In an effort to drive industry adoption, the three major credit reporting agencies — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — announced they are drastically reducing the stand-alone cost of the VantageScore 4.0 credit scoring model for mortgage originations to $1 or less.
Following intense industry pushback over surging credit report expenses, the major credit bureaus released new pricing on Monday. TransUnion announced a new stand-alone price of $0.99 per mortgage origination score early in the day. Experian and Equifax followed later Monday afternoon, with Experian matching the $0.99 price and Equifax setting its score at an even $1.
TransUnion estimates its price cut could drive more than $900 million in potential savings for lenders and consumers, while Equifax projects an estimated $1 billion in industry savings.
“TransUnion is committed to lowering the cost of mortgage origination for every American looking to buy or refinance a home,” said Satyan Merchant, senior vice president and mortgage business leader at TransUnion, in a statement included in the press release.
To further encourage the adoption of VantageScore 4.0 — a model from VantageScore Solutions, a company jointly owned by the three bureaus — all three companies stated they will continue offering the score for free to mortgage lenders who purchase a traditional FICO score.
Experian refers to this as its “Score Choice Bundle,” while Equifax noted it is also providing alternative data indicators, such as telecom and utility payment attributes, alongside its reports at no extra cost. The bureaus emphasized that VantageScore 4.0 leverages alternative and trended credit data, such as rental histories, to expand access to homeownership.
This promotional pricing strategy appears to be a response to mounting pressure from the mortgage industry and federal regulators. In December 2025, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) warned that credit reporting costs were poised to increase by another 40% to 50% in 2026.
In a December letter to Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte, MBA President and CEO Bob Broeksmit urged the agency to scrap the longstanding “tri-merge” credit report mandate, advocating instead for a single-file option if a borrower’s initial credit score is 700 or above to encourage bureau competition.
Not everyone in the industry agrees with jettisoning the tri-merge framework entirely, with the Community Home Lenders of America warning of the potential for increased repurchase risk and the incentivization of “score fishing” by lenders, among other concerns.
In January, Pulte publicly rebuked the credit reporting giants on the social media platform X. Pulte stated that their opaque pricing models were “inviting a lot of scrutiny that is only intensifying by the day.” He noted that his previous communications with the credit bureau CEOs regarding pricing had been “falling on deaf ears,” and he vowed to “protect the American consumer.”
The FHFA has been pushing to increase competition in the credit scoring marketplace for several years. Under Pulte’s direction, the agency officially approved VantageScore 4.0 in July 2025 for loans delivered to government-sponsored mortgage investors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
