Gone are the days when you could walk into your bank, have the bank manager, or for that matter any bank employee, know your name and arrange for a loan based on the relationship with your bank, your signature and a handshake. Today all credit decisions are driven by credit scores and utilizing seasoned trade lines is an interesting way to improve your credit scores and do it quickly.

Seasoned trade lines raise your credit score by virtue of association. The way it works is that someone who has a well established line of credit that is at least a few years old, that also has an impeccable payment history and a low percentage of the credit line is use, offers to allow you to become an authorized user on the account.

Of course, this offer is not free and you will pay a fee, sometimes a hefty one, to enjoy this authorized association with this type of aged credit tradelines. Being an authorized user will result in the activity on the account, including the long standing positive payment history, being reported on your credit file as well as on the credit file of the owner of the account.

It also needs to be very clear that a using someone's seasoned trade line in this way and for this purpose does not grant you any type of access to the credit line on this account, and if it is a credit card account you will not be issued a credit card. In essence, it is a way to "rent" someone else's credit history and reputation.

Adding seasoned credit lines in your name in order to boost credit scores is a technique that has been around for quite a long time, but it has recently become more popular as people are more aware of how much money they can save when they have a high credit score and are more motivated to find quick ways to raise their scores.

The question naturally arises, how can I take advantage of seasoned credit accounts and where do I go to find someone with this kind of great trade line? The first step might be to look for free seasoned credit lines which would usually be arranged through a very good friend or family member with excellent credit.

If that option is not available, there are also many companies offering their services to be the go between for the person with the seasoned credit cards and the people like you who are wanting to become authorized users. These company screen the people offering the good lines of trade and verify their standing with the credit bureaus and share the fee that they collect from you.

Two points of caution on this subject. First, check out any company offering this kind of service, especially if they are advertising the best deal on seasoned trade line arrangements, and be sure the company has a good reputation and happy clients.

The second caution is that of this usage of seasoned trade lines could be coming to an end, and soon. It has been reported that the credit bureaus do not like the potential for fraud in this kind of arrangement and that they may be changing reporting procedures as soon as the fall of 2007 and no longer include authorized users in reporting, but only the actual owner of accounts.