PR - Fair Isaac and Irish Credit Bureau Launch Global FICO Score

Minneapolis-based Fair Isaac Corp. (NYSE: FIC), a provider of analytics and decision management technology, today announced the launch of its Global FICO score exclusively with the Irish Credit Bureau (ICB). The initiative provides the first credit bureau risk score for lenders in Ireland that combines Fair Isaac’s proven analytic capabilities with the Irish Credit Bureau’s electronic library of consumer credit data.

Global FICO score applies Fair Isaac’s industry-standard FICO credit risk scoring technology to rank-order consumers according to their credit risk. The innovative score helps lenders sharpen their evaluation of consumer risk, automate their decision processes and increase their profitability. Designed to be consistently scaled across credit bureaus and across national borders, Global FICO score can be rapidly deployed in any country with credit bureau data.

"Global FICO score is now readily available to ICB members," said Seamus O Tighearnaigh, CEO of Irish Credit Bureau Limited. "By combining Fair Isaac’s expertise in analytics with our extensive database, Global FICO credit risk scores enable members to increase their control of credit risk and consequently improve their costs and their profits."

"As the first global standard for consumer credit risk assessment, the Global FICO score is rapidly being adopted by regional lenders and by multinational financial institutions to ensure consistent portfolio management across local, regional and even global portfolios," said Brian Cooper, senior director of Credit Bureaus and Scoring at Fair Isaac. "Now that the Irish Credit Bureau is offering Global FICO score to its members, lenders throughout Ireland can immediately enjoy the benefits it brings to decisions throughout the customer credit lifecycle."

The Irish Credit Bureau and Fair Isaac have performed exhaustive testing of Global FICO score on ICB data. The Global FICO score demonstrated that it is a powerful and versatile credit risk score.

Lending organizations and credit bureaus in both emerging and established credit markets are using Fair Isaac’s proven scoring technology to significantly improve their ability to manage the trade-off between credit risk and greater profits, enabling more precise management of their business volumes, delinquencies and bad debt. Lenders also use Global FICO score to help them meet Basel II and other regulatory compliance requirements.

In addition to ICB, credit reporting bureaus in Singapore, Jamaica, South Korea and Brazil have added Global FICO score to their product lines. In Asia, lenders are using Global FICO score in South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. In Europe and the Middle East, Fair Isaac’s score is being used in Poland, Saudi Arabia, Sweden and Turkey. In Latin America, lenders in Mexico, Jamaica and Panama have added Global FICO score to their risk management operations. The score also is currently being evaluated by a growing number of institutions across Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.