topic Re: Utilization - mine vs. AU in Understanding FICO® Scoring

Utilization - mine vs. AU

clocktick — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 15:15:20 GMT

If I were to keep my own credit cards at a 0 balance with only the cards I am an AU on showing a balance each month, is that scored the same as if I wasn't an AU and only had a balance on a couple of my own cards?

I will try to clarify if this post is confusing. LOL. Thank you.

Re: Utilization - mine vs. AU

haulingthescoreup — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 15:25:09 GMT

* squints *

(not much coffee in me yet, lol)

OK, so you have a combo of your own cards and AU cards, right? And you're asking if balances on AU cards are somehow scored differently than if they were your own cards?

If that's what you're asking, then no, the AU part is irrelevant to calculating revolving util. A balance is a balance is a balance, whether on your own card or AU. If you have (for instance) 7 cards, four are yours and three are AU's, it doesn't matter if the three AU cards report balances and yours are $0, or if three of your own cards report balances and the rest, including the AU cards, report $0. Obviously the impact would vary according to the balances that report and the CL on those cards. Remember that util looks at both total util and individual card util.

Having balances on AU cards can be one of the tricky parts of AU-ness. You can hardly go demanding of the person who was kind enough to add you to their card that they not allow balances to report.

If I mis-read, my apologies. If you'll post back, I'll swig down some more coffee.

Re: Utilization - mine vs. AU

clocktick — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 15:31:11 GMT

Great, thank you! You understood perfectly despite the lack of coffee and my lack of written articulation. This is exactly what I wanted to know. Thanks again.

Re: Utilization - mine vs. AU

vanillabean — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 17:32:29 GMT

There's a mechanism that may be useful to some when considering utilization and AU. Let's say person A and person B each have two credit card accounts, 1 and 2, and that A is AU on B1 and B AU on A1.

Whenever some purchases may increase the reported balance significantly, it would be best using non-AU cards. You would want to share a low util and separate a high util.

A1: $10/$1,000
A2: $475/$1,000
B1: $10/$1,000
B2: $475/$1,000

Util is (10+475+10) / (3,000) = 17%.

A1: $475/$1,000
A2: $10/$1,000
B1: $475/$1,000
B2: $10/$1,000

Util is (475+10+475) / (3,000) = 32%.

Re: Utilization - mine vs. AU

clocktick — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 17:38:49 GMT

I totally get that and that's an excellent point. I never really thought of it like that before; thank you. I was thinking of laying off of my own personal credit cards because the 2 AU accounts I'm on are being charged on monthly. Either that, or I'll use mine and pay them off before the statement drops. I don't want anything shut down, or decreased, due to inactivity.

Thanks again.

Re: Utilization - mine vs. AU

RobertEG — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 05:52:07 GMT

Then there is the ticking time bomb that you cannot predict or control

Aside from % util issues, if the primary card holder misses a payment, you are also going to be dinged in your scoring.

You cant control their % util, or timely payment history. That is the risk you take for the benefits reaped.

As long as you are an AU, there is no "mine" or "theirs." It is "ours."

Re: Utilization - mine vs. AU

clocktick — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 20:34:35 GMT

^^ True. My situation may be a little different then since I have full access to the account online and it's also attached to my bank account for payments.

Generally speaking, is it easy to have an AU deleted from your CRs at any point in time? A couple of nights ago I disputed an AU TL that stated it was open when it's been closed for several months and they ended up deleting the entire account (although I didn't mind).

Re: Utilization - mine vs. AU

haulingthescoreup — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 23:38:30 GMT

@clocktick wrote:
^^ True. My situation may be a little different then since I have full access to the account online and it's also attached to my bank account for payments.

Generally speaking, is it easy to have an AU deleted from your CRs at any point in time? A couple of nights ago I disputed an AU TL that stated it was open when it's been closed for several months and they ended up deleting the entire account (although I didn't mind).

Most AU accounts stop reporting once you come off the card. But not all.

My American Express Gold card still reports on DXH and DD#2's credit reports, even though they've been off the card for 2 1/2 years. In fact, after they came off, I had to replace the card due to fraud, and the replacement account shows up on their reports as well, even though they were already off. Now the original (my) account is closed, and by golly, the two TL's are still on their accounts. I tried to get American Express to stop reporting it on their reports, and they wanted report numbers from Experian to do so, meaning that I would have to buy a full report for each of them. No, thank you!

I came off of DXH's Discover card this past January, and it still reports on all three of my accounts. In fact, on Experian it's still updating, including reporting a balance last month. But I'm letting it stay for now, as it's a lovely, clean, 20+ year old account.

If you really need to get a former AU account to stop reporting, just dispute with the bureaus as "not mine." First try going through the CCC though, as you don't want to get on the credit bureaus' lists of "frivolous disputers."