TransUnion is the most recent firm to make a transfer within the credit score rating battle between VantageScore and Truthful Isaac Corp.’s FICO rating, following companions Experian and Equifax.
Transunion will provide VantageScore 4.0, a credit score scoring mannequin, for $4 in 2026. Experian will present it at no cost to its shoppers indefinitely and Equifax will cost $4.50 via the tip of 2027.
“Our strategy reaffirms TransUnion’s dedication to increasing inexpensive mortgage credit score by delivering best-in-class credit score info mixed with easy-to-use instruments for shoppers and lenders,” TransUnion President and CEO Chris Cartwright stated in a press launch Friday.
Now, lenders can use VantageScore to incorporate trended and various knowledge initially levels of a mortgage software, which can enable 33 million credit-invisible shoppers to be scored and tens of millions extra to realize entry to homeownership, the discharge stated.
“Trended and various credit score knowledge offers essentially the most full image of shoppers, and TransUnion’s new strategy unlocks this important knowledge within the mortgage lending trade, benefitting homebuyers, lenders and traders,” stated Satyan Service provider, senior vice chairman and mortgage enterprise chief at TransUnion.
TransUnion will even provide multi-year pricing for credit score report and VantageScore 4.0 to assist lenders forecast and handle their enterprise and a free VantageScore 4.0 simulator. That is all accessible via the corporate’s new TrulQ analytics platform, the discharge stated.
The most important credit score bureaus’ strikes come as a response to FICO’s new program mannequin introduced earlier this month, which lets mortgage resellers bypass the three firms and obtain scores on to keep away from extra markup charges. The brand new program permits resellers to buy scores for $4.95, the identical value it payments credit score bureaus, and prices a further $33 if the mortgage is closed and avoids reissuance costs lenders beforehand paid.
However after credit-bureau markups, the common value is about $10 per rating, which is why TransUnion’s launch emphasised its “important low cost to the FICO rating,” which “burdened” the trade.
The general public feud between the credit score rating suppliers heated up in July, when Federal Housing Finance Company Director Invoice Pulte introduced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will enable lenders to make use of VantageScore 4.0 when submitting loans to them, as a substitute of simply FICO’s. Pulte stated in an X submit that this may enhance competitors within the credit score rating ecosystem.
