Why do we have to PAY for FICO Scores??

[laz98]

well!  i wasn't trying to turn this into a language lesson...i did know that it was italian, because italian & latin are my absolute favorite languages.  i was just trying to mess with marty; didn't see the need to "school" him or anything.

[haulingthescoreup]

Well, considering that many people's knowledge of Italian only includes spaghetti, Chianti, and bada-bing, bada-boom, I think we're doing pretty well. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

sorry, i just don't agree with you. unless of course you routinely work for free and don't expect any compensation for your time and talents.

fyi, you can improve your credit w/o knowing your fico score, and you can obtain 1 report a year for free from each of the big 3 at annualcredit report dot com

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This is an inaccurate correlation. You are equating a Fico score-- which exists only because **our personal, private financial information has been harvested** with someone who produces a product independent of anything I've contributed.

To use FretlessMayhem's Kentucky Fried Chicken analogy (which is also a false correlation), I have made no contribution to the production of KFC chicken.  My Fico score is ONLY about me.  It exists ONLY because of me.  If I didn't exist, they would not have a product to sell.  You can't say the same for KFC original recipe.  It's outrageous that consumers even have to pay one dime to see their own credit score.

Let companies pay for it if they need to evaluate my creditworthiness.  But it should be available and 100% free to the consumers whose information it represents, and whose financial futures it impacts.

[FrugalRican]

You have a choice to NOT pay for it.

[Anonymous]

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@FrugalRican wrote:

You have a choice to NOT pay for it.

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Of course I have the choice to not pay for it. That's irrelevant

What is germane to the topic is that our personal information is being harvested, collected, and used by companies to evaluate us.  I don't like it, but that's the age we live in.  So let the companies pay.  But to charge the person whose information has been harvested, while not criminal, is morally reprehensible.

[LS2982]

you have to pay because these scores are patented and cannot be just given free to the public.

[LS2982]

.....and not to mention nothing in this world is free!! The people who run the site gotta get paid!

[Anonymous]

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@LS2982 wrote:
.....and not to mention nothing in this world is free!! The people who run the site gotta get paid!

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Which is why they should be paid (and are paid) by the lending companies making inquiries about you.

It's the Google model of economics... you charge the *businesses* that use the info that they have harvested from the general public, because those business are going to use your FICO information to make MORE money on you (in interest fees).  Let them pay for the service.

It's the least FICO can do to allow people to see their own scores for free.  Charging the poor saps (all of us) whose information has been harvested is just plain wrong. 

Look, I'm not a business-- I'm not going to be making money by finding out about my own FICO score.  In fact, it's just the opposite.  If I'm looking at my FICO score, chances are I'll be applying for a loan that another entity will profit from.  **Let the profit making entities subsidize my FICO score**

In the grand scheme of things, most of us are suckers.  I just think charging a private citizen to see their own FICO score is rubbing salt into an already festering wound.

[HoldingOntoHope]

Wow, this one was exhumed from the tombs twice now!! If we could all access our own FICO scores for free it wouldn't be long before the businesses simply said "You go pull your reports for free and send them to me, I'll evaluate them and give you an answer". Then you no longer have the argument of well FICO is supported by the businesses.

[Anonymous]

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@HoldingOntoHope wrote:

Wow, this one was exhumed from the tombs twice now!! If we could all access our own FICO scores for free it wouldn't be long before the businesses simply said "You go pull your reports for free and send them to me, I'll evaluate them and give you an answer". Then you no longer have the argument of well FICO is supported by the businesses.

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The bottom line is that it's not my job to secure FICO's business model.  FICO harvested MY personal info, and is selling it to everyone, including back to me.  They're the ones standing on the moral low ground.

Having said that, there is a practical downside to the scenario you've painted.  I can't imagine a real life situation where a potential lender, taking the risk of potentially thousands, tens, or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, would feel it was worthwhile to save $10 to get the potential customer to print out their own FICO score out at home, and take the risk that the lendee has cooked up the printout somehow.  There is no good reason why the lender wouldn't prefer to pull the score themselves securely from FICO.  They'll make the $10 back (a grand understatement) from the interest fees they charge.