AZEO Utilization

[HeavenOhio]

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@thornbackwrote:
Shoot for less than 8.9% overall; and less than 28.9% ($289) on the one you let report a balance.

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Those are the generally accepted numbers, but some people have reported either overall or individual card utilization dings at thresholds below those. And others are dinged when more than one card reports a positive balance, despite the general advice that less than half (or a third) is OK.

To do a "true" AZEO, go for a really small balance on a single card (at least $5, though). After doing that, fiddle around a bit to see what kind of leeway you have.

[topgunvf]

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@Paranoidwrote:

Thank you :-)!

Just one more question -- but during the billing cycle I can go even for 99 % of my CL on any card if I will pay the balance off to $0 (or resonable acceptable percentage) before the statement date?

For example, I have a card with $1000, during the cycle I can go for $990, but before the statement pay it off.

Is it OK or not recommended?

CapOne would love you forever lol. It's been my experience with them at least that I use and abuse their limits and always PIF before statement cuts sometime making multiple payments (when I first started due to lower limits) and have never had to ask for a CLI they've been auto ever since. YMMV as always but ask around. CapOne loves the heavy daily driver usage and PIF.

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[Anonymous]

One more point regarding the Chase card thing as it pertains to AZEO.  The time it becomes an issue is if you pay your Chase card to $0, meaning you pay it off.  It's important to not confuse "pay off" with "pay in full."  If your balance never goes to $0 on your Chase card, you're fine using it for AZEO.  For example, your statement balance is $200 and you charge another $100 before your due date.  Your current balance is then $300, but if you PIF (your statement balance) you're paying $200 so the $100 remains.  The next month, maybe you have another $150 in additional charges, but your statement balance was $100 so you PIF which leaves a balance of $150 to report.  Hopefully this makes sense.  If you're the type of person that floats a balance on a Chase card but still exhibits PIF behavior never paying a penny of interest, you can use a Chase card as your AZEO card.

[Paranoid]

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@Anonymouswrote:

The next month, maybe you have another $150 in additional charges, but your statement balance was $100 so you PIF which leaves a balance of $150 to report.

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Which leaves a balance of $150 or $100 to report?

If the statement balance was $100, CHASE reported that amount, then I have additional charges of $150 (my total balance becomes $250), then I PIF my statement balance of $100. My new balance is $150. Chase will NOT report anything before the next statement? And will report ONLY if I would pay $250 (which would make my balance equal $0)? Is it correct?

[Anonymous]

They would report $150, becuse your total balance was $250 and you paid the $100 previous statement balance, taking your balance down to $150.  That $150 becomes your new statement balance (that you would pay next month) and gets reported.  Chase would not report anything until the following statement cuts, unless you pay the account down to $0 in the meantime.

[Paranoid]

Thank you! English is my second language so sometimes I translate with dictionary and clarify to be sure.

Like:
>And others are dinged when more than one card reports a positive balance.

What does "dinged" mean here? Is it negative context?

[Anonymous]

A "ding" simply refers to your credit score being slightly reduced, typically something from a few points up to 15 or so is what people may refer to a "ding" to a credit score.  A ding can come from many things such as an inquiry, a new account being added, a utilization change, or any other number of events.

[Anonymous]

One more point regarding the Chase card thing as it pertains to AZEO.  The time it becomes an issue is if you pay your Chase card to $0, meaning you pay it off.  It's important to not confuse "pay off" with "pay in full."  If your balance never goes to $0 on your Chase card, you're fine using it for AZEO.  For example, your statement balance is $200 and you charge another $100 before your due date.  Your current balance is then $300, but if you PIF (your statement balance) you're paying $200 so the $100 remains.  The next month, maybe you have another $150 in additional charges, but your statement balance was $100 so you PIF which leaves a balance of $150 to report.  Hopefully this makes sense.  If you're the type of person that floats a balance on a Chase card but still exhibits PIF behavior never paying a penny of interest, you can use a Chase card as your AZEO card.

[Paranoid]

All the past six months I have been constantly using the AZEO model. I paid all the cards balances except one (Citi Double Cash). On that card I kept 1 % of my total CL (and about 3-4 % of the Citi DC limit) before the statement date. My credit score slowly but surely grew up permanently.

Recently during the billing cycle I went more than 40 % of my Citi DC credit limit (which was unusual), but paid it off to 4 % (of the Citi DC limit) before the statement date. As a result, my credit scores dropped down by 8 points.

Could it be that Citi sends information to the Bureau not only on the day of the statement, but also in the middle of the billing cycle? If not, then what could be the matter?

As far as I understood earlier, during the billing cycle I can go even for 99 % of my CL on any card if I pay the balance off to $0 before the statement date.. Is that correct?

[Anonymous]

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@Paranoid wrote:

As far as I understood earlier, during the billing cycle I can go even for 99 % of my CL on any card if I pay the balance off to $0 before the statement date.. Is that correct?

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You can, as long as that doesn't freak the CC issuer out.  That's a matter of internal policy to that particular issuer.

If you have had the card for quite a while, and have occasionally run it up to a high balance (e.g. 80%) before while paying it down, and the jump from 0% to 99% was not made as a single transaction -- then you are very unlikely to freak them out.

But if any of those things are not the case, then they could get worried.