AUs counted or not in some ways

[vanillabean]

When we say that AU cards aren't always counted in FICO 08, what do we mean by that?

The discussion tends to focus on the all-important utilization, but what if say the card’s opening date or balance is taken into consideration while utilization is not?

I remember a time when credit bureaus often didn't report the credit limit for some flexible spending cards. Maybe they still don't for charge cards.

[Anonymous]

I have been thinking just that very same thing.  It seems to me quite possible that the developers might have the tradeline still affect age but not utilization.  And since age should be the chief advantage, the chief reason that (say) a mother adds her 19 year old son as an AU to a 20-year old card, that still makes an AU solution a very valid choice for someone just starting out.

My feeling is that any time that somebody gets a really old AU card added to his profile (way older than any of his accounts), he should make sure that his CC utilization is really low just before it happens (if he has any cards of his own, that is).  That way, he should have a really clear way to tell whether the card is counting towards age -- if he gets a substantial scoring boost, then it is

[Anonymous]

I know for certain that AU accounts aren't counted in utilization.  At one time I let my only AU account be the only account to report a balance with all other accounts at zero balances reported and my scores took the usual 15-20 point hit.  One I let one of my other (non-AU) accounts report a balance, those 15-20 points came right back.

[Thomas_Thumb]

---

@Anonymous-own-fico wrote:

When we say that AU cards aren't always counted in FICO 08, what do we mean by that?

The discussion tends to focus on the all-important utilization, but what if say the card’s opening date or balance is taken into consideration while utilization is not?

I remember a time when credit bureaus often didn't report the credit limit for some flexible spending cards. Maybe they still don't for charge cards.

---

Which of the following applies to your AU card(s) and are some AU cards treated differently than others? My belief is it is all or nothing - best I can telll is all the below apply to my AU status on DW's CC account. [AU account is listed on my 3B report and CRA reports as an AU]

I know my 20 year old AU card is not included in Fico 08 card count or aggregate utilization. I don't think it is included in AAOA either - impact W/WO inclusion is less than 4 months on AAOA. [say 17.0 years AAoA on 8 open/closed accounts without AU vs 17.3 years AAoA on 9 open/closed accounts including 20 yo AU account]

[Revelate]

It can be safely assumed as TT suggests it is all or nothing.

Remember this was done as an anti-abuse measure by FICO; the design goal would be unmet if they allowed it to partially count, especially when they already have the ability to discount a tradeline completely as a result of a dispute in their implementation.  Occam's Razor no doubt applies, 100% here to the point it'd be beyond stupidity to have done anything different.