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Student loan debt in the United States has reached an all-time high. Student loan debt can also be a part of a consumer’s financial journey as they look at buying a car, a house and even into retirement. With April being Financial Literacy month, FICO is exploring the credit behavior of young people with a student loan actively in repayment to determine the behav…

In our previous blog post, FICO revealed research on the credit behavior of young people with a student loan actively in repayment to determine the behaviors that are driving FICO^® Score increases and decreases.  Using a nationally representative sample, we identified 10 million scorable consumers age 18 to 30 who had a student loan actively in repayment as of October…

FICO and global financial dignity and economic empowerment nonprofit, Operation HOPE, partnered a little over a year ago to help empower consumers through financial literacy. The program enables Operation Hope coaches at more than 100 HOPE Inside locations across the U.S. to share FICO^® Scores with clients for free and to provide key insights to enable them to better…

FICO World is always a fantastic opportunity for customers to connect with FICO experts, industry thought-leaders and peers to discuss all things FICO and key trends in the industry. Before the official kick-off of the conference, FICO offers a day-long session, “Credit Boot Camp” which covers the basics of scoring and decision-making across all stages of the credit l…

This is a guest post from Rourke O'Brien, Assistant Professor of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  Does regular consumer access to their FICO^® Score influence financial knowledge and behavior? Professors Abigail Sussman, Tatiana Homonoff and I recently completed a multi-year research study with 400,000 Sallie Mae customers.  Using a randomized…

Functioning in the U.S. economy using cash only can be a challenge.  Simple daily transactions, such as making an online purchase, going out to eat, or even paying a bridge toll is a lot easier if you have a credit or debit card. Most people know that having a higher credit score is a positive thing as it can help increase access to credit at more attractive r…

In April, we highlighted some of the positive behaviors that people with student loans are exhibiting to help improve their FICO^® Scores.  Following National Homeownership Month, we examined whether student loan debt appears to impact decisions about when to begin another important step in their financial and credit journey: purchasing a home. Using a nationally repr…

For many people, owning a home is still a significant milestone in their financial and credit journey. We recently studied the impact of millennials’ student loan debt on their willingness and ability to obtain new mortgage loans. As the housing market continues to remain competitive, we looked at key trends in FICO^® Score distributions and default rates for those who…

In July 2017, I wrote about the average U.S. FICO^® Score hitting a milestone of 700, indicating that consumer credit and financial health continue to be strong. The momentum has continued, as the average FICO Score has risen again. For the first time, the average FICO Score in the U.S. has reached 704, showing a steady upward trend in U.S. credit quality. Since bot…

Greetings from sunny (and humid) Miami!  I had the pleasure of speaking on a panel at ABS East yesterday, entitled “Traditional vs Non-Traditional Underwriting, Does Machine Learning Teach Us Anything New?” The panel primarily focused on the opportunities and challenges associated with the use of Machine Learning (ML) in credit underwriting.  I called out…

One of the most exciting events in the financial services industry is coming in October – Money 20/20, Oct. 21-24th in Las Vegas. Industry leaders and innovators in the Payments, FinTech and Financial Services will be at the event to discuss the ways the industry is revolutionizing the future of money. As a leader in analytics and credit scoring, FICO will be there…