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Fair Isaac Announce Plans to Launch
More Powerful FICO Score
Newest model of
industry-standard consumer credit risk measure increases
predictiveness by 5-15 percent in
testing
May 17, 2007 - (San
Francisco, California, USA) - Fair Isaac Corporation
(NYSE:FIC) today announced from its InterACT 07
conference that U.S. businesses have now used more than
100 billion FICO credit scores to make smart decisions
about their customers and prospects. Also today, Fair
Isaac announced that its researchers have added key
innovations to the Classic FICO credit risk scoring
model that will significantly enhance its predictive
power, without changing important features such as the
score range of 300-850 .
First introduced in
1989, the company's FICO score has gained widespread
acceptance as the industry-standard measure of consumer
credit risk, enabling lenders to objectively and fairly
extend financial opportunities to millions.
"We are excited to
commemorate this exceptional milestone with so many of
our clients at InterACT," said Dr. Mark Greene, CEO of
Fair Isaac. "With more than 100 billion FICO scores
used, it has clearly proven to be an important, reliable
asset to businesses and consumers alike - helping
lenders make more informed, objective and fair
decisions, and helping consumers achieve the credit
opportunities they've earned. We look forward to
providing even more powerful and predictive Classic FICO
scores starting later this year."
The company plans to
begin delivering the new FICO score innovations starting
in September. This initiative is part of the company's
periodic refreshment of the Classic FICO scoring model
installed at the three national credit reporting
agencies. While each FICO score refreshment over the
years has resulted in a more predictive tool to help
lenders keep pace with the constantly changing dynamics
of consumer credit behavior, Fair Isaac expects the next
FICO score version to deliver greater performance
upgrades than any previous redevelopment.
"We have
continuously improved our Classic FICO score since we
first introduced it with our credit bureau partners, and
we believe this latest research is our best work yet,"
said Ron Totaro, vice president of Scoring Solutions for
Fair Isaac. "We are confident that this update to the
Classic FICO scoring model will provide superior risk
performance across the entire spectrum of credit risk.
Also, it has been designed to be easy for lenders to
adopt the new models without making major operational
adjustments."
Fair Isaac's
development tests indicate that the new Classic FICO
score research model increases predictive strength by
5-15 percent, with the largest increases coming in three
important consumer segments:
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Originations and
new accounts
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Borrowers who
pose higher risk, often referred to as subprime
borrowers
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Borrowers with
thin or young credit bureau files
Lenders will be able
to use FICO scores developed from Fair Isaac's newest
research with minimal changes to their own operating
systems. To make lender adoption easier and faster, the
new research model retains the same scoring range, score
reason codes, minimum scoring criteria, inquiry
treatment, and related model parameters.
Businesses
seeking more information about the new Classic FICO
score are welcome to direct inquiries to scoringsolutions@fairisaac.com.
About Fair
Isaac
Fair Isaac
Corporation (NYSE:FIC) makes decisions smarter. The
company's solutions and technologies for Enterprise
Decision Management give businesses the power to
automate more processes, and apply more intelligence to
every customer interaction. Through increasing the
precision, consistency and agility of their decisions,
Fair Isaac clients worldwide increase sales, build
customer value, cut fraud losses, manage credit risk,
reduce operational costs, meet changing compliance
demands and enter new markets more profitably. Founded
in 1956, Fair Isaac powers hundreds of billions of
decisions per year in financial services, insurance,
telecommunications, retail, consumer branded goods,
healthcare and the public sector. Visit Fair Isaac
online at www.fairisaac.com.
Fair Isaac
Statement Concerning Forward-Looking
Information
Except for
historical information contained herein, the statements
contained in this press release that relate to Fair
Isaac, including statements regarding its FICO® score,
and the relationship described herein, and the benefits
to be derived from the offering, are forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor"
provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are
subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual
results to differ materially, including any unforseen
technical difficulties related to the implementation,
use and functionality of the offering, the risks that
customers will not perceive material benefits from the
offering, failure of the product to deliver the expected
results, the possibility of errors or defects in the
offering, regulatory changes applicable to the use of
consumer credit and other data, and other risks
described from time to time in Fair Isaac's SEC reports,
including its Annual Report for the year ended September
30, 2006, and quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the
period ended March 31, 2007. Forward-looking statements
should be considered with caution. If any of these risks
or uncertainties materializes or any of these
assumptions proves incorrect, Fair Isaac's results could
differ materially from Fair Isaac's expectations in
these statements. Fair Isaac disclaims any intent or
obligation to update these forward-looking
statements.
Fair Isaac and FICO
are trademarks or registered trademarks of Fair Isaac
Corporation, in the United States and/or in other
countries. Other product and company names herein may be
trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective
owners.
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