The reason VantageScore adoption is accelerating in the mortgage industry isn’t political. It isn’t ideological. It’s simply the fact that it’s a better mortgage credit score.
Seven of the top ten mortgage lenders are in production with VantageScore 4.0 today. Not because they must, but because they recognize that it’s a better score. Mortgage usage increased more than 70% year-over-year, surpassing 5 million mortgage credit scores in the first half of 2025 alone. And the pipeline of interested lenders preparing to transition is growing rapidly.
Re-litigating a legislative decision from 2018 won’t change the law. Credit score competition is mandated by Congress, and Fannie and Freddie do not get to decide which models are approved. The law explicitly rests that authority with the FHFA, not the GSEs. Whether the GSEs “approved” VantageScore is irrelevant because they were never authorized to make that call.
Let’s not forget history: Fannie and Freddie were over-reliant on FICO Classic as the only authorized credit score for mortgage use during the run-up to the Great Recession. They failed to properly assess and manage mortgage risk and ended up in conservatorship. That’s the entire reason why FHFA is the entity authorized to make this call.
Defending the status quo by attacking credit score competition isn’t prudence. It’s protectionism. What’s the motivation for defending a monopolist? Is there an excuse to keep going with an outdated system when there are quantitatively better options available? Senseless pot stirring? Clickbait? It damages the credibility of thought leaders in this sector, and it makes the overall market less stable and strong.
Most major housing finance institutions have independently tested and accepted VantageScore 4.0. That includes the Federal Home Loan Banks and the Veterans Administration. These lenders scrutinized the data and made their decisions based on analytics, not loyalty.
Every other credible, non-FICO-affiliated third party that has analyzed performance has concluded that VantageScore 4.0 outperforms FICO Classic on predictiveness, stability, and inclusivity. Ask Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Bloomberg Intelligence, KBRA and so many other institutional analyses across the market. The results are consistent.
FICO has refused to release any performance data for 10T to the market for comparisons. They’re claiming it’s an advanced score, but there’s not a single bit of independently verifiable data to back it up.
As soon as FICO releases its 10T data for analysis, we’re confident the outcome of any comparison will be the same: VantageScore will remain the most predictive, cost-effective credit score available for mortgages.
The coordinated attacks we’re seeing now aren’t about safety or soundness. They’re about defending a shrinking monopoly. And while monopolies tend not to go quietly, they all eventually come to an end.
The reality is that VantageScore momentum isn’t coming. It’s already here.
— Jeff Richardson, EVP and Chief Marketing Officer, VantageScore
