Rotating AZEO boost?

[Anonymous]

Understood. I recently reported all zero balances on TU and only lost 11 points on my clean file, quite a bit less than the 16-22 I was used to losing back when my file was dirty. I'm wondering if clean files see less of a hit from no revolving credit use being present.

[Anonymous]

So I rotated azeo and I got 1 point. 1 point... ugh... That is not a good sign.

[Anonymous]

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wrote:

One thing I'd like to add in addition to CGID's already solid response is that in rotating your AZEO trade line, it's almost impossible by definition to remain at AZEO.  The only way this would be possible is if all of your cards reported to the bureaus on the exact same day, which is about as likely as hitting the lottery.

In switching between AZEO cards, it's natural to land at AZ or AZE2 during the process.  For example, if the card your are AZEO on reports on the 15th, but the card you're switching to AZEO on reports on the 25th, you'll be at AZ (no cards with reported balances) from the 15th-25th once the initial AZEO card reports $0 and you're waiting for one of your other currently $0 balance reported card to report a balance on the 25th.  The other option is to wait until the new card reports a balance on the 25th and waiting until the following month for the card that reports on the 15th to report a $0 balance, meaning that you'd be at AZE2 from the 25th to the 15th of the following month. 

As CGID correctly points out, AZEO is not a necessity at all times... really just prior to apping for major things like a mortgage.  I just thought it would be worth pointing out that when switching between AZEO cards that it's very common to land at AZ or AZE2 for periods of time that could span a few days up to a few weeks depending on reporting dates of the trade lines in question.

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Believe it or not some of us who get paid once a month have made every card due on the same day. Many banks allow one to change the due date. Just not everyone gets paid once a month to make this practical. I’m one of the few whom this is practical for. Once a month I pay my rent, all credit cards, and utilities on the same day. Then my checking goes silent till the next month. Repeat. I put all my monthly bills on various credit cards to maximize rewards for moi.

[Anonymous]

There are exceptions to everything.  I would say that your example above is one of an outlier and certainly not the norm.

[Anonymous]

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wrote:
Understood. I recently reported all zero balances on TU and only lost 11 points on my clean file, quite a bit less than the 16-22 I was used to losing back when my file was dirty. I'm wondering if clean files see less of a hit from no revolving credit use being present.

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I don't think clean files necessarily have less of a hit from all zero balances. Going from AZEO to AZ  my FICO 8 dropped 25 on EX, 32 on EQ, and 37 on TU. 

In regards to the rotating AZEO to boost scores I would not expect an increase unless one card has been at $0 long enough to cause a drop in your scores. I would think the 1 point gain by Amiblue would be due to some aging threshold or other factor like utilization. 

[HeavenOhio]

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wrote:

Yes, it's EQ. I haven't tried all cards reporting zero since I've been monitoring my FICO scores. The difference between one and two cards reporting positive balances has always been five points. Because I'll have a second card reporting a positive balance in about a week, I expect my score to drop from 802 to 797.

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The second card reported a positive balance, and my score went up from 802 to 803. I suspect that's because my youngest account celebrated its first birthday. I wouldn't be surprised if my EQ score jumps to 808 when I'm back to AZEO. I usually let two cards report with positive balances, but I should have an AZEO period early next month.

[HeavenOhio]

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wrote:
So I rotated azeo and I got 1 point. 1 point... ugh... That is not a good sign.

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I woudn't expect to see a point gain by rotating. But some feel that if a card doesn't report for a long time, its limit may be excluded when calculating utilization. If that's the case, rotating would be insurance against a ding. Thinking in those terms, it wouldn't be necessary to rotate constantly. Simply give each card a turn to cut a positive balance periodically.

[Thomas_Thumb]

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wrote:
Thank you. And that is something I had not thought about though I have a short inbetween window with 4 days. This time I guess I will carry 2 cards for 4 days while next month I will have all zeros for 4 days.

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Best approach is AZE2=>AZE1=>AZE2 with 2 reporting as the overlap. Reporting all zero will result in more score instability.

[Anonymous]

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I don't think clean files necessarily have less of a hit from all zero balances. Going from AZEO to AZ  my FICO 8 dropped 25 on EX, 32 on EQ, and 37 on TU. This is with 5 years AAoA, 8 years AoOA, 3 years AoYA, , 5 open CC and 1 closed loan.

 

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Well, I'm not quite sure why I only lost 11 points on TU now for AZ compared to 16-22 points 6-8 months ago.  The only obvious change was that my file was dirty back then and it's clean now.  Of course during that time my accounts have aged another 6-8 months, but nothing else glaringly obvious has changed outside of my obvious score card assignment change.

I must say that a 25, 32 and 37 point drop from all cards reporting $0 balances is far greater than I've ever heard prior.  Has anyone else heard of drops this large?  25 is basically at the high end of what I've heard prior; I've never seen a data point on 30+ points and you're referencing 2 of them here.  All profiles are different and anything is possible, but I'd like to know if anyone else has heard of a drop this great from "no revolving credit usage."

[jamie123]

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wrote:
Understood. I recently reported all zero balances on TU and only lost 11 points on my clean file, quite a bit less than the 16-22 I was used to losing back when my file was dirty. I'm wondering if clean files see less of a hit from no revolving credit use being present.

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I've had a dirty file (Tax Lien) for almost forever. I tested the AZEO vs AZ several times with my dirty file over several years and the difference was EXACTLY 18 points every time, but that was just me and I'm sure YMMV.

I'll be able to test it again with a clean file in a couple of months once I pay off 2 CCs that have high balances because of using their 0% offers.