In many cases, if someone is sharing their finances with a loved one, such as a spouse or a partner, they may decide it makes the most sense to get a joint credit card. With a joint credit card, both people who are on the account have the ability to make purchases and charges under the same line of credit. Like many financial decisions, there are several pros and cons to have a joint credit card. Here are some pros and cons that you should consider before deciding to move forward with a joint credit card: 

Pros: 

• You will have fewer bills to manage. With a joint credit card, you will have less bills to manage and ultimately keep track of. This may help to keep both of you organized each month in paying your bills and remembering dates that each payment is due.

• All of your transactions are consolidated. If you are one to keep track of all of your transactions closely, having a joint credit card will help! With a joint card, all of your transactions between the two of you will show up under one statement.

• You can earn more rewards. Many credit cards offer a lot of great rewards. With a joint account, since both you and your loved one will be charging on the card, you will earn more rewards – and earn them quicker!  

• It can help improve one’s credit. If one of you has a lower credit score than the other and is trying to improve their credit, a joint card will help. With the joint account, as long as payments are made on time each month, both of your credit scores will improve.

Cons: 

• Can have complications if relationships change. Like any financial commitments, a joint credit card can have its complications if your relationship with your loved one changes. In this case, it is important to ensure both parties are on the same page in terms of how to move forward with the account.

• Can cause disagreements over account management. Before opening up a joint credit card, you must make sure that both parties are aligned in account management for the card as well as spending habits. If one person tends to spend more than the other, this could cause tension.

• Both parties become legally responsible for the debt. One of the reasons it is so important to ensure that both parties have the same type of spending habits is because both parties will be legally responsible for the debt, no matter who charged what.

Late payments will hurt both credit scores. It is always important to pay your credit card bill before or on the payment due date each month. In this case, late payments will hurt both parties’ credit scores.