# Forfeited OCI Annual Universal Credits | Cloud Efficiency Hub Canonical: https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/inefficiencies/forfeited-oci-annual-universal-credits With Oracle Annual Universal Credits, a customer commits to an annual pool of funds that is billed in advance and drawn down each month by metered... By: PointFive Updated: 2026-09-28 [Cloud Efficiency Hub](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub) The short version With Oracle Annual Universal Credits, a customer commits to an annual pool of funds that is billed in advance and drawn down each month by metered usage of eligible OCI IaaS and PaaS services at the contracted rates. PointFive Research Cloud cost research at PointFive OCI service [OCI Universal Credits](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/cloud-services/oci-universal-credits) Category [Other](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/service-category/other) Reference CER-0555 Type Underutilized Commitment ## Explanation Why the waste happens and who it affects. Oracle's terms are strict: credits must be used during the yearly credit period and expire at its end, and any prepaid unused amount is nonrefundable and forfeited. When a commitment is sized on a migration plan or growth forecast and a migration slips, a workload is retired or moved, or an optimization program lowers consumption, the remaining balance is lost at the end of the period. This is the opposite failure from overage, where usage above the commitment is billed per the contract's negotiated terms, and it is easy to miss because nothing fails or alerts when consumption runs behind plan. Every optimization that lowers consumption without a matching change to the commitment adds to the forfeited balance. ## Billing model The pricing dimensions that drive this cost. Annual Universal Credits apply to eligible IaaS and PaaS services in any region, with a minimum term of 12 months. Annual commitment An annual pool of funds billed in advance and debited monthly based on actual usage Credit period Credits must be used within the applicable 12-month period; unused prepaid amounts are nonrefundable and forfeited Overage Usage after the committed amount is consumed, charged per the contract's negotiated terms and billed separately Burn-down rate Consumption is metered against the credits at the rate card prices, specified on an hourly basis ## How to detect 4 checks to find it in your estate. - In Cost Analysis, open View subscription details to see Commitment, Consumption, Balance and Days elapsed in billing for each subscription, or use the Cost analysis home page widget for credits used against the total and days elapsed - Compare the share of the commitment consumed with the share of the credit period elapsed; a consumption share well below the time share signals a projected forfeiture - Use Cost Analysis with Show Forecast (at least ten days of history needed) and group by Subscription ID to project end-of-period consumption against the remaining balance - In organizations with child tenancies sharing a subscription, review consumption from the parent tenancy, which sees commitment details for all child tenancies ## How to fix 5 ways to remove the waste. - Pull forward planned, genuinely needed work onto OCI within the credit period, such as scheduled migrations, disaster recovery environments or proofs of concept, rather than consuming credits on resources with no business use - Size the next commitment from measured baseline consumption and the confirmed pipeline of workloads, not from the original migration plan, and account for planned optimization savings - Discuss commitment timing, term length and amount with Oracle before the end of the credit period, and review the contract for any negotiated provisions on unused credits, since the standard terms forfeit them - Set up budgets with forecast-based alerts per compartment so owners see consumption trends early, and review the subscription balance monthly rather than at renewal - Before adding other commitment types, such as a Cloud Advisor Continuous Consumption Discounts (CCD) commitment, check existing CCDs and credits so commitments do not overlap ## Documentation Vendor references for pricing and configuration. - [Frequently Asked Questions docs.oracle.com](https://docs.oracle.com/en/cloud/get-started/subscriptions-cloud/ocpib/frequently-asked-questions.html) - [Oracle Infrastructure and Platform Services (IaaS/PaaS) Billing Guide docs.oracle.com](https://docs.oracle.com/en/cloud/get-started/subscriptions-cloud/ocpib/infrastructure-and-platform-services-iaas-paas-billing-guide.pdf) - [Cost Analysis docs.oracle.com](https://docs.oracle.com/en-us/iaas/Content/Billing/Concepts/costanalysisoverview.htm) - [Viewing Billing Details docs.oracle.com](https://docs.oracle.com/en-us/iaas/Content/GSG/Concepts/console_topic-AccountCenter-Billing.htm) - [Budgets docs.oracle.com](https://docs.oracle.com/en-us/iaas/Content/Billing/Concepts/budgetsoverview.htm) - [Cost Management Recommendations docs.oracle.com](https://docs.oracle.com/en-us/iaas/Content/CloudAdvisor/Concepts/recommendations-costmanagement.htm) ## Related inefficiencies [Browse the library](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub) - AWS Marketplace CER-0297 ### [Non-Qualifying AWS Marketplace SaaS Spend Counting Toward Commitments](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/inefficiencies/non-qualifying-aws-marketplace-saas-spend-counting-toward) Teams assume AWS Marketplace SaaS purchases will contribute toward EDP or PPA commitments, but the SaaS product is not eligible under AWS's "Deployed on AWS" standard. As of May 1, 2025, AWS Marketplace allows SaaS products regardless of... Other - AWS Marketplace CER-0231 ### [Hidden Marketplace Spend Preventing Commitment Optimization](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/inefficiencies/hidden-marketplace-spend-preventing-commitment-optimization) In many organizations, AWS Marketplace purchases are lumped into a single consolidated billing line without visibility into individual vendors. This lack of transparency makes it difficult to identify which Marketplace spend is eligible to... Other - Microsoft Marketplace CER-0133 ### [Transactable vs. Non-Transactable Confusion in Microsoft Marketplace](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/inefficiencies/transactable-vs-non-transactable-confusion-in-azure-marketplace) Microsoft Marketplace (formerly Azure Marketplace, unified with AppSource in September 2025) offers two types of listings: transactable and non-transactable. Only transactable purchases can contribute toward a customer's MACC commitment,... Other --- Source: the public page above. Product screenshots and illustrative interfaces are examples, not live customer data.