How do I Change the Ownership of a Credit Card?

You can change the ownership of a credit card by following a simple procedure. Changing the ownership of a card means you can either add a co-applicant to your credit card or delete one of the owners from a credit card. When you have co-applicants, each is responsible for all transactions made by the other party. A co-applicant is able to share in all benefits available to the original applicant. The credit card company will perform the change for you.

Contact your credit card company by calling the toll-free number on the back of your credit card or statement. Let the customer service representative know what you want to do. If you want to add a co-applicant, the representative will send out a co-applicant form which should be signed by you and the co-applicant. Depending on the credit card company, you may be able to download the form from its website.

Mail the co-applicant change form to the address listed on the form. A credit representative will process your request and have an answer in seven to 10 business days. The co-applicant will need to be approved for credit by the credit card company. If there are concerns by the credit card company, such as bad credit, the request will be denied.

Activate the credit card. Once the request is approved, the co-applicant will receive a credit card in the mail no later than 30 days. Sign the back of the card and call the toll-free number on the front of the card to activate it.

Ask the credit card company for a removal form. If a credit card has an account owner and co-applicant, you can have one or the other removed. When you receive the change form in the mail, both the owner of the account and the co-applicant must sign it. This form will indicate the person being removed no longer has any authority to use the account and is no longer responsible for the account.

Send the form to the address indicated. The credit department will process the request to see if the person remaining on the account has the income to maintain the account on his own. When the credit card department determines the account can be maintained by the remaining account owner, it will send a letter to both parties to notify that one of the account owners has been removed.