New Study Finds Mortgage Lenders Have a Unique Opportunity to Expand Home Ownership to More First-Time Buyers and Reduce Costs

• Homeowners and Lenders Could Save Nearly $1 Billion Over the First Year of Full Adoption
• Research Finds Lenders Gain Immediate Value from VantageScore 4.0 by Switching for Pre-Screening
• Stronger Predictive Power in Pre-Screening Reduces Costly False Positives Entering Pre-Qualification

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mortgage originators can enhance decision quality during pre-screen and pre-qualification, lower costs and broaden borrower access by implementing VantageScore 4.0 for mortgages, according to a new study published today. The analysis by OGMA Risk and Analytics, titled “How VantageScore 4.0 Unlocks Cost Reduction, Pipeline Performance, and a New Generation of Borrowers,” evaluates the impact of VantageScore 4.0 adoption on lenders who start using it in the pre-screen and pre-qualification stages of the mortgage origination process.

To take advantage of this opportunity and learn more, reach out to your bureau representative and ask for a custom MarketGain report to show how many more borrowers your firm can responsibly lend to.

“VantageScore 4.0 enables mortgage lenders to act now to improve pre-screening and pre-qualification decisions with greater precision, efficiency and cost savings,” said Dr. Rikard Bandebo, EVP, Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Economist at VantageScore. “The model helps reduce delinquencies, opens the door to increased responsible lending for first-time home buyers and delivers these advantages while significantly reducing production and borrower acquisition costs.”

OGMA Risk & Analytics found that VantageScore 4.0 delivers three compounding value drivers for mortgage lenders and investors: significant cost savings, expanded borrower reach and earlier, better decisioning.

Additional key insights from the study include:

DELIVERS BILLIONS IN COST SAVINGS ACROSS THE MORTGAGE LIFECYCLE: OGMA Risk and Analytics reiterates recent findings from Deep Future Analytics that show VantageScore 4.0 delivers $92 to $135 in savings per mortgage loan under all modeled scenarios.

LENDERS GAIN IMMEDIATE VALUE BY SWITCHING TO VANTAGESCORE 4.0 FOR PRE-SCREENING: The OGMA Risk and Analytics study found that usage of VantageScore 4.0 for pre-screening improves early decisions in the mortgage lending process by using trended credit data instead of a static snapshot, giving lenders a clearer view into whether a borrower’s credit behavior is strengthening or weakening. The added behavioral insight can help lenders move fewer weak files forward while preserving more qualified borrowers who might otherwise be screened out.

MORTGAGE ORIGINATORS RESOLVE MISMATCHES AT PRE-SCREEN, ENGAGING MORE CREDITWORTHY BORROWERS: Because the cost of a weak credit decision compounds as a loan moves deeper into the process, improving early-stage precision helps lenders avoid unnecessary processing, underwriting and compliance costs before they accrue. VantageScore 4.0 does a better job of distinguishing lower-risk from higher-risk borrowers than Classic FICO, earlier. As a result, fewer costly false positives enter lender pre-qualification and underwriting and fewer false negatives are excluded before they ever have a chance to convert.

To download a full copy of this report, visit the VantageScore website.

To download a full copy of the Deep Future Analytics Cost Savings report, visit the VantageScore website.

To learn more about VantageScore’s growth in the GSE-conforming mortgage market, visit the VantageScore Mortgage Resource Center.

About VantageScore®

VantageScore is the fastest-growing credit scoring company in the U.S., and is known for the industry’s most innovative, predictive and inclusive credit score models. In 2024, usage of VantageScore increased by 55% to hit 42 billion credit scores. More than 3,700 institutions, including nine of the top 10 U.S. banks, use VantageScore credit scores and digital tools to provide consumer credit products or generate greater insights into consumer behavior. The VantageScore 4.0 credit scoring model scores 33 million more people than traditional models. With the FHFA allowing the immediate use of VantageScore 4.0 for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guaranteed mortgages, the company is also ushering in a new era for mortgage lending.

VantageScore is an independent joint venture company owned by Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.