Costa Mesa, Calif., March 9, 2026, 15:32 UTC-07:00.
Experian said on Monday it will charge 99 cents for each VantageScore 4.0 mortgage origination score, cutting the price of the credit score lenders buy when deciding on a new home loan and intensifying its challenge to Fair Isaac’s FICO. The London-listed group said the score will also remain free in 2026 for lenders that buy a FICO score through its Score Choice bundle. 1
The move matters because the Federal Housing Finance Agency said last July that lenders could use VantageScore 4.0 or Classic FICO on loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. That opened the door to competition in a market long dominated by FICO and put pricing at the center of lender decisions. 2
Pressure has built since Fair Isaac launched a direct mortgage licensing program in October, letting lenders and resellers buy FICO scores directly. VantageScore, jointly owned by Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, has since become the core of the bureaus’ effort to win volume and cut lender costs. 3
“Competition should translate into measurable savings,” Michele Bodda, president of Experian Housing, Verification Solutions and Employer Services, said in the statement. Experian said the 99-cent fee applies to standalone purchases and is meant to lower lender expenses while keeping credit standards intact. 1
VantageScore 4.0 is a newer credit model that uses trended credit data and can include alternative information such as rental payment history to judge borrower risk. FHFA has said newer score models can widen access to credit and trim closing costs by bringing more competition into the system. 2
Experian is not moving alone. Equifax said on Monday it would charge $1 for VantageScore 4.0 mortgage scores, while TransUnion cut its own price to 99 cents and said the move could deliver more than $900 million in savings for lenders and consumers. 4
TransUnion’s Satyan Merchant said the goal was “lowering the cost of mortgage origination” for people looking to buy or refinance a home. Equifax CEO Mark Begor, in a separate statement, called housing the “most difficult mortgage market in decades.” 5
But cheaper scores may not shift volumes quickly. FHFA says Fannie and Freddie are still completing the final steps needed to accept loans scored with VantageScore 4.0, and their current lender rulebooks stay in force until those updates are finished; Classic FICO remains usable now, while FICO 10T is still approved for future use. 2
The lower standalone price builds on Experian’s February Score Choice bundle, which gave lenders free access to VantageScore 4.0 when they also bought a FICO score. 6
