AZEO and Authorized User accounts.

[ThomasJNewton]

When my NFCU card reports next month, my profile will be:

NFCU Cash Rewards Card: Balance $8,400 out of $30,000, Age 9 years, 3 months.

Chase United Quest Card: Balance $0.00 out of $19,000, Age 11 months.

Authorized User Accounts:

Apple Card: Limit $12,500, Age 1 year, 7 months

Chase Sapphire Preferred: Limit $5,100. Age 8 years, 3 months.

I can have either of the Apple Card and Chase card report either $0 or something low (under 9%).

Until I have a third card, am I correct in understanding that AZEO does not matter at all? Once I get my third card, do I need one of the other ones to report something or can they report zero?

[JoeRockhead]

There's an all zero penalty for your own cards as well as a separate all zero penalty for AU accounts.

[GZG]

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@ThomasJNewton wrote:

When my NFCU card reports next month, my profile will be:

NFCU Cash Rewards Card: Balance $8,400 out of $30,000, Age 9 years, 3 months.

Chase United Quest Card: Balance $0.00 out of $19,000, Age 11 months.

Authorized User Accounts:

Apple Card: Limit $12,500, Age 1 year, 7 months

Chase Sapphire Preferred: Limit $5,100. Age 8 years, 3 months.

I can have either of the Apple Card and Chase card report either $0 or something low (under 9%).

Until I have a third card, am I correct in understanding that AZEO does not matter at all? Once I get my third card, do I need one of the other ones to report something or can they report zero?

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it still matters, but it's not optimal 

1/2 is still probably better than 0/2, but 1/3 is way better than 1/2

same with AUs, but I imagine the FICO impact is less, but you still don't want to go all zero on AU accounts as mentioned above ^^

[Thomas_Thumb]

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@ThomasJNewton wrote:

When my NFCU card reports next month, my profile will be:

NFCU Cash Rewards Card: Balance $8,400 out of $30,000, Age 9 years, 3 months.

Chase United Quest Card: Balance $0.00 out of $19,000, Age 11 months.

Authorized User Accounts:

Apple Card: Limit $12,500, Age 1 year, 7 months

Chase Sapphire Preferred: Limit $5,100. Age 8 years, 3 months.

I can have either of the Apple Card and Chase card report either $0 or something low (under 9%).

Until I have a third card, am I correct in understanding that AZEO does not matter at all? Once I get my third card, do I need one of the other ones to report something or can they report zero?

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Fico always penalizes for no recent revolving account activity. That is true regardless of the # of personal cards in your file. The penalty is often 15-25 points. Authorized user accounts are ignored by Fico when assessing personal account activity.

If you have only 1 revolving account it is better to have 1 of 1 report a balance than 0 of 1. If you have 2 cards it is best to have 1 of 2 report a balance. It is also better to have 2 of 2 report small balances than 0 of 2.

Authorized user cards are not included in revolving utilization.

One of your 2 AU accounts should also report a balance. That will avoid a potential penalty associated with all zeros on AU accounts. The penalty for this infraction is small, nominally 5 points.

[SouthJamaica]

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@ThomasJNewton wrote:

When my NFCU card reports next month, my profile will be:

NFCU Cash Rewards Card: Balance $8,400 out of $30,000, Age 9 years, 3 months.

Chase United Quest Card: Balance $0.00 out of $19,000, Age 11 months.

Authorized User Accounts:

Apple Card: Limit $12,500, Age 1 year, 7 months

Chase Sapphire Preferred: Limit $5,100. Age 8 years, 3 months.

I can have either of the Apple Card and Chase card report either $0 or something low (under 9%).

Until I have a third card, am I correct in understanding that AZEO does not matter at all? Once I get my third card, do I need one of the other ones to report something or can they report zero?

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There are 2 completely separate metrics: the AU cards and your cards.

In each case, for optimal scoring, you would want to let 1 of the 2 report a small balance.

[Horseshoez]

Regarding having 1 or two accounts, back when I was first rebuilding from my Chapter 13 discharge, I had a single card for almost six month before adding a second and only my EX FICO 8 to go on (dirty score card):

• Single Card:
  • Months with $0.00 balance: 607
  • Months with <$400 balance: 623
  • Months with > $400 balance: 613
• Two cards:
  • Months with All-Zero balances: no data available
  • Months with AZEO balances: 653
  • Months with AZE2 balances:  642

[AlanWynn]

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@Horseshoez wrote:

Regarding having 1 or two accounts, back when I was first rebuilding from my Chapter 13 discharge, I had a single card for almost six month before adding a second and only my EX FICO 8 to go on (dirty score card):

• Single Card:
  • Months with $0.00 balance: 607
  • Months with <$400 balance: 623
  • Months with > $400 balance: 613
• Two cards:
  • Months with All-Zero balances: no data available
  • Months with AZEO balances: 653
  • Months with AZE2 balances:  642

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Thanks!

[butterpecan]

A small balance should be what percent exactly? I'm seeing 9% is this the "small balance"?

[Horseshoez]

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@butterpecan wrote:

A small balance should be what percent exactly? I'm seeing 9% is this the "small balance"?

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I've had my scores drop when I even had 4% on one card; my cards typically report balances of less than $100, which is less than 1%.

[ThomasJNewton]

I now have one Authorized User account that reports a balance and one that should report no balance, so we can see what happens.

Thanks for everyone's help. :-)