if it is yours.
The reality is that if the account does not really belong to you, then you would be committing fraud. Companies that aid in committing fraud definitely exist in this space. So how would you know if they are fabricating this account or if it is legitimate? And even if it is, in fact, a legitimate account, you still know you are not the legitimate owner of that account.
Are Primary Tradelines Better Than Authorized User Tradelines?
As we mentioned, yes—because they are real accounts linked to a real person. Obtaining a real primary tradeline from a real vendor with seasoning is the holy grail. People often assume that primary tradelines are "better" than authorized user tradelines because they are in your own name and indicate more financial responsibility. And they are right.
However, in some cases, the use of an authorized user can be a good thing for a child, friend, or family member—someone you can trust, knowing they are not seeking to boost their scores for fraudulent attempts.
According to FICO, revolving debts (e.g., credit cards) are weighted more heavily than installment debts (e.g., auto loans, mortgages). The reason is that while installment debt is often secured by collateral—such as your car in the case of an auto loan—revolving debt is typically unsecured, which makes it riskier for the lender. Therefore, revolving debt is a better indication of one's credit risk, which is why it affects your credit score so much.
In addition, the credit utilization part of your credit score, which makes up 30%, only factors in revolving accounts. Adding an installment loan would not help your utilization ratio at all.
For that reason, it makes sense to go for revolving accounts rather than installment accounts. When you become an authorized user on a credit card, these are always going to be revolving accounts. But if you really wanted to buy a primary revolving account, how exactly could that be done?
You might wonder if you could just pay to have someone else's credit card account transferred to your name. But it is not possible to do that, since the lender issued the credit to the primary user—not to you. When buying primary tradelines, it is probably more likely to be an installment debt such as an auto loan, which is not as impactful. And you cannot legitimately show any payment history, since this was not your account.
Learn more about the differences between authorized user accounts and primary accounts and how they each impact your credit in the Credit Countdown video with John Ulzheimer. Head to YouTube to watch more credit videos, and don't forget to subscribe!
Conclusions
When it comes to authorized user tradelines versus primary tradelines, we believe it is actually better to acquire primary tradelines for several reasons.
First is the power of primary tradelines. Due to ECOA and Regulation B, the credit bureaus are not forced to consider authorized user positions on credit cards. This is largely because the banks do distinguish whether an AU is attached to the person who actually owns the account. Therefore, if the credit bureaus do not weigh an AU position relatively close to the primary position, then a primary position is much more valuable and the AU position is diminished.
Second, AU tradelines for sale are usually some form of a revolving BB-indicated account. These are simply not as powerful as real primary AB revolving accounts. In other words, an AB revolving primary account carries more weight than an AU BB revolving account.
Then there is the myriad of other reasons that make buying AU tradelines risky or less desirable. For example, an AU tradeline can never legitimately be said to be your account. So how can it be scored and counted as a legitimate account for anyone other than the actual owner?
Legitimate primary tradelines can range from small lines of credit at jewelry stores all the way up to reporting car transactions, housing, and mortgage transactions—as well as all other large reported primary tradeline accounts. Do not forget: the AU BB account that is reported as an authorized user to someone who buys your account is reported as a Citibank AB primary tradeline to the actual owner of the card account. So if someone tells you authorized user accounts are better than primary tradeline accounts, simply explain to them that while an authorized user account reports as an AU BB account to the renter, it reports as a primary to the owner.
You are trying to play the credit game, but it is important to stay within the legal lines. When considering whether you want to get a primary tradeline versus an authorized user tradeline, there is a big difference between the two options.
In the authorized user case, there is an inherent contradiction: this is not your account. So why is the history being reported on a credit profile of someone not responsible for that account? You may have been legitimately added as an authorized user on that account, but the fact remains that you are not the responsible, legally benefiting party.
On the other hand, when buying primary tradeline accounts, you know it is your account. Therefore, saying the account belongs to you is not a lie. In contrast, the authorized user account is not claimed to be primarily your account. You are simply a renter, an authorized user—which is a verifiable fact—and no laws prevent you from having the right to be an authorized user.
What's your take on authorized user versus primary tradelines? If you found this article helpful, we would love for you to comment with your feedback or share it with your friends!
Explore Our Website by
Using the Links Above to
See More Products...
Contents
What Is a Primary Tradeline?
How to Add Primary Tradelines to Your Credit Report
What Is the Difference Between Authorized User Tradelines and Primary Tradelines?
Can I Purchase Primary Tradelines?
Buying Primary Accounts in Default
Purchasing Closed Accounts
Paying an Annual Fee
The Joint Account Method
Seasoned Primary Tradelines
Primary Tradelines for CPNs
Fraudulent Primary Tradelines
Are Primary Tradelines Better Than Authorized User Tradelines?
Video: Authorized User vs. Primary Accounts
Conclusions