FICO 8 Auto Score Becoming the New Standard for the Auto Industry

MINNEAPOLIS--FICO (NYSE:FICO), the leading provider of analytics and decision management technology, today announced that the auto industry is synchronously migrating to the FICO® 8 Auto Score, with most lenders completing the adoption process by May. A number of auto lenders have already migrated to the FICO® 8 Auto Score, including captive, bank and non-prime lenders such as Volkswagen Credit, Santander Consumer USA and First Investors, and a majority of the top 35 lenders plan to migrate through April and May. In addition, the nearly 18,000 franchised dealers and the majority of the more than 30,000 independent dealers using credit scores in the industry are also expected to migrate to remain in synchronization with their lender partners.

FICO® Scores are the established credit scoring standard in the auto industry, as in the rest of the United States credit market, and are used by lenders and dealers as part of auto loan and lease originations, and servicing and loss management activities. The industry-wide migration to the new FICO® 8 Auto Score will allow lenders and dealers to jointly share more consistent information as they finance vehicle sales and, because of the score’s ability to better assess risk, extend credit to their customers with greater confidence. Rating agencies and the general financial services community also use FICO® Scores for their analyses of the auto industry.

“FICO seeks to help lenders position themselves for growth while controlling risk in their portfolios,” said Dr. Mark Greene, CEO of FICO. “Moreover, FICO knows well that the credit quality of the automotive consumer has changed over the last couple years. While there is cautious optimism around growth opportunities for the auto market in 2011, FICO realizes that sharper risk prediction tools are critical to our clients’ long-term profitable growth.”

The auto industry adoption of the FICO® 8 Auto Score is part of a broad-based migration to the FICO® 8 Score, which is currently being used by more than 3,500 banks and finance institutions across multiple lending lines such as bankcard and mortgage.

“To minimize risk and increase profits, lenders need updated credit scores that incorporate the latest data and analytics for credit risk assessment,” said Craig Focardi, senior research director at TowerGroup. “Updated credit scoring analytics enable lenders to upgrade their loan underwriting and account management practices, which has a direct impact on the bottom line.”

About the FICO® Score
With over 10 billion FICO® Scores used worldwide to empower lenders to make credit decisions, the FICO® Score has become the standard measure of credit risk worldwide. FICO® Scores are used today in more than 20 countries on five continents, as well as all of the top 50 U.S. financial institutions and both the 25 largest U.S. credit card issuers and auto lenders. The latest FICO® Score version, the FICO® 8 Score, has already been adopted by more than 3,500 lenders.

About FICO
FICO (NYSE:FICO) transforms business by making every decision count. FICO’s Decision Management solutions combine trusted advice, world-class analytics and innovative applications to give organizations the power to automate, improve and connect decisions across their business. Clients in 80 countries work with FICO to increase customer loyalty and profitability, cut fraud losses, manage credit risk, meet regulatory and competitive demands, and rapidly build market share. FICO also helps millions of individuals manage their credit health through the www.myFICO.com website. Learn more about FICO at www.fico.com.

03/10/11