topic Re: AZEO attempt in General Credit Topics

AZEO attempt

rchvmz — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:03:47 GMT

I have 6 cards-----This month, I am having 5 cards reporting PIF--and one card with a 1000.00 limit will report with a balance of 75.00. Is this the correct way to utilize the AZEO system?

Re: AZEO attempt

Horseshoez — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:07:15 GMT

@rchvmz wrote:
I have 6 cards-----This month, I am having 5 cards reporting PIF--and one card with a 1000.00 limit will report with a balance of 75.00. Is this the correct way to utilize the AZEO system?

More or less, yes. That said, I have both experienced, and seen reports of other folks experiencing, a slight point reduction for a single card utilization between 4% or 5% (I don't remember which) and 8.9%; given $75 will bring your utilization up to 7.5% you might want to consider paying an extra $36 on that account to bring you under the 4% threshold.

Re: AZEO attempt

rchvmz — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:18:08 GMT

I heard the sweet spot is <8.9%...?

Re: AZEO attempt

Ficoproblems247 — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:52:34 GMT

@rchvmz wrote:
I heard the sweet spot is <8.9%...?

Correct. The 4-5% range is for aggregate and is very much profile dependent. The way you are letting your balances report is just fine. You'll see the effect more so on your mortgage scores, bankcard scores, and auto scores than classic 8.

Re: AZEO attempt

jcooks — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 15:54:43 GMT

I just try to keep it under 10%. The strategy of AZEO when I'm not trying to squeeze every fico point is not worth the headache. If I go over 10% or under 10%, it's not a big deal as the following month when it levels out, it will just return back.

Re: AZEO attempt

Guyatthebeach — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 19:46:30 GMT

rchvmz,

During my rebuilding years, I found I maximize my score when I keep my utilization between 8 and 9%.

Guyatthebeach

Re: AZEO attempt

SouthJamaica — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 21:06:24 GMT

@rchvmz wrote:
I have 6 cards-----This month, I am having 5 cards reporting PIF--and one card with a 1000.00 limit will report with a balance of 75.00. Is this the correct way to utilize the AZEO system?

Yes but I wouldn't use the term "PIF", since that could mean either paying in full before the statement cuts or paying in full after the statement cuts.

What matters is that other than the card reporting a $75 balance, the others report a zero balance.

And it actually could matter what kind of card you're using to report the $75 balance. To be safe it should be a non-Chase bank card.

Re: AZEO attempt

Horseshoez — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 22:20:47 GMT

Taking the bait...

@SouthJamaica wrote:
And it actually could matter what kind of card you're using to report the $75 balance. To be safe it should be a non-Chase bank card.

Okay, I gotta ask (not that it matters to me as I'll be blacklisted by Chase for a good long while yet), why should the card with a balance be a "non-Chase card"?

Re: AZEO attempt

dragontears — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 22:34:18 GMT

@Horseshoez wrote:
Taking the bait...

@SouthJamaica wrote:
And it actually could matter what kind of card you're using to report the $75 balance. To be safe it should be a non-Chase bank card.
Okay, I gotta ask (not that it matters to me as I'll be blacklisted by Chase for a good long while yet), why should the card with a balance be a "non-Chase card"?

That advice is given because chase automatically reports a $0 balance to the CRAs whenever the card balance is 0 so it is easy for someone to "mess up" their attempt at AZEO andbe at AZ instead. A Chase card can be used for AZEO if the individual is careful to never pay the card to $0 (i.e. charge something before paying the statement balance).

Re: AZEO attempt

SouthJamaica — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 22:34:29 GMT

@Horseshoez wrote:
Taking the bait...

@SouthJamaica wrote:
And it actually could matter what kind of card you're using to report the $75 balance. To be safe it should be a non-Chase bank card.
Okay, I gotta ask (not that it matters to me as I'll be blacklisted by Chase for a good long while yet), why should the card with a balance be a "non-Chase card"?

Because Chase reports mid-cycle whenever you pay it down to a zero balance. So if you rely on a Chase card as your balance-reporting card, you might inadvertently get hit with the "all zero penalty".

Re: AZEO attempt

dragontears — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 22:39:31 GMT

@Ficoproblems247 wrote:
@rchvmz wrote:
I heard the sweet spot is <8.9%...?
Correct. The 4-5% range is for aggregate and is very much profile dependent. The way you are letting your balances report is just fine. You'll see the effect more so on your mortgage scores, bankcard scores, and auto scores than classic 8.

Agreed. For my profile there is no 4-5% utilization threshold but other people have reported it. It is something that you can play with to see if there is any difference for your profile.

I also want to point out, not every profile has to be at AZEO to maximize FICO 8 (other models are/can be different). For me there isn't a real difference between 1 to 3 cards reporting a balance.

Re: AZEO attempt

rchvmz — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 22:55:38 GMT

SouthJamaica-----the card w/the 75.00 balance, statement closes on the 15th, and according to my CR its reporting on the 14th each month. I have have the balance 75.00 now. As far as the others, I used a couple, but I have paid them off and they report on the same days as the statements close, according to my CR.......I am looking at Credit Karmas site that shows my cards and reporting dates--then I look at my statements.....so I make sure they are at 0 and 1 is < 8% before the statements close and they report...Is that the right way?

Re: AZEO attempt

SouthJamaica — Wed, 09 Jun 2021 04:15:24 GMT

@rchvmz wrote:
SouthJamaica-----the card w/the 75.00 balance, statement closes on the 15th, and according to my CR its reporting on the 14th each month. I have have the balance 75.00 now. As far as the others, I used a couple, but I have paid them off and they report on the same days as the statements close, according to my CR.......I am looking at Credit Karmas site that shows my cards and reporting dates--then I look at my statements.....so I make sure they are at 0 and 1 is < 8% before the statements close and they report...Is that the right way?

1. It's not a question of when it's reporting, it's a question of what date's balance is being reported. Since you haven't identified the lender we can't tell you what date's balance it reports. If you're saying it always reports the balance from the 14th of the month, well then I guess that's what it is.

2. I don't know; I don't bother with the statements. To me they're old news. I just follow on the web sites to know what's what.

Re: AZEO attempt

rchvmz — Wed, 09 Jun 2021 04:20:35 GMT

I have Credit One---Aspire--Fortiva that I use, the other 3---First Acess, Mission lane and Surge, I rarely use---are you saying you can tell me the dates these lenders report?

Re: AZEO attempt

jcooks — Wed, 09 Jun 2021 08:44:41 GMT

If you have the credit one that you pay the AF broken down every month, rely on that as your posted balance. As that card will never report a $0 balance (unless you push a payment before statement closing). It would be much easier.

Re: AZEO attempt

rchvmz — Wed, 09 Jun 2021 21:52:36 GMT

I paid the $75.00 AF up front----I am in my 1st year with this company. The 99.00 AF wont hit for another 4 months. I just paid the balance off and it reports on the 18th...my statement closes on the same day it reports. Right now I have a 0 balance with the full CL available. The card with 75.00 balance will report on the 14th--the CL is 1000.00, so I am <8%....the other cards will report 0 as well. I believe the AZEO principle will apply here.

Re: AZEO attempt

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Jul 2021 01:36:26 GMT

@dragontears wrote:
@Ficoproblems247 wrote:
@rchvmz wrote:
I heard the sweet spot is <8.9%...?
Correct. The 4-5% range is for aggregate and is very much profile dependent. The way you are letting your balances report is just fine. You'll see the effect more so on your mortgage scores, bankcard scores, and auto scores than classic 8.
Agreed. For my profile there is no 4-5% utilization threshold but other people have reported it. It is something that you can play with to see if there is any difference for your profile.
I also want to point out, not every profile has to be at AZEO to maximize FICO 8 (other models are/can be different). For me there isn't a real difference between 1 to 3 cards reporting a balance.

This is good to know. In a couple of weeks, I'll have one non-Chase reporting in my first attempt at AZEO, but I wondered if having more than one could work. I'll have to figure out my profile and see if it's only one for me or more than one.