AZEO and <8.9% ?

[wvasweetness]

To get the maximum benefit, my aggregate until should be less than 8.9%, correct?

Current cards:

Disney Chase: $81/$5200

Cap One: $0/$1700

AU on Cap One: $0/1500

Discover Silver: $0/1800

= $81/$8700 (not counting the AU) 

So as long as I keep my balance on my Chase under $774, I'm getting "max points"? And in this scenario, the balance doesn't matter as long as it's less than 8.9%? (For example: $5 balance vs $700 balance - both are under that threshold). 

Thanks!

[AllZero]

In general, yes, keep aggregate utilization under 8.9%. Depending on profile, there may be another threshold at 4.5%

Which score version is important for you, FICO 8s or mortgage scores?

If it's FICO 8s, then you need AZEO + AU card reporting a balance.

If it's EX2, it's true AZEO with AU card reporting zero. I presume the same for TU4, EQ5 if it follows the older scoring algorithm.

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/Update-FICO2-experiment-is-it-worth-it/t...

[wvasweetness]

@AllZero  - mortgage scores are what I'm most concerned about right now.

Based on your reply, sounds like I'd better keep it under 4.5% "just in case". 

[AllZero]

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@wvasweetness wrote:

@AllZero  - mortgage scores are what I'm most concerned about right now.

Based on your reply, sounds like I'd better keep it under 4.5% "just in case". 

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@wvasweetness  Yes, that is correct.

If you have time, you can use Experian with daily updates to track your progress when over or under 4.5% to see if there is any score change.

If no time, then you want the lowest utilization possible or keep it under 4.5%.

[Kforce]

Easy answer : Let 5-10 dollars report

[Anonymous]

Keep in mind that there are also raw dollar thresholds that when crossed can result in score drops.  I believe the lowest one we've heard reported is $500, so in theory if you're in the $500-$700 range you could be losing points for raw dollars outside of utilization percentage.

As the others have said, if it's important to you to have top-notch scores your best bet is to roll with a small $10 balance or so. 

If you're willing to do some testing on your own profile, it would be cool to see if other potential thresholds matter.  You could test $505 one month, then $495 the next for example to see if $500 matters on your profile.  That would keep you at the same [rounded] utilization percentage of 6% to isolate just the dollars.  Then you could try (say) $435 one month and $348 the next to see if moving from 5% to 4% matters on your profile.

[lyTENciL]

I thought it was determined recently that FICO rounds to whole percents from the first decimal, so 9.5 -> 10. Therefore you only need to stay below 9.5. @Anonymous or @Anonymous have the best handle on this.

I see no such $500 threshold on my EX 8. My azeo card reported $579 = 8%, agg 2%. A few days later I let a different azeo report $10 = 2%, agg 0%. There was no score change. Only bank cards reported balances. I'm on a clean mature new card. Maybe thick with 5 open accts. 

I could not tell with the other bureaus as I didn't get those scores in small enough interval to isolate this factor. 

[Anonymous]

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@lyTENciL wrote:

I thought it was determined recently that FICO rounds to whole percents from the first decimal, so 9.5 -> 10. Therefore you only need to stay below 9.5. @Anonymous or @Anonymous have the best handle on this.

I see no such $500 threshold on my EX 8. My azeo card reported $579 = 8%, agg 2%. A few days later I let a different azeo report $10 = 2%, agg 0%. There was no score change. Only bank cards reported balances. I'm on a clean mature new card. Maybe thick with 5 open accts. 

I could not tell with the other bureaus as I didn't get those scores in small enough interval to isolate this factor. 

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@lyTENciL you are correct, because believed thresholds are at 5% (if applicable) and 10%, and standard rounding is used, you must only be <4.5%/9.5%, not <3.9%/8.9%. (4.5% will round to 5% and 9.5% will round to 10%.) But it's not gonna hurt to be .5% lower and might actually save someone when they have trailing interest.

but to your original question: will you get maximum points as long as you're under $774, the answer is no, probably not.

As BBS stated, there are balance thresholds. I believe @HeavenOhio found one at $147. It is linked in post 7 of the Scoring Primer, if you'd like to doublecheck the exact threshold amount and which version she found it on.

I do think one was speculated to possibly be a little under $500, I can't remember what version. It wasn't confirmed and it could've been other causes, if memory serves. There have been some others as well speculated upon as well. If one is confirmed, I put it in the Primer and if one is suspected, I sometimes add links as well, that way I don't have to memorize them all, I can just use it as a reference.

I think I'll start a thread just to start collecting data points for  balance thresholds as a matter fact.

so you're clean/?/mature/new account? On version 9, 4 accounts makes you thick, it appears from documentation. For 10/8/5/4/3/2, jury is still out, but can't be far. I think 5 is a pretty good bet for thick. 6 for sure, imho.

as for maximizing your mortgage scores, I always say have one bankcard with a credit limit of no higher than $31,000 with a balance under $100 reported, ($5 or $10 is fine), that way it maximizes all the metrics.

[Anonymous]

Good info on the ~$147 balance threshold reference and that they can happen at sub-$500 levels.

I would like to look more into scorecards and factors that may impact where these thresholds exist on different files.

[Anonymous]

I started the balance threshold thread in UFS.