FICO Weighs Subscription Pricing for Mortgage Scores in 2027
Sources say Fair Isaac is preparing a flat-fee option for lenders next to its Preferred Program, with existing clients facing a Jan. 31 deadline to pick.
Fair Isaac Corp. is preparing a subscription model for mortgage lenders in 2027, sources told HousingWire. It would add a flat-fee choice alongside the Preferred Program the company unveiled last week. A FICO spokesperson did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Under the subscription being considered, lenders would pay an annual fee for access to FICO scores, billed monthly, with pricing set by their volume in prior years. The offering has no official name yet, but FICO has started talking to partners about it, the sources said.
The Preferred Program
In the Preferred Program, lenders agree to pull a FICO score on 100% of their files. In return, per-score pricing for 2027 stays flat at $10, and the newer FICO 10T model comes at no extra charge alongside FICO Classic. Pricing is offered through participating tri-merge credit report resellers.
One source familiar with the offerings called the subscription option "extremely expensive" and impractical for "99.9% of all lenders." The source said lenders have only three options: the Preferred Partnership, which requires a FICO pull on every file and allows VantageScore alongside it; the subscription, where lenders "pay for all you can eat"; or VantageScore only. According to one source, existing FICO lender clients face a Jan. 31 deadline to choose a path for 2027.
Where VantageScore stands
VantageScore 4.0, FICO's main rival in mortgages, is priced at $0.99 per score. It costs nothing extra when bought with a FICO score through the three nationwide credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, which jointly own VantageScore. Both companies charge wholesale prices, and the final cost to lenders is set after the bureaus and resellers add their own fees.
On TransUnion's third-quarter earnings call this week, CEO Chris Cartwright said the company charges "approximately $11 for our credit data in the tri-merge report." He said the fee reflects investment in innovation, cybersecurity, compliance and consumer dispute management. The credit file, he said, is less than 10% of the tri-merge cost, and the tri-merge itself is less than 1% of overall mortgage closing costs. VantageScore was included in roughly 35% of mortgage credit pulls in the third quarter, he said, and TransUnion is working with FICO on 2027 pricing.
The new options follow a shift last year, when FICO began selling scores directly to mortgage credit report resellers instead of going through the bureaus. Pricing then was $10 per score, or a $4.95 royalty per score plus a $33 funded-loan fee per borrower per score at closing.
Source: HousingWire