AZEO Question

[dragontears]

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@Charmante wrote:

That's crazy. You would think paying your Bloomies Card would be the same as paying your AMEX... A payment is a payment. Lol Thanks for the info @dragontears 

SIDE QUESTION: One of the roommates I'm building, I have NOT started on yet. Their file is 100% Blank EXCEPT as an AU on One of my cards (to get them a score started)... Should I NOT open them ANY retail cards?

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Honestly, my view on retail cards is IF having the card saves you money at a store you frequently shop at it is a good card for you. If it doesn't, just get a good secured card as it doesn't "force" you into buying things you don't need just to keep it open. 

When I got my first mortgage many years ago, I had one open secured card with a $200 limit and $17 balance and some old open student loans. Generally it is easier if a person has 3 open tradelines (at least 1 credit card) to get a mortgage but it is possible with less.

[dragontears]

Also for your friend with an empty file I would suggest talking with @Anonymous she tracked her scores in great detail after getting her very first card.

[Anonymous]

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@Charmante wrote:

That's crazy. You would think paying your Bloomies Card would be the same as paying your AMEX... A payment is a payment. Lol Thanks for the info @dragontears 

SIDE QUESTION: One of the roommates I'm building, I have NOT started on yet. Their file is 100% Blank EXCEPT as an AU on One of my cards (to get them a score started)... Should I NOT open them ANY retail cards?

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(Thanks for the tag, @dragontears . )

@Charmante: Here's a set of 13 monthly myFICO 3B reports, starting from the 1st month I got my first 2 cards in December 2018. (Forum link)

If your roommate has patience: HOWTO: Get a +62 point FICO 8 jump on a clean file  

I inadvertently discovered how to get a EQ 8 750 & EX 8 748 without ever having a credit card. I was able to start my revolving history with 2 bankcards (credit union and Citi Costco Visa) and a $8,500 total credit limit.

[HeavenOhio]

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@Charmante wrote:

@dragontears So, um, not sure how to word it. Lol I was under the impression that all Revolvers are equal (till joining this forum)... But I had already opened a few Retail Cards... Macy's, Dell, Home Depot, Cap1 WM and CFNA Firestone... I believe that's it... Are retail cards BAD for your credit? Why? Could you break it down for me please...

ALSO -- Should I close them? Which of the 5 are WORST?

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As mentioned, store cards hurt the non-FICO credit scores used by the insurance industry. Co-branded major cards like the LL Bean Mastercard or Macy's AMEX are treated like other major cards.

Store cards are generally treated the same as major cards by FICO. But some have reported that when doing AZEO, leaving one's single positive balance on a retail card may not yield the same points as leaving the balance on a major card. We don't usually see that. But when you're trying to eek out every possible point, you want to dot every i and cross every t.

[Anonymous]

Hi @HeavenOhio,

Sorry to high jack this a little, but I had a similar question regarding AZEO.  I paid off ALL my credit cards and I am looking to purchase a car after they all finish reporting next week.  You mentioned to keep at least a $5 balance... Of all the cards I paid off, on still had an interest drop of $4 and reported that.  Will that suffice, or should I charge something small to one of my cards that haven't reported yet?

[ccquest]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi @HeavenOhio,

Sorry to high jack this a little, but I had a similar question regarding AZEO.  I paid off ALL my credit cards and I am looking to purchase a car after they all finish reporting next week.  You mentioned to keep at least a $5 balance... Of all the cards I paid off, on still had an interest drop of $4 and reported that.  Will that suffice, or should I charge something small to one of my cards that haven't reported yet?

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Yes, as long as it shows on the credit report it is good.

[Remedios]

As far as OPs question, we would need to know which personality in their household they are talking about. 

If this is the one where accounts are new(ish), AZEO won't quite "work" unless they reach one year old at least. 

Older scoring models are quite punishing when it comes to new accounts. 

If these are aged accounts, 20 points is not beyond realm of possibility, but even that would be dependent on individual profile and presence/absence of negatives. 

[Anonymous]

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@Remedios wrote:

As far as OPs question, we would need to know which personality in their household they are talking about. 

If this is the one where accounts are new(ish), AZEO won't quite "work" unless they reach one year old at least. 

It works with 2 new accounts, both under a year. My total revolving credit history was 7 months at this point. I got the same results with 1yr 1mo total revolving history.

If someone is only using Experian monitoring they will miss the best 2/3rd's of the movie and think AZEO doesn't do much at any age.

CassieCard 3B Report - Score changes at AZEO

[CRA Comparison / Under 1 year Revolving History, 2 Cards both at 7 months]

MTG(Mortgage), AUT(Auto), and BKC(Bankcard) scores are 5,4,2 from the top.

	8	BC8	AU8	MTG	AUT	BKC	9	BC9	AU9	3
EQ	+19	+24	+19	+5	+5	+8	+22	+23	+23
TU	+14	+22	+15	0	0	0	+27	+27	+27
EX	0	+2	0	+6	+5	+6	+6	+6	+6	0

AoOA 1yr7mo | AAoA 11mo | AoYA/AoYRA/AAoRA 7mo

4% to 1% aggregate change, ($334 to $35), TCL $11K

(4 & 4) to (2 & 0)% on 2 individual cards

(The extra 1yr of age for AoOA is from an SSL that aged to 1 year before I got my first 2 revolving accounts.)

Older scoring models are quite punishing when it comes to new accounts. 

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Oh is this ever true! Even at AoOA 2yr4mo, AoORA 1yr4mo, with 2 new accounts showing up.