FICO's National "Score A Better Future" Credit Education Program Celebrates Milestone 15th Event

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12/02/2020 - 08:00 AM

SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- FICO (NYSE: FICO) today announced its milestone 15^thfinancial education event in a national program launched in late 2018 aiming to demystify the credit journey and help consumers take control of their financial health.

The events are part of FICO's "Score A Better Future" program, which focuses on helping consumers improve their understanding of their credit and overall financial health. During the in-person and currently virtual events, consumers have the opportunity to learn first-hand from credit experts on what the key ingredients are that make up the FICO^®Score, which are used in more than 90 percent of lending decisions (Mercator Advisory Group Analyst Report 2018), as well as the myths and facts about FICO Scores. Attendees also have the opportunity to sign up for free one-on-one credit coaching from non-profit financial counselors to develop a plan to address their financial goals.

In a collective post-event survey, attendees reported that before they attended a Score A Better Future event, only 59% knew their score and only 54% understood the factors determining FICO^® Scores. In turn, 94% of attendees agreed that the event gave them the tools they needed to manage their finances better in the future. Furthermore, amid the pandemic, 92% of attendees agreed that it's now more important than ever to learn the top factors that impact their credit score and receive access to one-on-one credit coaching.

"Since we started the Score A Better Future program two years ago, we have been tremendously encouraged by the thousands of registrants who have participated in the program to proactively learn more about FICO^®Scores and how to reach their financial goals," said Joanne Gaskin, vice president of Scores and Analytics at FICO. "The events bring together our non-profit partners, credit counselors, and community leaders who are all dedicated to helping educate consumers on how to better their financial health."

Partnering with national and local nonprofits, FICO brings together consumer advocates, credit counselors, and community leaders to help consumers learn about credit scores and provide the financial tools to help them to achieve their dreams. Diversified Resource Network (DRN), a resource center for housing and credit professionals and a partner of Freddie Mac, have recently partnered with FICO to provide credit counselors for many upcoming Score A Better Future events to offer attendees free one-on-one credit coaching.

Other national partners of the Score A Better Future program include:

Operation HOPE
Consumer Action
National Urban League
National Consumers League
National Association of Real Estate Brokers, (NAREB)

"As someone who hears from consumers daily about their credit and overall financial health concerns, I know first-hand how vital the Score A Better Future program is for those that not only desire to know what their FICO^® Scores are, but to become more knowledgeable about how to navigate the landscape of credit in hopes that it will provide them with more legacy building opportunities for their family and friends," said Marsha Barnes, founder, The Finance Bar.

"If we can just get the FICO^® Score up 120 points, community by community, block by block, family by family, you literally change the world," said John Hope Bryant, chairman and CEO, Operation HOPE.

FICO's goal through hosting the program is to help consumers — especially those in underserved communities, first time homebuyers, millennials, those with no credit scores, and those with less than strong credit scores — improve their understanding of FICO^® Scores and their overall financial health, putting them on a sustainable path to achieving their dreams.

Through initiatives like Score A Better Future and FICO^® Score Open Access, which enables over 160 financial institutions to share free access to the FICO^® Scores, FICO is able to solidify its commitment to empowering more consumer access to credit and fueling economic growth.

In 2021, FICO will be expanding Score A Better Future to more cities across the United States, including Philadelphia, Memphis, Detroit, and Los Angeles. To get more information about the Score A Better Future program, please visit http://www.scoreabetterfuture.com/.

About FICO
FICO (NYSE: FICO) powers decisions that help people and businesses around the world prosper. Founded in 1956 and based in Silicon Valley, the company is a pioneer in the use of predictive analytics and data science to improve operational decisions. FICO holds more than 195 U.S. and foreign patents on technologies that increase profitability, customer satisfaction and growth for businesses in financial services, telecommunications, health care, retail and many other industries. Using FICO solutions, businesses in more than 100 countries do everything from protecting 2.6 billion payment cards from fraud, to helping people get credit, to ensuring that millions of airplanes and rental cars are in the right place at the right time. Learn more at https://www.fico.com. Join the conversation at https://twitter.com/fico & https://www.fico.com/en/blogs/

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