You should keep a small balance on 1 of your cards. I also do AZEO. When I have paid all my cards to $0 but left a small balance on my wife's card which I am an authorized user on I got the $0 balance penalty. Also vice versa for my wife when her cards all report $0 even though she's an authorized user on all my cards. Now we both always report a small balance on 1 of our cards with no penalty.
@TryingtoBeLifeGoals wrote:I am an authorized user on my SIL's AMEX Platinum. I have never tried AZEO but I am thinking about it. Her AMEX usually has a balance every month. If I pay off all of my cards to zero but am still an authorized user on her card that carries a balance will I be hit with the zero balance penalty? Or should I keep a small balance on my card?
It's my understanding that while the Amex charge cards aren't included in the dollar percentage utilization computation, they are included as an "account with balance" if they have a balance, and therefore would avoid the All Zero Penalty.
I have no personal experience with it, though, so I hope some people can chime in who have had personal experience with this issue.
Update: OK I've researched it a little, and according to @Thomas_Thumb, who is exceptionally knowledgeable about these things, the Amex charge card balance will not suffice to avoid the All Zero Penalty.
https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/The-AZEO-Method/m-p/5356471#M144030
So I stand corrected.
@CH-7-Mission-Accomplished wrote:
@SouthJamaica wrote:
@TryingtoBeLifeGoals wrote:I am an authorized user on my SIL's AMEX Platinum. I have never tried AZEO but I am thinking about it. Her AMEX usually has a balance every month. If I pay off all of my cards to zero but am still an authorized user on her card that carries a balance will I be hit with the zero balance penalty? Or should I keep a small balance on my card?
It's my understanding that while the Amex charge cards aren't included in the dollar percentage utilization computation, they are included as an "account with balance" if they have a balance, and therefore would avoid the All Zero Penalty.
I have no personal experience with it, though, so I hope some people can chime in who have had personal experience with this issue.
Update: OK I've researched it a little, and according to @Thomas_Thumb, who is exceptionally knowledgeable about these things, the Amex charge card balance will not suffice to avoid the All Zero Penalty.
https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/The-AZEO-Method/m-p/5356471#M144030
So I stand corrected.
It wouldn't matter if the AU card reporting was a Visa/MC -- you must report a small balance on a card that works on one of your own primary accounts. If you have all zero except one AU account, you will lose the 20 points. I experienced this at one point and could not figure out the reason for my point loss. Birdman explained it to me and sure enough when one of my cards reported a small balance I got the points back. So in this case the issue isn't that the AU is an AMEX, it's that it's an AU.
Well there's 2 separate issues here. One is the fact that it's an AU, as you mentioned, and you're absolutely correct; however, the other issue is that the AU in question is a charge card, so whether there's a balance posted or not, it isn't enough to avoid the AU all zero penalty as @SouthJamaica noted above. Basically, OP has to make sure one of their own cards posts a small balance while all others are at zero, and acquire an AU revolver and have it report a small balance. Or remove themselves from being an AU on the Plat altogether.
@SouthJamaica wrote:Update: OK I've researched it a little, and according to @Thomas_Thumb, who is exceptionally knowledgeable about these things, the Amex charge card balance will not suffice to avoid the All Zero Penalty.
https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/The-AZEO-Method/m-p/5356471#M144030
I have recent DPs to confirm this is still the case. Had to test for myself after stepping into the Amex arena.
