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Experian to end myFICO agreement with Fair IsaacIf the two parties cannot come to an agreement before February 14th consumers will no longer be able to get FICO scores based on Experian data from myFICO.com or any other source. At the same time, Experian has extended its agreement with Fair Isaac to sell FICO scores to lenders and other businesses that use them to make underwriting decisions, which represents a much larger revenue channel for each company. This is the second threatened termination and it comes at arguably the worst economic climate in the U.S. since the Great Depression; a time when consumers need more access to their personal credit information, not less. Experian will continue to sell their PLUS and VantageScores to consumers through their various consumer websites but without the myFICO agreement, consumers will have no way of obtaining their FICO score based on Experian data. Experian’s partnership with the myFICO division of Fair Isaac began in June 2003. Experian, Equifax and TransUnion all have data agreements with Fair Isaac to format and sell credit reports and FICO scores via their myFICO.com consumer website. This arrangement provides the only outlet for consumers to get all three of their FICO credit scores in one location. Consumers will still be able to purchase their FICO scores generated from Equifax and TransUnion data after the 15th. Fair Isaac filed a lawsuit against Experian, Equifax, TransUnion and VantageScore Solutions in the U.S District Court District of Minnesota in October 2006. In 2008 Equifax was released as a Defendant for undisclosed reasons. Claims against the other two credit bureaus remain pending. An unnamed sourced at Fair Isaac told Credit.com that the move comes as a “surprise that, particularly in a time of tremendous economic uncertainty, Experian would deny American consumers the ability to obtain their FICO scores.” The move isn’t unexpected given the contentious nature of the lawsuit and the millions of dollars of credit score revenue that Fair Isaac recognizes each quarter from their partnership with Experian.
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