AZEO Question

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

I was wondering, does it matter which card is used when practicing azeo?  I have 2 revolvers, a secured card with a $1500 limit and an unsecured with a $10,000 limit.  I have been pif the secured for it to report 0 and the unsecured I usually leave $20 balance, which I have just realized that it has my utilization at 0 with that little balance.  So my scores has not really moved for a couple of months. I have 2 installments that are current and 2 six year old baddies that will fall off next year.  Should I alternate the revolvers for azeo and keep utilization at least at 1-2%?  Thanks.....

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi all,

I was wondering, does it matter which card is used when practicing azeo?  I have 2 revolvers, a secured card with a $1500 limit and an unsecured with a $10,000 limit.  I have been pif the secured for it to report 0 and the unsecured I usually leave $20 balance, which I have just realized that it has my utilization at 0 with that little balance.  So my scores has not really moved for a couple of months. I have 2 installments that are current and 2 six year old baddies that will fall off next year.  Should I alternate the revolvers for azeo and keep utilization at least at 1-2%?  Thanks.....

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No it doesn't matter, no need to alternate, so long as (a) they're both revolvers, not charge cards (b) neither is an authorized user card and (c) neither is a Chase card.

[Anonymous]

In the AZEO strategy, the single card that is chosen to report a positive balance should be:

(1)  A card in your name (not an AU card)

(2)  A true credit card (not a charge card)

(3)  A card with at least a $5 balance (but which is otherwise small)

(4)  A card with a credit limit of < 34.9k

It should not matter whether or not the card is secured or not.

Two more things:

*  AZEO is more likely to benefit a person if he has several open accounts, most of which are reporting zero.  You by contast have four open accounts (two cards and two loans) with 3 of the 4 accounts reporting a positive balance. 

*  AZEO is not a strategy that gradually helps you build a higher score.  (You mention that your score seems like it hasn't risen for the last 2-3 months.)  Whatever benefit AZEO will give you it gives you as soon as your new CC balances report.  It is therefore a short-term strategy that is typically used in the 40 days before an important application for credit (e.g. a car loan or a home loan).

[rbentley]

Second what CGID said.  AZEO is a technique that can yeild a few points useful for before a mortguage or car loan but it is not really a way of life.  The big point gains reported by people usually occur in their first month and are more a result of bringing down their overall UTL. I tried AZEO for a couple of months, found it to be a lot of work and only resulted in a 3 point gain.

If I read you post correctly you only have 2 revolers and a couple install ment loans.  Optimal FICO scoring requires 3 revolvors and an installment loan.  You may see better scroe results with adding another card than practicing the religion of AZEO.

Just my two cents worth.  Congrats on your progress to date and the effort you are putting into a rebuild.  You will get results.

[expatCanuck]

And, btw, the reason SouthJ said "not a Chase card" is that when you pay a Chase card to zero, Chase reports that zero to the bureaus.

So, one *could* use a Chase card, but you'd want another charge in the current period to post before paying what was owed for the preceding month.

[HeavenOhio]

To the other points above, I'll add that the AZEO card should be a major card (Mastercard, Visa, AMEX, Discover) rather than a store card. A co-branded card (a card with a retailer's name plus a Visa/Mastercard/AMEX logo) is fine.

[Anonymous]

Thank you all for the awesome advice!!!

[Anonymous]

This is a great bit of information!  I've saved this thread on my computer.  

Good question, and great answers.  

[Anonymous]

And as I learned from @Revelate, it should also not be a CU CC, as some of these do not count.