FICO Score Open Access Program Promotes Credit Transparency by Enabling Financial Services Firms to Offer FICO Scores for Free to Canadian Consumers

Parachute, a leading start-up lender, becomes the first organization in Canada to use FICO® Score 10 and take part in the FICO® Score Open Access program

Highlights:

• 90% of top Canadian lenders and credit unions use FICO® Scores.
• Parachute, a leading start-up dedicated to making financial well-being accessible for all Canadians, is the first organization in Canada to provide FICO® Score 10 to their customers for free through the FICO® Score Open Access program.
• The FICO® Score Open Access program allows lenders to help educate consumers about their FICO® Scores by providing comprehensive and transparent information to help them understand their scores.

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, global analytics software firm, FICO (NYSE: FICO) announced that Parachute, a leading start-up dedicated to making financial well-being accessible for all Canadians, is the first organization in Canada to provide FICO® Score 10 to their customers for free through the FICO® Score Open Access program. With FICO® Score Open Access, financial institutions can provide their consumers access to their FICO® Scores. FICO® Scores are used by 90% of the top Canadian lenders and credit unions.

Participants in the FICO® Score Open Access program provide consumers with regularly updated FICO® Scores, as well as the most important factors affecting the score via a variety of channels, including online banking websites, mobile applications, and paper statements. By giving consumers the ability to access the same credit score used by lenders for credit decisions and insight into the factors that affect them, financial institutions drive loyalty, trust and customer satisfaction while addressing industry calls for greater credit score transparency and financial literacy.

“FICO Scores are trusted by financial institutions in Canada, but there is still a lot of confusion around credit scoring for many Canadian consumers,” said Kevin Deveau, vice president and general manager of FICO US and Canada Sales. “With the FICO Score Open Access program, we are working with our clients like Parachute, to educate and empower customers to improve their financial health. The program was designed specifically for financial institutions to help their consumers better understand the FICO Score and the role of credit scores in everyday financial decisions.”

Parachute’s innovative business model uses a holistic approach to lending that helps customers improve their financial well-being. Providing a personalized roadmap that allows customers to take control over their finances, Parachute leverages a brain-trust of credit and behavioral science experts to help guide borrowers to better manage their money, and achieve monthly financial goals, focusing on their financial health.

“For consumers, dealing with a variety of financial institutions can offer discrepancies in credit scores, which often creates a lot of confusion,” said Bruce Hodges, founder and CEO at Parachute. “Having an industry standard like FICO as part of our offering, provides our clients clarity as it relates to credit scores – and as a result, a more predictable way to understand their financial possibilities.”

The FICO® Score Open Access program enables financial institutions of all sizes – from Canada’s largest banks to credit unions to start-ups – to provide increased transparency and more financial education to consumers. The FICO® Score Open Access program allows lenders to help educate customers about their FICO® Scores by providing comprehensive and transparent information to help them understand their credit scores. In the U.S. and Canada, hundreds of lenders are participating in the FICO® Score Open Access program to provide FICO® Scores to consumers for free.

To learn more about these FICO® Score solutions in Canada, visit: FICO® Score 10 and FICO® Score Open Access.

About Parachute

Parachute provides loans with purpose. A three-step approach, Parachute combines a lower interest rate with no hidden fees, a data-driven platform that guides user behavior; and a shared value rebate system to reward targeted outcomes. Developed by a team with deep credit and behavioral science experience, Parachute empowers, educates and rewards customers to achieve financial well-being.

Learn more at www.myparachute.co.

About FICO

FICO (NYSE: FICO) powers decisions that help people and businesses around the world prosper. Founded in 1956, the company is a pioneer in the use of predictive analytics and data science to improve operational decisions. FICO holds more than 200 US and foreign patents on technologies that increase profitability, customer satisfaction and growth for businesses in financial services, telecommunications, health care, retail, transportation and supply chain, and many other industries. Using FICO solutions, businesses in nearly 120 countries do everything from protecting 2.6 billion payment cards from fraud, to helping people get credit, to ensuring that millions of rental cars are in the right place at the right time.

Learn more at http://www.fico.com.

Join the conversation at https://twitter.com/fico & http://www.fico.com/en/blogs/.

For FICO news and media resources, visit www.fico.com/news.

FICO is a registered trademark of Fair Isaac Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.