TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has launched an antitrust investigation into Fair Isaac Corp., alleging the company behind the widely used FICO credit score may have abused its dominant position in the credit-scoring market by raising prices and limiting competition.
Uthmeier announced his office has issued a Civil Investigative Demand, a form of administrative subpoena, requiring Fair Isaac Corp., commonly known as FICO, to produce documents and information related to whether the company violated the Florida Antitrust Act.
The attorney general’s office said the investigation will examine whether FICO used its market position to suppress competition through practices that include steep price increases, alleged predatory pricing, product bundling and exclusionary agreements with the nation’s three major credit bureaus. State investigators are also seeking records related to communications about competitors and the company’s internal assessments of its competitive position.
‘Deserve Fair Access’
“Floridians deserve fair access to credit—not a system controlled by one company that repeatedly jacks up prices and blocks competition,” Uthmeier said in a statement announcing the investigation. He alleged that higher costs imposed on lenders are ultimately passed on to consumers seeking mortgages, auto loans and other forms of credit.
According to the attorney general’s office, FICO generates approximately 27 million credit scores each day, and its scoring models are used in more than 90% of U.S. lending decisions. State officials contend that gives the company significant influence over consumers’ ability to obtain mortgages, vehicle financing and other financial services.
The subpoena seeks licensing agreements with the major credit bureaus, pricing records, communications involving competitors, documents related to FICO’s market share and copies of materials the company has already produced in ongoing federal antitrust litigation. FICO has until Aug. 5 to respond to the demand, according to the attorney general’s office.
Additional Scrutiny
The Florida investigation comes as FICO already faces scrutiny over its business practices. A federal judge in 2023 allowed multiple antitrust lawsuits filed by banks, credit unions, mortgage lenders, auto dealers and other businesses to proceed after finding the plaintiffs had presented sufficient evidence for their claims to move forward. Those lawsuits allege FICO maintained monopoly power in the business-to-business credit-scoring market through anticompetitive agreements and inflated pricing. FICO has denied wrongdoing in the litigation.
The company also drew attention in 2024 after Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) urged the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate what he described as potentially anticompetitive conduct in the credit-scoring market. A previous Justice Department antitrust investigation opened in 2020 was later closed without enforcement action.
FICO had not publicly responded to the Florida attorney general’s announcement as of Wednesday afternoon.
