topic Re: Azeo method in Understanding FICO® Scoring

Azeo method

Anonymous — Sat, 12 May 2018 22:49:36 GMT

I see this a lot in the forum but I don't know what it means. Could anyone explain?

Re: Azeo method

kimbersleep — Sun, 13 May 2018 02:04:14 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I see this a lot in the forum but I don't know what it means. Could anyone explain?

Hi, there is a post that describes common abbreviations on these forums, I've linked it for you here.

AZEO stands for All Zero Except One. If you have at least 3 credit card acounts, you can maximize your credit scores by having all of the cards report a $0 balance, except one which reports anywhere from 1-8.9% utilization.

Re: Azeo method

SoundoftheSuburbs — Sat, 27 Oct 2018 07:05:09 GMT

Isn't it complicated to keep track of a balance of under 9%? I just pay everything off if I can.

Re: Azeo method

Anonymous — Sat, 27 Oct 2018 07:17:13 GMT

Isn't it complicated to keep track of a balance of under 9%? I just pay everything off if I can.

What matters is your reported balance, which is usually your statement balance. You don't have to worry about this for about 25 days out of the month, but a few days before your due date and/or the date when your next statement is going to cut you're going to want to pay your previous statement balance in full, plus any new charges that would take that balance over 8.9% of the limit. A best practice is to just leave a small balance behind, say $10-$15. You don't have to keep your balance at under 8.9% all month long by making extra payments all the time or anything, just ensure that your reported balance lands under 8.9%.

Re: Azeo method

Anonymous — Sat, 27 Oct 2018 13:13:29 GMT

@SoundoftheSuburbs wrote:
Isn't it complicated to keep track of a balance of under 9%? I just pay everything off if I can.

Are you saying that your cards usually report $0 for all your balances? If so FICO is imposing a penalty of about 15-20 points on you.

Given that your scores are in the low 600s you should be looking to get every extra point you can, and certainly you should be doing this in the 40 days prior to any further application for credit.

Re: Azeo method

CAS2019 — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 18:08:56 GMT

I want to make certain I have the Azeo crystal clear in my mind. I PIF my cc’s each month. Starting in November, I want to utilize the Azeo method. I will be using my Cap1 cc to carry the balance. My billing cycle ends on the 12th of each month, and payment is due by the 9th the following month. As an example I charge $89 today on the card. I’ll pay $64 on Nov. 5th, and when the billing cycle ends on Nov. 12th, the remaining $25 will show on the statement. If I pay the remaining $25 on Nov. 25th, will that suffice—or do I have to pay the remaining balance on the 7th or 8th of December (I would prefer to pay much earlier, however) in order for the CRA’s to show a balance? I only have a cl of $500 on this card.

Thanks for any advice!

Re: Azeo method

Thomas_Thumb — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 18:21:19 GMT

@CAS2019 wrote:
I want to make certain I have the Azeo crystal clear in my mind. I PIF my cc’s each month. Starting in November, I want to utilize the Azeo method. I will be using my Cap1 cc to carry the balance. My billing cycle ends on the 12th of each month, and payment is due by the 9th the following month. As an example I charge $89 today on the card. I’ll pay $64 on Nov. 5th, and when the billing cycle ends on Nov. 12th, the remaining $25 will show on the statement. If I pay the remaining $25 on Nov. 25th, will that suffice—or do I have to pay the remaining balance on the 7th or 8th of December (I would prefer to pay much earlier, however) in order for the CRA’s to show a balance? I only have a cl of $500 on this card.

Thanks for any advice!

Your card reports $25 on a $500 balance on November 12th. Your reported utilization will be 5%. Then you need to pay the reported balance before the due date (Dec 9) for PIF. You actually do not want to "carry" a balance as that will trigger interest payments.

For AZEO then all other cards being used need to be paid in full by the statement date (not the due date) so they report a zero statement balance.

Re: Azeo method

HeavenOhio — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 18:59:07 GMT

Yeah, "carry" a balance means to revolve a balance and pay interest (or take advantage of a 0% interest period). You don't have to do that.

Post a balance, cut a balance, print a balance, etc. refer to non-zero statement balances, no matter how they're acquired. Often, members use "carry" a balance synonymously with these terms, and we need to discern whether or not interest is part of the equation.

Re: Azeo method

CAS2019 — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 19:18:35 GMT

I think this is the same as I am thinking. So I charged $89. yesterday and pay $64 anytime before Nov. 12th, the statement will show $25 to be paid by Dec. 9th (and I won’t incur any interest charges). This is the way to handle Azero in my case, correct? When I used the word “balance”, I am referring the difference from the $89 minus $64. The $25 is what I will owe on the statement.

Re: Azeo method

CAS2019 — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 19:22:07 GMT

@Thomas_Thumb wrote:
@CAS2019 wrote:
I want to make certain I have the Azeo crystal clear in my mind. I PIF my cc’s each month. Starting in November, I want to utilize the Azeo method. I will be using my Cap1 cc to carry the balance. My billing cycle ends on the 12th of each month, and payment is due by the 9th the following month. As an example I charge $89 today on the card. I’ll pay $64 on Nov. 5th, and when the billing cycle ends on Nov. 12th, the remaining $25 will show on the statement. If I pay the remaining $25 on Nov. 25th, will that suffice—or do I have to pay the remaining balance on the 7th or 8th of December (I would prefer to pay much earlier, however) in order for the CRA’s to show a balance? I only have a cl of $500 on this card.

Thanks for any advice!
Your card reports $25 on a $500 balance on November 12th. Your reported utilization will be 5%. Then you need to pay the reported balance before the due date (Dec 9) for PIF. You actually do not want to "carry" a balance as that will trigger interest payments.

For AZEO then all other cards being used need to be paid in full by the statement date (not the due date) so they report a zero statement balance.

Also, If all the cc’s have to be paid by the statement date, how would you handle the various statement dates? I have two Chase cards (different statement dates), a TJ Maxx store card, as well as the Cap1. I tend to pay my cc’s the day it shows up on my online acct (way before the statement is cut).

Re: Azeo method

Anonymous — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 19:36:59 GMT

NOTE: I wrote the following at the same time TT was making his wise response!

Your plan is fine. Pay the amount owed down to a small number (e.g. $10) a couple days before the statement prints.

Then pay the statement balance any time after the statement prints. This second piece you could take care of by putting your card on autopay (it should give the option of paying the statement balance in full).

PS. You use the phrase "carry the balance." Your Cap One will actually not be carrying a balance. Suppose your statement balance was $400 (as of Nov 13). If you then paid $100 (far more than the minimum payment but less than the statement balance) the $300 remainder would be carried over to the next statement. That's what carrying means. It almost always involves paying interest.

Suppose instead that you made a $50 purchase on Nov 14 (taking your balance to $450) and then paid the statement balance on Nov 19 ($400). If you made no further purchases for 30 days your next statement would show $50 and that amount would be reported to the three bureaus. You would be reporting $50 but not carrying $50. Reporting is the key idea in AZEO. No current FICO models attempt to see if you are carrying balances, though it is possible that FICO 10 ot some other future model might consider that.

Re: Azeo method

CAS2019 — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 00:55:06 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
NOTE: I wrote the following at the same time TT was making his wise response!

Your plan is fine. Pay the amount owed down to a small number (e.g. $10) a couple days before the statement prints.

Then pay the statement balance any time after the statement prints. This second piece you could take care of by putting your card on autopay (it should give the option of paying the statement balance in full).

PS. You use the phrase "carry the balance." Your Cap One will actually not be carrying a balance. Suppose your statement balance was $400 (as of Nov 13). If you then paid $100 (far more than the minimum payment but less than the statement balance) the $300 remainder would be carried over to the next statement. That's what carrying means. It almost always involves paying interest.

Suppose instead that you made a $50 purchase on Nov 14 (taking your balance to $450) and then paid the statement balance on Nov 19 ($400). If you made no further purchases for 30 days your next statement would show $50 and that amount would be reported to the three bureaus. You would be reporting $50 but not carrying $50. Reporting is the key idea in AZEO. No current FICO models attempt to see if you are carrying balances, though it is possible that FICO 10 ot some other future model might consider that.

Thank you so much! I am now very clear on this. Again, thanks!