Definition
A person allowed to use someone else's credit card account who is not legally responsible for paying the debt.
What it means
An authorized user gets a card on another person's credit card account and can make purchases, but the primary account holder is responsible for the bill. Many card issuers report the account on the authorized user's credit report, so a parent or spouse with a long, on-time history can help a new user build credit; late payments or high balances can also hurt the user's report. Ask the issuer whether it reports authorized users before relying on this. The CFPB notes that an authorized user generally is not liable to repay the debt, including after the primary cardholder dies, unless they were a joint account holder. Either person can usually ask to remove the authorized user. Some issuers set a minimum age for authorized users.
Example
A parent with a card that has a $10,000 limit, a $500 balance and eight years of on-time payments adds a 19-year-old as an authorized user; that history may then appear on the young adult's report.
Illustrative numbers only. Your situation will differ.