---
title: "FICO calls UWM a win; UWM's software picks VantageScore a quarter of the time"
description: "Fair Isaac billed United Wholesale Mortgage's pledge to keep pulling its scores as a moat hold. The same week, UWM's platform began auto-picking the higher of FICO and VantageScore 4.0, and the bureaus that co-own the rival score locked $1-class pricing through 2028."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Money"
published: 2026-10-11T21:13:50.805Z
modified: 2026-10-11T21:13:50.805Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/fico-calls-uwm-a-win-uwm-s-software-picks-vantagescore-a-quarter-of-the-time
language: en
keywords: "Fair Isaac, United Wholesale Mortgage, VantageScore, Credit Scores, Mortgages"
---

# FICO calls UWM a win; UWM's software picks VantageScore a quarter of the time

> Fair Isaac billed United Wholesale Mortgage's pledge to keep pulling its scores as a moat hold. The same week, UWM's platform began auto-picking the higher of FICO and VantageScore 4.0, and the bureaus that co-own the rival score locked $1-class pricing through 2028.

## FICO announced a loyalty; UWM automated the choice

Fair Isaac spent October 6 celebrating United Wholesale Mortgage, announcing UWM's "[reaffirmation commitment](https://www.marketscreener.com/news/fair-isaac-corporation-announces-united-wholesale-mortgage-s-reaffirmation-commitment-to-fico-scores-ce785dded98bf623)" to obtain FICO scores on all credit pulls across its broker lending operations [1]. UWM had already moved the other piece: [its platform now automatically selects the higher qualifying score](https://theinference.org/article/america-s-no-1-mortgage-lender-now-pulls-a-rival-score-on-every-loan-and-fico-calls-it-loyalty) between Classic FICO and VantageScore 4.0 on every product, a choice brokers used to make [2]. "No one should have to worry about which credit model wins," UWM chief executive Mat Ishbia said. "We handle that automatically." [2]

In the same rollout, UWM [dropped its minimum-score overlays on agency loans](https://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/news/uwm-removes-credit-score-overlays-automates-score-selection), so eligibility now runs through agency underwriting systems instead of UWM's own credit floor [2]. UWM is the biggest US originator by dollar volume, about $164.3 billion in 2025 [3].

## On every pull, but not on every loan

FICO keeps a fee on each pull. What it ceded is the pick. UWM's own data put about 25% of its borrowers getting a more advantageous result under VantageScore 4.0, a share it said could reach 40% by the end of September [4]. Whether that share arrived has not been reported.

The regulator set that table on September 29, when FHFA director Bill Pulte [moved Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac onto a single pricing grid for both scores](https://www.housingwire.com/articles/fhfa-gses-one-grid/) and removed the 20-point downward adjustment VantageScore results had carried [4].

## The distributors own the rival score

VantageScore is owned jointly by Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, the three bureaus that also distribute FICO scores, and it sells at a fraction of FICO's price [5]. Equifax said nearly 2,000 lenders took its free VantageScore 4.0 alongside paid legacy scores from April to September, and that mortgage pulls of the score rose 230% from April to August [6]. More than 165 lenders now run it exclusively at $1 on certain loans, a price Equifax has locked through the end of 2028 [6].

TransUnion [holds $0.99 through 2028](https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/transunion-extends-99-cent-mortgage-pricing-for-vantagescore-4-0-through-the-end-of-2028-to-support-competition-and-price-stability-in-mortgage-credit-scoring-1036580872) and includes VantageScore free with any purchased FICO score [7]. PennyMac finished deploying the score across its production channels on October 5 [8]. Rocket made it the preferred model after testing 1.4 million credit reports; borrowers who saved averaged $1,600 at closing [4].

*Chart: **FICO's revenue accelerated straight into the scoring rule change** Line chart of Fair Isaac quarterly revenue from the September 2024 quarter to the June 2026 quarter, rising from about $454 million to $674 million, with a jump into 2026*

*Fair Isaac quarterly revenue in US$ millions by calendar quarter, from its SEC filings. The June 2026 quarter is the last reported before FHFA's September scoring-rule change. [9]*

## The fourth quarter prices the damage

FICO's engine is still running: [revenue of $674.2 million last quarter, up 25.7% from a year earlier, at a 53.8% operating margin](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000814547) [9]. Its counters, FICO 10T delivered free alongside Classic [1] and [a 15% workforce cut](https://theinference.org/article/fico-cuts-about-570-jobs-the-week-fhfa-leveled-its-pricing-moat) carrying about $27 million of charges into the fiscal fourth quarter [10], defend volume, not price.

*Chart: **Operating margin climbed into 2026 and held above 53%** Line chart of Fair Isaac operating margin by calendar quarter from the September 2024 quarter to the June 2026 quarter, rising from 43.4 percent to a 58.2 percent peak in the March 2026 quarter before easing to 53.8 percent*

*Fair Isaac operating margin as a percent of revenue, by calendar quarter, from its SEC filings. The March 2026 quarter set the peak; the June 2026 quarter is the last reported before FHFA's September scoring-rule change. [9]*

Shares closed October 9 at $667.58, down 60.5% since January [1]. FICO is now paid to be present at a decision it no longer controls.

## Takeaway

FICO still collects its fee on every credit pull, but UWM's software now picks the higher score, a quarter of its borrowers land on VantageScore 4.0, and the bureaus have locked $1-class pricing through 2028.

## Sources

1. [MarketScreener, Fair Isaac Corporation Announces United Wholesale Mortgage's Reaffirmation Commitment to FICO Scores, 6 October 2026](https://www.marketscreener.com/news/fair-isaac-corporation-announces-united-wholesale-mortgage-s-reaffirmation-commitment-to-fico-scores-ce785dded98bf623)
2. [National Mortgage Professional, UWM Removes Credit Score Overlays, Automates Score Selection, 7 October 2026](https://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/news/uwm-removes-credit-score-overlays-automates-score-selection)
3. [National Mortgage Professional, Rocket Tops UWM In 2025 HMDA Loan Count As UWM Keeps Volume Crown, 7 April 2026](https://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/news/rocket-tops-uwm-2025-hmda-loan-count-uwm-keeps-volume-crown)
4. [HousingWire, FHFA says Fannie, Freddie will use one LLPA grid for FICO, VantageScore, 29 September 2026](https://www.housingwire.com/articles/fhfa-gses-one-grid/)
5. [Tickeron, Fair Isaac (FICO) Stock Drops -25% as Mortgage Scoring Rules Evolve, 8 October 2026](https://tickeron.com/blogs/fair-isaac-fico-stock-drops-25-as-mortgage-scoring-rules-evolve-18029/)
6. [Yahoo Finance / PR Newswire, Equifax Reports Accelerated Adoption of VantageScore 4.0 Across the Mortgage Industry, 8 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/articles/equifax-reports-accelerated-adoption-vantagescore-204000792.html)
7. [Markets Insider / GlobeNewswire, TransUnion Extends 99-Cent Mortgage Pricing for VantageScore 4.0 Through the End of 2028, 29 September 2026](https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/transunion-extends-99-cent-mortgage-pricing-for-vantagescore-4-0-through-the-end-of-2028-to-support-competition-and-price-stability-in-mortgage-credit-scoring-1036580872)
8. [Yahoo Finance / MT Newswires, PennyMac Completes VantageScore 4.0 Deployment Across Production Channels, 5 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/articles/pennymac-completes-vantagescore-4-0-213027776.html)
9. [Fair Isaac (FICO), quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 11 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000814547)
10. [Trend & Ticker, Fair Isaac layoffs cut 15% of FICO jobs, $27M charge (Form 8-K, Item 2.05), 8 October 2026](https://trendandticker.com/markets/services/fair-isaac-fico-cuts-15-percent-of-jobs-27-million-charge)


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FICO calls UWM a win; UWM's software picks VantageScore a quarter of the time — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/fico-calls-uwm-a-win-uwm-s-software-picks-vantagescore-a-quarter-of-the-time