topic Re: AZEO Best Practices? in General Credit Topics

AZEO Best Practices?

Anonymous — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 13:36:22 GMT

I have scoured the forums for the difference between due date and Statement date and the best way to optimize the AZEO strategy. After reading 100+ posts I am still confused. So I ask does any1 have a bare bones, talk to me like I'm a 5th grader primer?

Specifically I am going to pay my Cap1 card today, I want to get it down to the 9% threshold. Does that mean I shouldn't use it again until the 20th? Or have I already missed my window and $350 is going to hit my CR?

- Due Date: 2/16

- Cycle Close: 2/19

- Amount Due: 0.00

- Current Balance: $350

Re: AZEO Best Practices?

HeavenOhio — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 15:27:54 GMT

Keep in mind that because utilization fractions round up, aim for 8.9% or below if your objective is to get below 9%.

With the statement cutting on the 20th, making a payment on the 18th should be safe. You can probably pay on the 19th or even the 20th, but keep Sundays in mind as Sunday payments won't clear until after Monday's business day ends.

If you make a payment now and are potentially willing to pay again in a few days, you can use the card to your heart's content as long as you allow adequate time for pending transactions to post. When paying near the statement date, pay down to a low balance, and make sure that any new charges keep you at 8.9% or below.

If your objective is to pay to zero and have a zero balance report, that's the time you'll want to fully "rest" your card for a couple of days to make sure that no pending transactions sneak in at the last minute.

Re: AZEO Best Practices?

Anonymous — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 16:02:34 GMT

Thanks for the fast reply. I have a better understanding now. As long as the balance is paid b4 the statement cut date I will be AZEO compliant?

Re: AZEO Best Practices?

HeavenOhio — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 16:33:54 GMT

Capital One reports the statement balance on or right after the statement date, so yes, you'll be fine. Simply pay your balance down to your desired amount, and be careful not to let new transactions interfere with your plan.

Most cards report the way Capital One does, although there are exceptions. US Bank reports on the first of the month. And Chase will report the statement balance like other cards, but they'll also report zero whenever you pay to zero. With Chase, it's easier to use their cards as "zero" cards rather than trying to have a small balance continuously reporting.

Re: AZEO Best Practices?

Anonymous — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 21:10:36 GMT

My experience with Cap1 is that they are a bit slow with payment application made online. You may wish to pay a day or two earlier.

Re: AZEO Best Practices?

MakingProgress — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 22:27:37 GMT

wrote:
My experience with Cap1 is that they are a bit slow with payment application made online. You may wish to pay a day or two earlier.

I get a quicker payment application when paying from my banks online bill pay than I do when paying on Cap One's website. Cap One has always reported the balance at statement cut, so as long as you have your balance where you want it you will be fine.

Re: AZEO Best Practices?

Anonymous — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 00:42:05 GMT

wrote:
I have scoured the forums for the difference between due date and Statement date and the best way to optimize the AZEO strategy. After reading 100+ posts I am still confused. So I ask does any1 have a bare bones, talk to me like I'm a 5th grader primer?

Specifically I am going to pay my Cap1 card today, I want to get it down to the 9% threshold. Does that mean I shouldn't use it again until the 20th? Or have I already missed my window and $350 is going to hit my CR?
- Due Date: 2/16
- Cycle Close: 2/19
- Amount Due: 0.00
- Current Balance: $350

For Capitalone the statement cut is three days after the due date. So if like me you have due date on the 7th, they cut the statement on the 10th. So for me I pay very month on the third (4 days early). Then I don’t use the card again till the 11th of the month. Then I use it all the way up to the 1st of the month. Gives two days for all transactions to post. So for this card besides paying I’m not using the card at all for 10 days to make sure it’s PIF always showing a $0 balance. It’s my daily driver so it gets used for most my bills that aren’t in a higher cashback on my other credit cards. I do this with all cards except one. Where I allow a small balance for constant FICO score purposes. I use my Amazon VISA for my non zero reporting. I use it because it’s my restaurant card for now until I get the Uber. So yes it’s easy to PIF and always still have a balance report. For most I wouldn’t recommend a Chase card as the not zero card unless you know what you are doing.

Re: AZEO Best Practices?

Anonymous — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 14:11:09 GMT

Ben, don't you find it inconvenient that you don't use your daily driver for 1/3 of the month?

Re: AZEO Best Practices?

Anonymous — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 19:05:53 GMT

wrote:
Ben, don't you find it inconvenient that you don't use your daily driver for 1/3 of the month?

Nope. Because I don’t have any bills due that part of the month. And I only make one payment a month. I don’t need to constantly pay off that card. Just before statement date. I use my restaurant card constantly. And until I decide to get the Uber card, my restaurant card is my Amazon VISA Card it’s also my buy on Amazon card which is thruout the month. My daily driver card is my bill card. For now. Once I add my last two cards how I pay will change a bit. Uber card will be the one I report a balance and my daily driver will be split between citi DC and quicksilver. Which will have different due dates. Then there will be no week without using because Quicksilver and Citi will be interchangeable. It is what works best for me. Others will have their own system. But to keep a card at zero you have to payoff at least a couple days before statement cut to be safe. So a couple or three days without use. I choose to wait ten days to only pay one. I could wait to pay till the 7th if I wanted and shorten to the fifth to tenth. I just don’t.

Re: AZEO Best Practices?

SBR249 — Wed, 14 Feb 2018 22:35:23 GMT

I'll just point out that the "due date" of 02/16 refers to the when you need to have paid the balance on your previous statement, which would be the January statement covering the period 12/19 - 01/19. The statement cut date of 02/19 is when your statement of transactions between 01/19 and 02/19 will cut. The 02/16 due date does not refer to your current statement period and whatever statement balance that is "due" on that date has already been reported to CRAs when your last statement cut. Just wanted to make sure there is no confusion about that.

As for when to stop using your card, I would say at least 5 business days before the statement cut date to be safe. That leaves 3 business days for things to post and 2 for you to make a payment and have that posted. You'll want to be careful to not include weekends and holidays in that margin.

Re: AZEO Best Practices?

MakingProgress — Wed, 14 Feb 2018 22:50:15 GMT

You can also make a payment GREATER than your current balance to cover a pending transaction that may post. I do that all the time. Does anyone know how a credit balance would affect AZEO? That is the only danger I see to paying a pending transaction before it posts.

Re: AZEO Best Practices?

HeavenOhio — Wed, 14 Feb 2018 23:10:25 GMT

Some cards won't allow one to pay an amount greater than one's current balance. Barclays is one of them. Others have restrictions, e.g. Capital One allows payments of up to 10% over the current balance.

Negative (credit) balances report as zero.

Re: AZEO Best Practices?

Anonymous — Thu, 15 Feb 2018 15:34:22 GMT

Last question, should the balance be 8.9% of that card or of my total available credit across cards? My total available credit is $4650 so that would be > $413 to achieve 8.9% but I am using a card with a $3700 CL so should I make my total reported > $329?

Re: AZEO Best Practices?

Anonymous — Sat, 19 Jan 2019 16:34:12 GMT

@HeavenOhio wrote:
Some cards won't allow one to pay an amount greater than one's current balance. Barclays is one of them. Others have restrictions, e.g. Capital One allows payments of up to 10% over the current balance.

Negative (credit) balances report as zero.

Discover is the same way. Can't pay more than the current balance.

Re: AZEO Best Practices?

SouthJamaica — Sat, 19 Jan 2019 16:50:24 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I have scoured the forums for the difference between due date and Statement date and the best way to optimize the AZEO strategy. After reading 100+ posts I am still confused. So I ask does any1 have a bare bones, talk to me like I'm a 5th grader primer?

Specifically I am going to pay my Cap1 card today, I want to get it down to the 9% threshold. Does that mean I shouldn't use it again until the 20th? Or have I already missed my window and $350 is going to hit my CR?
- Due Date: 2/16
- Cycle Close: 2/19
- Amount Due: 0.00
- Current Balance: $350

1. For scoring purposes, yes you shouldn't use the card again until the 20th, and the balance from the January 19th statement is the one that will be reported. However since you've waited so long to make your payment it may or may not be reflected in the statement balance.

2. For financial purposes, you should have paid it before the due date, and could possibly have forfeited your grace period.

Next time don't cut it so close.

Re: AZEO Best Practices?

SouthJamaica — Sat, 19 Jan 2019 16:51:29 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for the fast reply. I have a better understanding now. As long as the balance is paid b4 the statement cut date I will be AZEO compliant?

No because there's no guarantee that a payment so close to the statement date will be reflected in the statement balance.

Re: AZEO Best Practices?

SouthJamaica — Sat, 19 Jan 2019 16:54:26 GMT

@MakingProgress wrote:
You can also make a payment GREATER than your current balance to cover a pending transaction that may post. I do that all the time. Does anyone know how a credit balance would affect AZEO? That is the only danger I see to paying a pending transaction before it posts.

I do that frequently. A credit balance is reported as a zero balance.

Re: AZEO Best Practices?

SouthJamaica — Sat, 19 Jan 2019 16:55:19 GMT

@HeavenOhio wrote:
Some cards won't allow one to pay an amount greater than one's current balance. Barclays is one of them. Others have restrictions, e.g. Capital One allows payments of up to 10% over the current balance.

Negative (credit) balances report as zero.

Most of them won't allow you to pull a payment greater than the balance, but they can't stop you from pushing the payment to them.

Re: AZEO Best Practices?

SouthJamaica — Sat, 19 Jan 2019 16:56:21 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Last question, should the balance be 8.9% of that card or of my total available credit across cards? My total available credit is $4650 so that would be > $413 to achieve 8.9% but I am using a card with a $3700 CL so should I make my total reported > $329?

It's best to have overall utilization at 8.9% or less.

It's important to have individual utilization at 28% or less, but better to have it even lower.

Re: AZEO Best Practices?

Anonymous — Sat, 19 Jan 2019 17:46:48 GMT

@SouthJamaica wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Last question, should the balance be 8.9% of that card or of my total available credit across cards? My total available credit is $4650 so that would be > $413 to achieve 8.9% but I am using a card with a $3700 CL so should I make my total reported > $329?
It's best to have overall utilization at 8.9% or less.

It's important to have individual utilization at 28% or less, but better to have it even lower.

I hope you are taking note of SouthJ's last post (above). It sounds like you were mistakenly thinking you need AT LEAST 8.99%. The opposite is true. You want to have LESS than 8.99%

Furthermore, a tiny balance (like $8 on a credit limit of $10,000) will be rounded up to 1% by FICO. So you are free to have ultralow utilization and it will still be considered in the 1-8% range. Really tiny balances (like 88 cents) are often reported as $0, so the general wisdom here is to make a card's balance $5 or more if you want it reporting a positive balance. (And remember all you need is one card with a positive balance.)