Equifax Extends $1 VantageScore 4.0 Pricing as Mortgage Adoption Rises

Equifax said on Oct. 8 that nearly 2,000 mortgage lenders and resellers have taken its offer of free VantageScore 4.0 scores with paid legacy scores, and that it will keep $1 VantageScore 4.0 mortgage score pricing through the end of 2028. In a second release the same afternoon, it introduced Equifax Mortgage Score Select, which lets lenders choose which score, if any, comes with a credit file.

Why this matters: Credit scores are one of the costs built into every mortgage file. With Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA opening the door to alternative score models, credit bureau pricing and packaging decisions affect lender costs and workflows.

Cover: two credit score gauges above a mortgage file with a coin. Illustration created for mortgage.news; it does not depict a real person, property or document.

What Equifax reported

According to Equifax, the nearly 2,000 lenders and resellers used the offer from April 2026 through September 2026. Equifax said more than 165 lenders use VantageScore 4.0 exclusively, at the $1 price, for certain loan types, and that the number of VantageScore 4.0 scores pulled for mortgages rose 230% between April and August. These figures come from Equifax and have not been independently verified.

Equifax also said the pricing could drive a potential $1 billion in industry and consumer savings. That is the company's projection, not a measured result. Equifax's release also quotes AmeriSave Mortgage's chief operating officer saying the lender added VantageScore 4.0 as one of the models it uses.

The new product

Equifax said Mortgage Score Select lets lenders and brokers pull a mortgage credit file with VantageScore 4.0, Classic FICO, or FICO Score 10T once approved, or with no score. They can repull the file within 24 hours for $1 plus the cost of any selected score.

Where the official dates stand

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has approved VantageScore 4.0 for loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. For FHA, HUD's Mortgagee Letter 2026-11 adds VantageScore 4.0 and FICO Score 10T as acceptable models alongside Classic FICO for FHA case numbers assigned on or after Jan. 1, 2027. Lenders should follow those official sources, not vendor summaries, for implementation details.

Practical takeaway

• Lenders: compare total credit-report costs under each score option, including repull fees and investor requirements, before changing default ordering.
• Brokers: confirm which score each wholesale partner accepts for each product.
• Credit-policy readers: treat adoption and savings figures as Equifax's claims until independent data are available.