Large difference in Experian Fico 2 scores

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
That’s good card 2 made it to 28%. Yes Card one and three are excluded from EX2, as stated above.

Going from 27% to 20 is a non-event. I would not expect any points from that. Aggregate moving to 17% will also be a nonevent. So I don’t think that will be very interesting.

You need aggregate under 8.9%. (and I’m talking about cards 2 and 4, 1 and 3 do not count.) Next month when both cards report a zero balance, you’re probably going to wear the no revolving balance penalty. It cannot take into account something it is excluding.

You need aggregate under 8.9% (2 & 4) and you need one of those cards reporting a zero balance and the other reporting a nominal balance, if you want to optimize.

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Thank you for this advice!  This is incredibly useful. 

Instead of both the cards reporting zero, I will leave a small sum on one of them, to maximise the points. 

[Anonymous]

You’re very welcome. I think you will be pleased with the results.

[iv]

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@Anonymous wrote:

One quick question: if Card 1 and Card 3 are excluded from the calculation for EX Fico 2 scores, does that mean I could get a penalty for both Card 2 and Card 4 reporting a zero balance? Or, will it still take into account that there is at least 1 card reporting a balance, even though that card is not used for the Fico 2 calculation?

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Good question!

I'm not sure anyone has specifically tested that yet.

Just because the higher-limit cards are excluded from the utilization scoring, does not necessarily mean that they are also excluded from either a "revolving accounts with balances" or "all accounts with balances" scoring metric.

[Anonymous]

To err on the side of caution, practice AZEO with Card two or four as the card with the nominal balance and you cannot go wrong either way.

[Anonymous]

I have some updated data.

I paid my Card 4 to zero before statement. Statement was produced for $0 and posted yesterday to the Credit Reference Bureaus.

I saw an uplift in my points as follows:

Experian Fico 2 Morgage = 747 (increase of 12 points)

Experian Fico 2 Auto = 715 (increase of 9 points)

Experian Fico 2 Bankcard = 744 (increase of 13 points)

These scores are still less than I had in August when my aggregate UTIL was 6.8%. Individual UTIL then was 11% and 2%. 

Now, my aggregate UTIL is 20%. Individual UTIL are 28% and 0%.

In particular, the EX Fico 2 Auto is still 25 points below the 740 I had in August. 

As planned, I will pay down Card 2 to approx 1% UTIL before the statement is produced, with the card reporting in early December. I will update then as to the uplift in points. However, it will be complicated slightly as I will have some accounts age to 1 year in December, so, it may be difficult to separate out the point increases. 

Separate to the Fico 2 scores, having card 4 report as zero gave me a 2 point increase on my EX Fico 8, EX Fico 8 Bankcard and EX Fico 8 Auto.

[Anonymous]

@ArrowClock15 Update please?

And you referenced you had some accounts hitting one year. The only one that’s going to matter is your youngest revolver. Is your youngest revolver turning one year this month?

Last but not least, if you’re willing and able it would be great if you could do a test for the community.

Like @iv said, just because it’s excluded from utilization does not mean that it’s excluded from other metrics. I do believe it’s excluded from “revolvers with a balance“ because I’ve seen members receive the “no revolving balance” penalty even while they have a balance on an excluded card.

However, I wonder if (and I believe they are) counting as an “account with a balance.” And if so, would it offer you more points if you brought one of those excluded accounts down to zero, therefore having one less account with a balance?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
@ArrowClock15 Update please?

And you referenced you had some accounts hitting one year. The only one that’s going to matter is your youngest revolver. Is your youngest revolver turning one year this month?

Yes it is the youngest revolver that hits one year. It does not actually hit 1 year until the end of the month, but, as of December 1st, on Experian, the youngest revolver went up to 1 year. There was a boost in points.

Experian Fico 2 Auto went up 14 points
Experian Fico 2 Bannkcard went up 10 points
There was no change to Experian Fico 2 Mortgage.

Last but not least, if you’re willing and able it would be great if you could do a test for the community.

Like @iv said, just because it’s excluded from utilization does not mean that it’s excluded from other metrics. I do believe it’s excluded from “revolvers with a balance“ because I’ve seen members receive the “no revolving balance” penalty even while they have a balance on an excluded card.

However, I wonder if (and I believe they are) counting as an “account with a balance.” And if so, would it offer you more points if you brought one of those excluded accounts down to zero, therefore having one less account with a balance?

Card 4 is already reporting as zero. Card 2 will report to the credit reference agencies in a few days time, with a util of 8.8%. I will update with the points changes.  Next month, I will have both Card 4 and Card 2 reporting as zero. That way, we can compare if there is then a decrease in points as the only 2 cards that are used for EX Fico 2 are both reporting zero.

Incidentally, a card on which i am an AU, which has a CL of over $30,000 (so in theory is excluded from the scoring model) reported an increased balance today (went from approx 1% UTIL to 6% UTIL).  My EX Fico 2 Auto decreased by 7 points. There was no changes to my other Fico 2 scores. The increased balance increased overall UTIL on all cards, including AU cards, from 10% to 11%. 

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[Anonymous]

There's no doubt you will get the "no revolving" if you have all "counting" cards report 0 (DPs exist on that), but if you took a "non-counting" to zero and saw an increase, we'd know those need to be zeroed to optimize AZEO regardless of utilization, you follow?

[Anonymous]

Very interesting about the AU card only affecting the variants. WE know its excluded for utilization, but should count everywhere else. Remember, high CL CCs aren't excluded from the model, just that one metric.

Yes, per FICO accounts always age the first of the month.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
There's no doubt you will get the "no revolving" if you have all "counting" cards report 0 (DPs exist on that), but if you took a "non-counting" to zero and saw an increase, we'd know those need to be zeroed to optimize AZEO regardless of utilization, you follow?

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Understood. I intend to take one of those cards to zero. However, it will be 2 months before I get there. I will update once I do.

My 2nd card that counts towards the EX FICO 2 scores has now reported. It reported at 8% UTIL. I got the following increase in scores:

EX FICO 2 Mortgage = 3 point increase

EX FICO 2 Auto = 28 point increase

EX FICO 2 Bankcard = 6 point increase

Going back to my original post on this, all of the EX FICO 2 scores are now higher than they were at my previous highest point back in August.