Credit scoring, but make it 2026
FICO says its next-generation UltraFICO Score is now available, thanks to a partnership with Plaid. The pitch: blend the old-school FICO Score with cash flow data that consumers explicitly permit lenders to see.
That’s a pretty big deal if you live in the lending world, where “thin file” borrowers and other hard-to-score consumers often get squeezed by the limits of traditional credit models. Cash flow data can help fill in the blanks — think of it like upgrading from a grainy profile pic to a full camera roll.
Why investors should care
This is less about one flashy product launch and more about FICO protecting its position in the credit infrastructure stack. If lenders like the extra signal, FICO gets to stay relevant even as underwriting starts looking more data-driven and less 1990s spreadsheet-core.
The Plaid tie-up also matters because it nudges FICO deeper into the open-banking ecosystem. Translation: the company is trying to be the name lenders trust even when the data gets more modern, more permission-based, and slightly more annoying for anyone who likes old rules.
Big picture
If this rolls out smoothly, it could make FICO’s scoring franchise feel more indispensable, not less. And in a world where fintech keeps trying to reinvent everything with a fresh coat of APIs, that’s exactly the kind of moat investors pay attention to.