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Unexpectedly got hit with the All Zero Penalty W/ UPDATE

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ZenMan
Valued Member

Re: Unexpectedly got hit with the All Zero Penalty


@OmarGB9 wrote:

@Fico82 wrote:

Well guys just an update to my all zero penalty...

 

I just got a alert that my new nfcu card had reported to my reports and since this is the only primary card reporting a balance i logged on to check if i gained my 15 points back and i did ! 

 

Screenshot (14).png

 


Further proof that All Zero is a thing, and can be worth up to 15 points (if not more). Thanks for the update!


@OmarGB9, would this also be proof that the card used to report a balance does not have to be a card issued by a major bank?  I've read some archival posts here on the AZEO method that strongly discourage using MC/VS/AX revolvers issued by credit unions.  There also seems to be a suggestion that whatever card you use not have too high of a credit limit, although I'm unsure as to what the upper bound is.  For example, using a card with a $40K limit would not work, but using one with a $4K limit would.  Does that sound right?

 

Perhaps like most things credit-related, this is all profile-dependent?

     

Message 11 of 17
OmarGB9
Community Leader
Super Contributor

Re: Unexpectedly got hit with the All Zero Penalty


@ZenMan wrote:

@OmarGB9 wrote:

@Fico82 wrote:

Well guys just an update to my all zero penalty...

 

I just got a alert that my new nfcu card had reported to my reports and since this is the only primary card reporting a balance i logged on to check if i gained my 15 points back and i did ! 

 

Screenshot (14).png

 


Further proof that All Zero is a thing, and can be worth up to 15 points (if not more). Thanks for the update!


@OmarGB9, would this also be proof that the card used to report a balance does not have to be a card issued by a major bank?  I've read some archival posts here on the AZEO method that strongly discourage using MC/VS/AX revolvers issued by credit unions.  There also seems to be a suggestion that whatever card you use not have too high of a credit limit, although I'm unsure as to what the upper bound is.  For example, using a card with a $40K limit would not work, but using one with a $4K limit would.  Does that sound right?

 

Perhaps like most things credit-related, this is all profile-dependent?


I don't know about the "no CU cards as your reporting one" thing. I've done it with no problems using a Navy card, so I don't buy that. I do agree to not use a store card though. As for the higher limit cards, I believe yes, it is either $40 or $50k, and only on older models (such as 5, 4, and 2, AKA mortgage scores), FICO8 and 9 don't care about the limit. 


Last App: 1/10/2023
Penfed Gold Visa Card

Currently rebuilding as of 04/11/2019.

Starting FICO 8 Scores:




Current FICO 8 scores:


Message 12 of 17
Curious_George2
Valued Contributor

Re: Unexpectedly got hit with the All Zero Penalty

The advice to avoid using a credit union card for AZEO is general in nature. It doesn't mean CU cards never work. Cards from Navy and many other CU's consistently report like normal bank-issued cards, but cards from some credit unions showed erratic results when @Revelate, @Anonymous and others were testing this a few years back. Here's a thread where this quirk was discussed. Rev's DCU card was not treated as a card by EX2.

 

It was impossible to test every CU, so they wisely advised people to steer clear of the issue by using something other than a CU card for AZEO.  

 

Store cards are odd in another way. I don't know much about them, but it appears from the linked thread that EX2 treats store cards as cards for AZEO purposes, but EX8 doesn't. That's a pretty subtle difference, so, again the best general advice is to not use a store card for AZEO.

 

I happen to be actively testing the CL cutoffs right now. I don't have detailed results yet, but I am increasingly confident the limits at which mortgage scores stop treating cards as cards for AZEO purposes are in the following ranges:

 

TU4: Somewhere above $40,000

EQ5: Somewhere above $40,000

EX2: Somewhere above $27,000 but at or below $30,000 (Rev has long said the cutoff is $27k, but I haven't yet found the thread(s) in which that was established through testing)

 

@Fico82: What is your Lowest Limit Card with Balance before, during and after the time when you were getting the AZ penalty? 

Message 13 of 17
ZenMan
Valued Member

Re: Unexpectedly got hit with the All Zero Penalty


@Curious_George2 wrote:

The advice to avoid using a credit union card for AZEO is general in nature. It doesn't mean CU cards never work. Cards from Navy and many other CU's consistently report like normal bank-issued cards, but cards from some credit unions showed erratic results when @Revelate, @Anonymous and others were testing this a few years back. Here's a thread where this quirk was discussed. Rev's DCU card was not treated as a card by EX2.

 

@Curious_George2 , thank you for your reply.  When I started lurking on this forum five years ago, I began using Discover as my AZEO card.  A few years later, I decided to switch to a new NFCU card.  Because the two cards have different closing dates, there was a two-week period during the "transition" when neither card reported a balance, resulting in a 15-point drop across all three bureaus.   Once the NFCU card began reporting, those points were returned (as predicted).  I just wanted to confirm that the FICO algorithm hadn't changed since then, meaning that I might be "leaving points on the table" by not using a bank-issued card now.

     

Message 14 of 17
Revelate
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Unexpectedly got hit with the All Zero Penalty


@Curious_George2 wrote:

The advice to avoid using a credit union card for AZEO is general in nature. It doesn't mean CU cards never work. Cards from Navy and many other CU's consistently report like normal bank-issued cards, but cards from some credit unions showed erratic results when @Revelate, @Anonymous and others were testing this a few years back. Here's a thread where this quirk was discussed. Rev's DCU card was not treated as a card by EX2.

 

It was impossible to test every CU, so they wisely advised people to steer clear of the issue by using something other than a CU card for AZEO.  

 

Store cards are odd in another way. I don't know much about them, but it appears from the linked thread that EX2 treats store cards as cards for AZEO purposes, but EX8 doesn't. That's a pretty subtle difference, so, again the best general advice is to not use a store card for AZEO.

 

I happen to be actively testing the CL cutoffs right now. I don't have detailed results yet, but I am increasingly confident the limits at which mortgage scores stop treating cards as cards for AZEO purposes are in the following ranges:

 

TU4: Somewhere above $40,000

EQ5: Somewhere above $40,000

EX2: Somewhere above $27,000 but at or below $30,000 (Rev has long said the cutoff is $27k, but I haven't yet found the thread(s) in which that was established through testing)

 

@Fico82: What is your Lowest Limit Card with Balance before, during and after the time when you were getting the AZ penalty? 


I think you can drop my 27K number on EX2 out of your dataset; it was on a tradeline issued by the same CU that I had the same problem with a $500 secured card with and as such it could have been erroneously discounted.

 

There were some other tests around there but TBH I don't rembmer who or what explicitly.  @Curious_George2 




        
Message 15 of 17
Curious_George2
Valued Contributor

Re: Unexpectedly got hit with the All Zero Penalty


@Revelate wrote:

@Curious_George2 wrote:

The advice to avoid using a credit union card for AZEO is general in nature. It doesn't mean CU cards never work. Cards from Navy and many other CU's consistently report like normal bank-issued cards, but cards from some credit unions showed erratic results when @Revelate, @Anonymous and others were testing this a few years back. Here's a thread where this quirk was discussed. Rev's DCU card was not treated as a card by EX2.

 

It was impossible to test every CU, so they wisely advised people to steer clear of the issue by using something other than a CU card for AZEO.  

 

Store cards are odd in another way. I don't know much about them, but it appears from the linked thread that EX2 treats store cards as cards for AZEO purposes, but EX8 doesn't. That's a pretty subtle difference, so, again the best general advice is to not use a store card for AZEO.

 

I happen to be actively testing the CL cutoffs right now. I don't have detailed results yet, but I am increasingly confident the limits at which mortgage scores stop treating cards as cards for AZEO purposes are in the following ranges:

 

TU4: Somewhere above $40,000

EQ5: Somewhere above $40,000

EX2: Somewhere above $27,000 but at or below $30,000 (Rev has long said the cutoff is $27k, but I haven't yet found the thread(s) in which that was established through testing)

 

@Fico82: What is your Lowest Limit Card with Balance before, during and after the time when you were getting the AZ penalty? 


I think you can drop my 27K number on EX2 out of your dataset; it was on a tradeline issued by the same CU that I had the same problem with a $500 secured card with and as such it could have been erroneously discounted.

 

There were some other tests around there but TBH I don't rembmer who or what explicitly.  @Curious_George2 


Thanks. From my testing, I can confirm that EX2 recognizes a $27k limit as a card for AZEO purposes, and it does not recognize $30k. I'm a few days away from getting a DP at $27,100. I picked that number to test the hypothesis that $27,000 is the highest limit it counts. 

I am avoiding the murkiness of the CU and store cards by using a plain vanilla bankcard from BofA. 

Message 16 of 17
SouthJamaica
Mega Contributor

Re: Unexpectedly got hit with the All Zero Penalty


@Curious_George2 wrote:

@Revelate wrote:

@Curious_George2 wrote:

The advice to avoid using a credit union card for AZEO is general in nature. It doesn't mean CU cards never work. Cards from Navy and many other CU's consistently report like normal bank-issued cards, but cards from some credit unions showed erratic results when @Revelate, @Anonymous and others were testing this a few years back. Here's a thread where this quirk was discussed. Rev's DCU card was not treated as a card by EX2.

 

It was impossible to test every CU, so they wisely advised people to steer clear of the issue by using something other than a CU card for AZEO.  

 

Store cards are odd in another way. I don't know much about them, but it appears from the linked thread that EX2 treats store cards as cards for AZEO purposes, but EX8 doesn't. That's a pretty subtle difference, so, again the best general advice is to not use a store card for AZEO.

 

I happen to be actively testing the CL cutoffs right now. I don't have detailed results yet, but I am increasingly confident the limits at which mortgage scores stop treating cards as cards for AZEO purposes are in the following ranges:

 

TU4: Somewhere above $40,000

EQ5: Somewhere above $40,000

EX2: Somewhere above $27,000 but at or below $30,000 (Rev has long said the cutoff is $27k, but I haven't yet found the thread(s) in which that was established through testing)

 

@Fico82: What is your Lowest Limit Card with Balance before, during and after the time when you were getting the AZ penalty? 


I think you can drop my 27K number on EX2 out of your dataset; it was on a tradeline issued by the same CU that I had the same problem with a $500 secured card with and as such it could have been erroneously discounted.

 

There were some other tests around there but TBH I don't rembmer who or what explicitly.  @Curious_George2 


Thanks. From my testing, I can confirm that EX2 recognizes a $27k limit as a card for AZEO purposes, and it does not recognize $30k. I'm a few days away from getting a DP at $27,100. I picked that number to test the hypothesis that $27,000 is the highest limit it counts. 

I am avoiding the murkiness of the CU and store cards by using a plain vanilla bankcard from BofA. 


Wow that is precision.

 


Total revolving limits 586020 (520820 reporting) FICO 8: EQ 702 TU 707 EX 692




Message 17 of 17
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