FICO announced a strategic partnership with Plaid to deliver the next generation of the cash flow UltraFICO®? Score. This innovative solution will combine the proven reliability of the FICO Score, used by 90% of top US lenders, with real time cash-flow data from Plaid to provide lenders with a single, enhanced credit score that delivers superior consumer risk assessment without operational complexity.
Building on FICO's trailblazing work in cash flow scoring with the initial release of the UltraFICO®? Score, this collaboration with Plaid--whose market-leading infrastructure enables consumer-permissioned data from over 12,000 financial institutions--will provide lenders with a more seamless integration, helping transform banking insights into scalable credit decisions. This solution will be distributed through Plaid's Consumer Reporting Agency, Plaid Check.
The enhanced UltraFICO®? Score solution will leverage cash flow data - historical and current information about the money flowing into and out of a consumer's transaction accounts (e.g., checking, savings, and money market) - accessed through Plaid's open finance network of consumer-permissioned data. Plaid powers nearly 1 million secure financial connections each day and has helped more than half of Americans with a bank account securely move more of their financial life online.
The new score will offer lenders three key advantages in addition to enhanced credit risk performance: alignment to the FICO®? Score to enable confident cash flow adoption without introducing lengthy testing or added risk; streamlined implementation for lenders, minimizing operational complexity and accelerating onboarding; and universal compatibility, giving lenders flexibility to use a cash flow model with the traditional FICO Score respective of the channel they use for the FICO Score.
