wow synchrony is worse than I thought

[Anonymous]

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@Remedios wrote:

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@Jnbmom wrote:

💯 with @Remedios 

I literally cringe after time I see AZEO other than trying to squeeze every point for a mortgage approval . Way too much time and focus on that method and way too  much time worrying about it .

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Worst part, Fico 8 is meh at most when it comes to AZEO, plus "AZEO" for Fico 8 depends on the number of cards one has 

It works for old scoring models (2,4 and 5) because those dinosaurs were placed on the marked when people had 1-2 cards, cards had no rewards, so for typical consumer, two out of two reporting meant debt, just debt, and nothing but the debt 

Fico 8 rectified it to certain extent but the joke is on us...scoring model everyone gawks at doesn't care about AZEO (unless 3 points are that important). 

So, if everyone wants to pretend like they are buying a house every day of their lives, if they want to lose on rewards because they have to stop using cards before they close, if they want to waste hours "managing" payments, if simple act such as reporting off cycle causes anguish, so be it.. but how is that supposed to be a good thing in terms of managing finances?  

You could ask "What time is it" and at least one response will be "practice AZEO" 

Another example, recent Comenity issues.

A lot of people's AZEO got runied, some has rather large balances, and nothing happened. Instead of going "Hey look-nothing happened, maybe I should stop tormenting myself and my checking/savings account" many went with "Oh noes! Report already so I can AZEO"  

For those who have a lot of spend, willingly giving up grace period is financial loss. Keep your money where it's making you money untill it's time to pay.  If you're paying thousands 25 days early (or longer) over the course of year, that adds up.

So you kept 3 points and lost money you could have had if lived in different account a bit longer. 

But, okay 🤯

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All true, but for some reason I don't think it will convert many AZEO users.   The concept seems to have its own life, you were lucky to get out.  Usually

1) It doesn't make that much of difference on modern scoring systems, and certainly doesn't need to be done every month

2) it takes time to manage

3) financial cost in paying early and/or using suboptimal cards part of the month

might be enough to make people reconsider, but.....

[Remedios]

I don't expect to convert a single believer, nor would I try.  

I'm more than happy with pointing out that glorious tribal tattoo one is sporting isn't "warrior"...more like "outhouse" (sadly true story) 

I'm just an interpreter 

[Anonymous]

what a magnificent rant!  I 'tried' to do it but maybe bc my due dates are all over the place, just couldn't manage it, always 2,3 accts reported on Experian. Now I don't really bother and should just let it go lol, already(always anyway) put all accounts on last statement balance autopay, should stop paying some early and such. 

[Lou-natic]

My understanding was that AZEO was done mostly for mortgage purposes. If people are just "doing it" because it makes them feel better I guess more power to them. Not something I would do, I didn't even do it for my mortgage and I still got the best advertised rate so whatever.

[Anonymous]

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@Lou-natic wrote:

My understanding was that AZEO was done mostly for mortgage purposes. If people are just "doing it" because it makes them feel better I guess more power to them. 

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Well, if they did it in the privacy of their own phone/computer, yes, but the strong advocates, as @Remedios "What's the time?" joke suggest, will put it as the answer to everything, probably not understanding its limitations, and thus pass the infection on.

[Yasselife]

AZEO has more benefits than just scores for me, It also helps me stick to the habit of paying off my cards every month, and seeing $0 balances brings me peace of mind; my list of accounts is more organized and AZEO makes it harder to miss a payment; works for me.

[Pway]

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@Remedios wrote:

AZEO, ruining lives since someone started propagating that nonsense 

I'm sorry you're finding this unacceptable, but the big picture is, card reported. That's it. Nothing happened, you aren't applying for a house, your score didn't go into negative, it's literal non-event, and yet, we are at "I'm gonna close if this happens again" 

It's going to happen again, so might as well close now if something like balance being reported is such a big deal. 

It's not that I don't have sympathy for you, I really do as someone who long time ago bought her way into AZEO cult and the only thing that it did for me is total balance neurosis and feeling like sky 'bout to fall over reported balance. 

Sky didn't fall, took forever to stop sweating balance and feeling like I'm being stalked by a lender over $20.00.  

AZEO doesn't really make you look better from lender's perspective, if all of them are getting paid, they are fine. That's how "normal" world works and one would think that goal would be to emulate people who constitute 99% of cardholders who do not hang out at forums dedicated to credit cards. 

@Remedios 💯 agree.

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[805orbust]

Several years ago I gave thought to doing AZEO on a regular basis. I "probably" would have accomplished my stated goal (805+) if it did since its only utilization (which does fluctuate) that holds me back at this point. I love the concept, but it may be a bit "too" over the top with the way I spend. Next year tho, when we're farm shopping, I'm absolutely gonna do it... for scoring and science 🤣

[blazerein]

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@mfinsmi1 wrote:

i have a paypal mc and the statement close date is 10/10 - i had a reporting negative balance aka a $0 balance in the eyes of the CRA's. but instead of reporting what was on my statement , NO they reported the balance of my card on 10/16 - 6 days after the statement closed and when i had used the card. what is the deal with this - that is some MAJOR BS 

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Yep that's how they roll unfortunately, I used the card after one week of the closing date or when I receive my next statement. 

[uncredited]

Annecdotally, I think there's really different types of profiles for which AZEO makes sense or doesn't.   For people with a lot of cards, old cards, busy reports with lots of inquiries and accounts, I'm sure it makes no sense.

For myself with a thin/young file, any little blip makes a crater in the report.  For contrast to some others, I still have only 2 cards, and make sure to "AZEO" (which isn't true "AZEO") and drive myself crazy with it.  One month a charge slipped through on the second card on statement day yielding the all reporting penalty.  EQ and TU, neither of which has any inqs cratered.  A 45 point or so drop if I remember, bigger than opening the second card.  A big enough drop that the wrong lender with the wrong opnion could even think AA...a lender like Sync for example, I'd think.  Then of course rebounded next statement.  OTOH my EX that has inquiries didn't budge one single point. Not one.

And in general with thin files, if you have to zealously monitor everything to make sure one DOESN'T show a balance (AREO? All reporting except one?) to not get all-reporting penalties, there's really no more work in doing it the AZEO way and a single balance is easier to track.

I'm in the camp that I don't actually want to lifetime AZEO, and a dream is not to, but for now, without numerous more cards to balance that and more "smoothing" data so a change isn't seismic, I'm kind of stuck with having to do it. That's one (of many) reasons I won't even consider a Sync product currently. They make it hard/impossible to manage your reporting if you need to or want to.