My experience as having an old CO is that being in a dirty scorecard that AZEO doesn't give a score boost like folks in a clean scorecard. I capped out score wise at total utilization under <9% with several cards having a small balance. When I finally got to AZEO, my scores didn't move at all. My guess is you're experiencing something similar.
@TheKid2 wrote:My experience as having an old CO is that being in a dirty scorecard that AZEO doesn't give a score boost like folks in a clean scorecard. I capped out score wise at total utilization under <9% with several cards having a small balance. When I finally got to AZEO, my scores didn't move at all. My guess is you're experiencing something similar.
That would, @TheKid2 , be my guess as well.
For a little bit of FICO experience (and this applies to this thread....I promise) I have been playing a bit with the amount that I allow to report on my credit cards.
I have been doing AZEO for a good bit now. So, for those reading this post - let's take a quick step back for a second.
AZEO - or, All Zero Except One - is the concept of having all of your credit cards report a $0 balance (on the Statement Closing Date for each of your credit cards, respectively......and please keep in mind that this works once you have three credit cards or more) with the exception of one credit card.
This is important: be mindful of which of your credit cards is THE ONE. It should be from a major bank (read: financial instituion). It should likely NOT be a credit card from a Credit Union or a "Store Card" (think Lowes or Target, for example). There are also a few "financial institutions" out there that do not like their card to be THE ONE (I beleive that Chase - of all companies - is one of them....but please investigate that for your own peace of mind......in other words, don't take my word for it).
Additionally, keeping the reported balance under 10% (I beleive that the actual "best percentage" is under 6% - but this could be different for different people - depending on each person's credit profile) is important (from a scoring perspective).
So, now that we have described the framework of what AZEO is (so that we are all using the same "definition") why do we want this | why do some people practice this?
Well, the obvious answer is that if your credit card(s) report(s) a $0 balance on the Statement Closing Date then you have $0.00 that is subject to interest charges. That is a WIN, at least in my book.
But there are other reasons, too.
There are some scores that are HIGHLY dependent on the number of accounts that report a balance. Your mortgage scores (for those new to this, there is more than "just" your FICO8 score.....that is - what I call - your generic FICO Score.....there are industry specific scores, too. Your Credit Card scores, your Auto scores, and your Mortgage scores as well as your FICO9 scores) are very sensitive to the number of accounts that show a balance.
So, if one were working on a mortgage loan, then that person would be very wise to have a high percentage of the accounts that he/she has reporting a $0 balance. This maxes out the potential Mortgage Score. Clearly, just to be complete and thorough, this is one big part of the Mortgage scores. However, having six accounts report a $0 balance but the seventh report a 94% utilization would be less than a good thing!
Do all "scores" benefit from this (AZEO)? I beleive so IN THAT your utilization is going to be very low. I would be interested in hearing from those with far more experience than I have if AZEO has a SIGNIFICANT POSITIVE IMPACT on the other scores (and, to be clear, talking more about from a "number of accounts reporting a balance" perspective)?
Clearly, with "utilization" being a HUGE part of your FICO Score AZEO is going to positively impact your score.
Now, I have been playing with "reported balances" so that all of my credit cards are now reporting a balance (been doing this for two months now....June will be month number three) and my FICO scores are increasing (but, for full disclosure, that is very likely due to other things....like HPs falling off, credit cards aging, CLIs, et al).
I hope that this makes some sense. I know what I am trying to say. Not sure if I am presenting it in a 'digestible manner'????
Starting Score: Exp 627
@HowDoesThisAllWork wrote:
@TheKid2 wrote:My experience as having an old CO is that being in a dirty scorecard that AZEO doesn't give a score boost like folks in a clean scorecard. I capped out score wise at total utilization under <9% with several cards having a small balance. When I finally got to AZEO, my scores didn't move at all. My guess is you're experiencing something similar.
That would, @TheKid2 , be my guess as well.
For a little bit of FICO experience (and this applies to this thread....I promise) I have been playing a bit with the amount that I allow to report on my credit cards.
I have been doing AZEO for a good bit now. So, for those reading this post - let's take a quick step back for a second.
...
I hope that this makes some sense. I know what I am trying to say. Not sure if I am presenting it in a 'digestible manner'????
The AZEO method is well documented around here and I would agree that it's beneficial to all scores just by lowering your Util and not reporting ALL 0s. Definitely want the 1 card by a bank card. Pretty sure like you say that mortgage scores love accounts with a 0, the more the better. But again for me, I didn't peak at AZEO. YMMV
And lastly, not paying interest deifnitely a big win!
I didn't notice a difference, but I'm going to do some more experiments.
Definitely a very dirty score card.
