FICO Freezes Its $10 Mortgage Score Price as Lenders Gain New Options

FICO said Oct. 23 that it will hold its wholesale mortgage price for the FICO Score at $10 for lenders and brokers enrolled in its Preferred Program, when the score is obtained through participating tri-merge reseller partners. The $10 covers a bundle of two scores: the Classic FICO Score that has anchored mortgage underwriting for decades and the newer FICO Score 10T.

The company described the price as flat year over year. The announcement, released at 4:15 p.m. Eastern, arrives weeks after Fannie Mae aligned its credit-score pricing across Classic FICO and VantageScore 4.0 and after Rocket Mortgage said it would make VantageScore its preferred model on eligible loans. Together, the moves show credit-score choice becoming a real cost and workflow decision for lenders, not just a technical setting.

What FICO actually announced

The terms are narrower than a headline price might suggest. According to FICO, the $10 wholesale price applies to:

• Lenders and brokers enrolled in the FICO Preferred Program, which FICO describes as lenders that have committed to FICO;
• Scores delivered through FICO's participating tri-merge reseller partners;
• A bundle containing both Classic FICO and FICO Score 10T.

FICO's release does not publish a price for lenders outside the program, a list of participating resellers, or the length of any commitment. Lenders should get those terms directly from FICO or their reseller rather than assuming them.

What $10 is not

A wholesale score price is what FICO charges into the reporting channel. It is not a universal consumer credit-report fee, and it is not a promise that any borrower will pay $10 for credit. A mortgage tri-merge credit report also includes charges from the three credit bureaus and from the reseller that assembles the report, so the score price is only one part of the total.

Whether a lower or steady score cost reaches borrowers depends on each lender's fee practices. Some lenders charge a separate credit-report fee at application or on the Loan Estimate; others absorb it. The announcement does not change those charges by itself.

Three different costs that are easy to confuse

Borrowers and brokers comparing credit-score news should separate three things:

• Score acquisition cost: what a lender pays to obtain scores, the subject of FICO's announcement.
• Loan-level price adjustments (LLPAs): risk-based pricing that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac apply by credit score, loan-to-value ratio and other factors. These usually show up in the borrower's rate or points and can be far larger than a score fee.
• Consumer closing charges: the credit-report and other fees itemized on the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure.

A change in one does not automatically move the others.

Fannie Mae's unified LLPA grid

On Sept. 30, Fannie Mae announced that its credit-score LLPAs are now aligned across Classic FICO and VantageScore 4.0. The updated grid applies to whole loans purchased on or after Oct. 1, 2026, and to loans delivered into MBS with issue dates on or after Oct. 1. In practice, a given score band now carries the same Fannie Mae score-based adjustment whichever of those two models a lender uses.

That matters for the FICO news. If the price adjustment no longer depends on which model was used, the cost of obtaining the score and how many borrowers each model can score become more important in a lender's choice. Fannie Mae's announcement covers Classic FICO and VantageScore 4.0; it does not by itself establish that FICO Score 10T is accepted for delivery across the GSEs. Lenders should confirm current Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac selling-guide requirements before relying on any model.

Lenders are weighing options

Rocket Mortgage said Sept. 28 that during the fourth quarter it will default to VantageScore 4.0 for eligible mortgages delivered to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, VA loans and other eligible products, after about four months of testing that it said helped more clients qualify and reduced scoring costs. Rocket also said investment-property, second-home, home equity, FHA and jumbo loans, among others, will still use FICO for now, and that its broker division, Rocket Pro, will offer both models.

That is one large lender's decision, not an industry-wide switch. Many lenders continue to use Classic FICO, and FICO's bundle pricing is aimed at keeping them in its program. How many lenders move, and on what loan types, is not yet established.

What borrowers and brokers can ask

• Which credit score model will be used for my loan, and is it accepted by the investor or program that will buy it?
• What credit-report fee will I be charged, and does it appear on my Loan Estimate?
• How does my score band affect my rate or points under current LLPAs?
• For brokers: which models does each wholesale partner support, and through which reseller?

Approval still depends on income, debts, assets, the property and other requirements, not the score model alone.

The bottom line

FICO's announcement keeps a $10 wholesale price for a specific group of committed lenders using specific resellers, with two scores included. It is a pricing decision in an increasingly competitive score market, not a guaranteed saving for each borrower and not a change in how the GSEs price loans.

Sources

• FICO: FICO Holds Mortgage Score Pricing at $10 for Lenders Enrolled in Preferred Program (Oct. 23, 2026)
• Fannie Mae: Simplified Pricing Across Credit Score Models (Sept. 30, 2026)
• Rocket Mortgage: VantageScore as preferred scoring model on eligible loans (Sept. 28, 2026)

Cover: original mortgage.news editorial illustration of abstract score panels and loan paperwork; it contains no trademarks or people and does not depict a real document.