"In a statement given to HousingWire, a FICO spokesperson said the company only sets the royalty price. If lenders experience higher credit costs in 2026, it will be a result of the bureaus increasing costs of the credit file data (regardless of what they call it or their attempts to characterize their data fees) to compensate for the lost revenue they previously received as distributors of the FICO Score."
"The credit bureaus were charging on average a 100% markup on the FICO product, an increase not seen in any other market. It should be noted, they could do this because of the lack of competition in credit reports in the conforming mortgage market, the spokesperson said. Experian, Equifax and TransUnion did not immediately respond to HousingWire's requests for comment."
"Leonard noted that margins for Xactus are also being compressed by the increases. Meanwhile, the company is helping clients develop strategies that include optimizing workflows by initially ordering through only one bureau, then ordering from the remaining bureaus later in the underwriting process to obtain a tri-merge report once lenders have more certainty about the borrower. Some lenders are also exploring the upfront collection of fees from consumers."
CIC plans to hold profit margins at 2025 levels to enable lower pricing for partners. FICO sets the royalty price, while credit bureaus have raised credit-file data costs to recoup lost distribution revenue. Bureaus charged roughly a 100% markup on the FICO product due to limited competition in conforming mortgage credit reports. Xactus notified lenders of price increases in the 45–50% range and reported margin compression. Industry changes include FICO's new model, a trigger-leads ban effective March 2026, and potential wider acceptance of VantageScore 4.0. Lenders and vendors are testing workflow optimizations, staged bureau ordering, tri-merge reports, and upfront consumer fee collection.
Read at www.housingwire.com
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