FICO Bypasses Credit Bureaus with New Direct Licensing Program to Cut Mortgage Score Costs

Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO) is one of the best American stocks to buy and hold for the next 3 years. On October 1, FICO announced the launch of the FICO Mortgage Direct License Program, which marked a major change in how FICO Scores are delivered and priced in the mortgage industry. This new program, announced from Bozeman, Mont., gives tri-merge resellers the option to directly calculate and distribute FICO Scores to their customers, thereby eliminating the need to rely on the three nationwide credit bureaus.

This shift is expected to drive price transparency and deliver immediate cost savings, potentially saving lenders up to 50% on per score FICO fees by cutting out credit bureau mark-ups. Firms still have the option to continue working through the credit bureaus. To provide greater flexibility and choice, FICO is introducing two alternative pricing models.

The first is a new performance model built on successful mortgage funding, which reflects the FICO Score’s crucial role in enabling mortgage liquidity. Under this model, the royalty fee for the FICO Score will be $4.95 per score, representing a 50% reduction in average per-score fees to the tri-merge resellers due to the elimination of credit bureau mark-ups.

Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO) develops software with analytics and digital decisioning technologies that enable businesses to automate, enhance, and connect decisions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific.

READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.