@sixstringcliff wrote:
Have I fallen victim to the anti-abuse algorithm? CK correctly shows my AAoA as 6 years, 6 months. But MF, Experian, and the Discover website show 10 months. I am an AU on my parents NFCU CC that is 24 years old. I share the same address as my parents but I do not share the same last name. Clearly I am not getting the benefit of the age of my AU account. Interestingly, however, my credit scores go up and down a few points each month based on how much my AU account reports.
As I understand, and according to everything I've read, I should be getting the full benefit of the age of the AU account. But I am not. I think it's the anti-abuse algorithm. How do I escape its grip? Who should I contact? If this is unfixable then what's the point of AU accounts?!?! Grrrr!
Not sure about MF, but the Experian CMS displays aging metrics and balances in many places without factoring in AU accounts. I have no idea why it does this, but it doesn't mean the account has been picked up by anti-abuse. Also, there is no anti-abuse for FICO5/4/2, so you will still get the benefits of an AU account on those scores.
The only way to test if the AU account is counting towards your score is to let it report a balance, keep everything as similar as possible on your profile, then let all AU accounts report zero balance, again keep everything as similar as possible, then let the AU card report a balance again. If you lose points on F8 when all AU accounts are at zero balance and you regain those points once it posts a balance then you have confirmed that the AU is counting toward your score on F8 and newer models.
As an aside, AU accounts were originally designed to allow a family member, friend, partner, etc. the ability to make purchases using your cc without you having to give them your card and not be able to use it as well. The scoring benefit was just a bonus, and it has started to be abused by companies that sell AU accounts. If you are picked up by the anti-abuse algorithm there is no way to escape it.
