FICO explained

Fair Isaac Corporation
Trade Name:FICO
Type:Public
Industry:Data analytics
Founded: (as Fair, Isaac, and Company)
Hq Location:Bozeman, Montana, US
Area Served:Worldwide
Key People:William Lansing (CEO)[1]
Revenue: (2025)
Profit: US$652 million (2025)
Assets: US$1.87 billion (2025)
Equity: −US$1.7 billion (2025)
Num Employees:3,811(2025)
Products:FICO score
Services:Computer software
Footnotes:[2]

FICO (legal name: Fair Isaac Corporation), originally Fair, Isaac and Company, is an American data analytics company based in Bozeman, Montana, focused on credit scoring services. It was founded by Bill Fair and Earl Isaac in 1956.[3] Its FICO score, a measure of consumer credit risk,[4] has become a fixture of consumer lending in the United States.

In 2013, lenders purchased more than 10 billion FICO scores and about 30 million American consumers accessed their scores themselves.[5] The company reported a revenue of $1.29 billion for the fiscal year of 2020.[6]

History

FICO was founded in 1956 as Fair, Isaac and Company by engineer William R. "Bill" Fair and mathematician Earl Judson Isaac.[7] The two met while working at the Stanford Research Institute in Menlo Park, California.[8] Selling its first credit scoring system two years after the company's creation,[9] FICO pitched its system to fifty American lenders.[10]

FICO went public in July 1987[11] and is traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The company debuted its first general-purpose FICO score in 1989. FICO scores are based on credit reports and "base" FICO scores range from 300 to 850, while industry-specific scores range from 250 to 900.[12]

Lenders use the scores to gauge a potential borrower's creditworthiness.[13]

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac first began using FICO scores to help determine which American consumers qualified for mortgages bought and sold by the companies in 1995.

Name changes

Originally called Fair, Isaac and Company (hence the abbreviation FICO), this name was changed to Fair Isaac Corporation in 2003.

Headquarters moves

Originally based in San Rafael, California, FICO moved its headquarters to Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 2004, a few years after Minnesota resident Thomas Grudnowski took over as CEO.[14]

In 2013, it moved its headquarters to San Jose, California, a year after CEO William Lansing joined.[15]

In 2016, it opened an office in Bozeman, Montana, which later became its headquarters.[16]

Acquisitions

Antitrust issues

In March 2020, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) opened an antitrust investigation into FICO, which was reported to be closed in December 2020.[39] [40] In March 2024, US Senator Josh Hawley sent a letter to the DOJ's Antitrust Division urging them to open an investigation into FICO for anti-competitive practices, stating that the company "appears to be using its monopolistic power over the credit scoring market to increase costs for mortgage lenders."[41] [42] [43]

Between 2020 and 2023, at least 10 antitrust class action lawsuits were filed against FICO involving "business to business" purchases of FICO scores, with the plaintiffs alleging that FICO maintains monopoly power through anticompetitive agreements and charges artificially inflated prices for FICO scores.[44] [45] In September 2023 US District Judge Edmond Chang ruled that the plaintiffs, which include credit unions, banks, mortgage lenders, real estate brokerages, auto dealers, and other companies, had presented enough evidence that FICO had violated antitrust law to allow the lawsuits to proceed.

Operations

FICO is headquartered in Bozeman, Montana and it has additional US locations in San Jose, California, Roseville, Minnesota, San Diego, California, San Rafael, California, Fairfax, Virginia, and Austin, Texas.[46]

The company has international locations in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Lithuania, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.

FICO score

See also: Criticism of credit scoring systems in the United States.

A measure of credit risk, FICO scores are available through all of the major consumer reporting agencies in the United States: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.[47] FICO scores are also offered in other markets, including Mexico and Canada,[48] as well as through the fourth US credit reporting bureau, PRBC.[49]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Harrington . Ann . April 24, 2012 . FICO Shuffles Executive Ranks under New CEO . . February 16, 2026 .
  2. November 7, 2025 . FY 2025 Annual Report (Form 10-K) . U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission . February 17, 2026 .
  3. News: December 12, 2013 . How FICO Became 'the' Credit Score . . . August 25, 2018 .
  4. News: Carrns . Ann . May 10, 2012 . Is That Credit Score a FICO, or a FICO 8? . . October 21, 2014 .
  5. News: Nemeroff . Evan . March 7, 2014 . New FICO Scoring Model Coming This Summer . National Mortgage News . October 21, 2014 .
  6. Web site: November 10, 2020 . Fair Isaac Corp (FICO) Q4 2020 Earnings Call Transcript . . May 4, 2021 .
  7. News: Foust . Dean . Pressman . Aaron . February 6, 2008 . Credit Scores: Not-So-Magic Numbers . https://web.archive.org/web/20120814173235/http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2008-02-06/credit-scores-not-so-magic-numbers . August 14, 2012 . BusinessWeek.com .
  8. Web site: Bjorhus . Jennifer . January 4, 2013 . Fair Isaac Moving Its HQ Back to California . . November 2, 2014 .
  9. Web site: About Us . FICO . February 17, 2026 .
  10. Web site: Hill . Adriene . April 22, 2014 . A Brief History of the Credit Score . November 2, 2014 .
  11. Web site: December 30, 1996 . Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Fair, Isaac and Company, Incorporated . FICO . June 13, 2023 .
  12. Web site: What Is a FICO Score? . MyFICO.com . FICO . November 11, 2016 .
  13. Web site: Carrns . Ann . May 3, 2012 . Report Finds Improvement in Credit Scores . . November 2, 2014 .
  14. News: Fost . Dan . May 11, 2004 . Fair Isaac Moving Its Hub / Most Company Executives Already Set Up in Minnesota . . February 16, 2026 .
  15. News: Carey . Pete . January 4, 2013 . FICO Moves Headquarters to San Jose . Mercury News . October 21, 2014 .
  16. October 5, 2016 . Silicon Valley Analytics Pioneer FICO Announces Expansion in Bozeman, Montana . Bozeman, Montana . FICO . February 16, 2026 .
  17. News: Welbes . John . June 21, 2012 . FICO Consolidating Operations in Roseville . TwinCities.com . February 16, 2026 .
  18. Web site: July 1997 . RMT Merges with Fair, Isaac . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304040955/http://www.contenthouse.com/rmt/newspg/radrscp/fi-mergr.htm . March 4, 2016 .
  19. Web site: Bruce D D'Ambrosio . Buy-Sell-Econtent.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304185359/http://www.buy-sell-econtent.com/2011/Speakers/BruceDAmbrosio.aspx . March 4, 2016 .
  20. Web site: December 12, 2001 . Fair, Isaac to Acquire Nykamp Consulting . October 30, 2014 .
  21. News: Fost . Dan . April 30, 2002 . Fair Isaac Merging with HNC Software . SFGate . February 16, 2026 .
  22. Web site: July 28, 2003 . Narex Sold for $10M . October 30, 2014 .
  23. News: September 19, 2003 . Fair Isaac Acquires Diversified HealthCare . . October 30, 2014 .
  24. Web site: October 6, 2003 . California Firm Buys Seurat . October 30, 2014 .
  25. Web site: April 26, 2004 . Fair Issac Offers $166m for London Bridge Software . https://web.archive.org/web/20210413154059/https://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/345520/Fair-Issac-offers-166m-for-London-Bridge-Software.html . April 13, 2021 . StockMarketWire.com .
  26. Web site: September 24, 2004 . Fair Isaac and Braun Consulting Announce Acquisition Agreement . October 30, 2014 .
  27. Web site: September 28, 2005 . Fair Isaac Acquires RulesPower Technology to Advance Business Rules Capabilities . October 30, 2014 .
  28. Web site: Fair Isaac Acquires Dash Optimization, Bringing Increased Power . . October 30, 2014 .
  29. Web site: Pankratz . Howard . May 9, 2012 . Denver-Based Entiera Acquired by FICO . October 30, 2014 .
  30. Web site: September 10, 2012 . FICO Completes $115M Acquisition of Adeptra . Yahoo Finance . Yahoo! Inc. . November 4, 2014 .
  31. Web site: Stych . Ed . November 26, 2012 . FICO Buys Collections and Receivables Software Company . October 30, 2014 .
  32. Web site: April 4, 2013 . Infoglide Software Acquired by Credit Score Giant FICO . October 30, 2014 .
  33. Web site: March 14, 2014 . FICO Set to Acquire InfoCentricity . October 30, 2014 .
  34. Web site: May 16, 2014 . FICO Adds Big Data Analytics for Hadoop to FICO Analytic Cloud . October 30, 2014 .
  35. January 13, 2015 . FICO Acquires TONBELLER . https://web.archive.org/web/20150325001910/http://www.fico.com/en/newsroom/FICO-Acquires-TONBELLER . March 25, 2015 . San Jose, California . FICO .
  36. June 14, 2016 . FICO Will Offer Enterprise Security Score for Organizations . https://web.archive.org/web/20210422032713/http://www.fico.com/en/newsroom/fico-will-offer-enterprise-security-score-for-organizations-06-14-2016 . April 22, 2021 . San Jose, California . FICO .
  37. Web site: FICO Acquires GoOn to Advance Growth in Brazil . November 2, 2016 .
  38. Web site: FICO Acquires EZMCOM . October 2, 2019 .
  39. News: Nylen . Leah . March 13, 2020 . DOJ Opens Antitrust Probe into Credit Score Giant Fair Isaac . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230314210045/https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/13/justice-fair-isaac-antitrust-129204 . March 14, 2023 . . February 17, 2026 .
  40. December 8, 2020 . FICO Announces DOJ Antitrust Investigation Closed . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210422143034/https://www.fico.com/en/newsroom/fico-announces-doj-antitrust-investigation-closed . April 22, 2021 . San Jose, California . FICO . February 17, 2026 .
  41. News: March 13, 2024 . FICO Faces Scrutiny for Anti-Competitive Behavior in Credit Scoring . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240313094522/https://www.kttn.com/fico-faces-scrutiny-for-anti-competitive-behavior-in-credit-scoring/ . March 13, 2024 . . February 17, 2026 .
  42. News: Albright . Ty . March 12, 2024 . Hawley Calls on DOJ to Investigate FICO for Anti-Competitive Practices . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240327104102/https://newstalkkzrg.com/2024/03/12/hawley-calls-on-doj-to-investigate-fico-for-anti-competitive-practices/ . March 27, 2024 . . February 17, 2026 .
  43. Web site: Nunes . Flávia Furlan . March 21, 2024 . Senator Urges DOJ to Investigate FICO over Increasing Costs to Mortgage Lenders . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240520234927/https://www.housingwire.com/articles/senator-urges-doj-to-investigate-fico-over-increasing-costs-to-mortgage-lenders/ . May 20, 2024 . HousingWire.com . February 17, 2026 .
  44. News: Scarcella . Mike . September 29, 2023 . FICO Loses Bid to Dismiss Antitrust Claims over Credit-Scoring Market . . June 26, 2024 .
  45. Web site: October 1, 2023 . FICO Loses Bid to Dismiss Antitrust Claims over Credit-Scoring Market . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240626224134/https://www.pymnts.com/cpi-posts/google-opposes-epic-games-demands-citing-high-costs-and-security-risks/?postType=partial . June 26, 2024 . Competition Policy International . June 26, 2024 .
  46. Web site: Office Locations . https://web.archive.org/web/20141104014113/http://www.fico.com/en/about-us/locations/ . November 4, 2014 .
  47. Web site: Credit Reporting Agencies . https://web.archive.org/web/20131007045950/http://www.fico.com/en/Partners/Pages/Credit-Reporting-Agencies.aspx . October 7, 2013 . FICO .
  48. Web site: 2017 . FICO Score for International Markets . FICO . February 17, 2026 .
  49. November 14, 2007 . Fair Isaac and PRBC Team Up to Enhance Credit Risk Tools Used by Mortgage Industry . https://web.archive.org/web/20130217055903/http://www.fico.com/en/Company/News/Pages/11-14-2007.aspx . February 17, 2013 . Minneapolis, Minnesota . FICO .

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