FICO Holds $10 Pricing for Mortgage Lenders Amid New Competition

By Katherine Hamilton

Fair Isaac said it is holding its price of $10 for mortgage lenders to use its FICO score, a price that is more than double that of competitor VantageScore 4.0.

FICO's stock fell 8% to $750 in after-hours trading. Through the close, shares were down 50% this year.

FICO's $10 price is for Preferred Program lenders who pay for a bundle to pull credit scores for borrowers. The bundle includes the classic FICO score and the newer FICO Score 10T, which is designed to be more predictive of borrowers' ability to repay a mortgage loan.

FICO's pricing compares with the roughly $4 it costs for mortgage lenders to pull a credit score using VantageScore, according to the credit bureau TransUnion.

VantageScore is provided by the main credit bureaus-Equifax, Experian and TransUnion-and is typically cheaper to use than FICO. This has prompted concerns among investors that FICO will lose market share.

FICO is facing new competition in the mortgage lending industry after decades of being the primary credit-score provider for the sector. Most recently, regulators allowed VantageScore to be used by government-backed mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, who historically have been siloed to using only FICO.

Before VantageScore was approved for mortgage lenders, FICO had raised its pricing significantly. It more than doubled its fee to $10 last year.

FICO said its decision not to raise prices again this year would ensure lenders had access to its tools.

Write to Katherine Hamilton at katherine.hamilton@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 23, 2026 17:13 ET (21:13 GMT)