Rotating AZEO boost?

[Anonymous]

Knowing AZEO is king, would rotating a small balance around the cards each reporting cycle keeping with AZEO give you a boost as it shows activity on each card here and there while the remaining ones stay at zero?

[Anonymous]

Many people do exactly what you descibe.  That way each card reports a positive balance to the bureaus a couple times a year and yet you are still AZEO compliant.  Congrats for rediscovering that idea on your own.

BTW, I personally won't say that AZEO is king -- as in of supreme importance.  It's a good thing to do if you are gearing up for a loan or CC application and you think you need an extra boost to get approved.  It's definitely a good thing to do in prep for a mortgage.  Otherwise many people don't worry about it.  They just use their cards naturally, let as many report balances as would do so anyway, and pay them in full each month (which can be automated via AutoPay).  Such a strategy involves a little score fluctuation but such people don't care because they aren't trying to use their score for anything.

Also remember that FICO 8 doesn't care about most cards showing zero nearly as much as the older mortgage models do.

[Anonymous]

You know those moments where you are all over a forum, don't see a clear answer to a thought you have and after you post you find a ton of info on the subject. That is where I am, lol.

Thank you for entertaining me with another great answer that has already been discussed. I do appreciate all of you especially when I do something like this and you don't flame me for it.

❤❤❤

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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.

[HeavenOhio]

Yeah, it's tough to rotate two cards. The problem with both cards having the same due date is that both cards would need to "rest" at the same time. With staggared due dates, you always have one card to use.

I have six cards. I let two report small blances most of the time. For me, that results in a small, but acceptable, ding on one score — much smaller than all cards reporting zero would be. AZEO happens for me when I'd like to swich up the card that report positive balances.

[Anonymous]

HO, are you referring to your EQ score?

Out of curiosity, what is the variance between your ding from AZ and AZE2?  I would guess your AZ ding would be about 19 points and your AZE2 ding maybe 6 points, so perhaps a 13 point variance?

[HeavenOhio]

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.

[Anonymous]

About what I figured.  What type of drop do you see on EQ when you report all zero balances?

[HeavenOhio]

I don't know because I haven't tried it since I've followed my score.