Weekly Real Estate News
TransUnion is extending its 99-cent price for VantageScore 4.0 mortgage origination scores through December 2028, turning what began as a 2026 price cut into a three-year commitment as competition in mortgage credit scoring moves from policy debate toward lender implementation.
The credit bureau said Tuesday that VantageScore 4.0 will remain available for $0.99 per standalone mortgage origination score. Mortgage customers that purchase a FICO score will continue to receive VantageScore 4.0 at no additional charge.
The extension matters because the industry is no longer discussing alternative credit scores as a distant possibility. TransUnion said more than 1,100 mortgage lenders had adopted VantageScore 4.0 between January and September, including nine of its 15 largest mortgage lender customers.
“Broad availability of VantageScore 4.0 gives lenders another accepted credit scoring option, and predictable pricing will help them adopt that option with greater confidence,” Satyan Merchant, TransUnion’s senior vice president and mortgage business leader, said in the announcement.
A price fight becomes an implementation story
TransUnion first cut its standalone VantageScore 4.0 mortgage origination price to 99 cents in March. WRE News reported at the time that the company had previously charged $4 for the score and was responding to the push for more competition in mortgage credit scoring. Equifax and Experian subsequently announced 99-cent standalone pricing of their own, a development also covered by WRE News.
Tuesday’s announcement is therefore a material update rather than a repeat of the March price cut: TransUnion is committing to the price through the end of 2028 while lenders face a broader transition in the scoring infrastructure used for agency mortgages.
TransUnion said the Federal Housing Finance Agency expanded VantageScore 4.0 availability in September to approved Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lenders. The company also said the Federal Housing Administration plans to accept mortgage collateral backed by VantageScore 4.0 beginning Jan. 1, 2027.
Those changes raise the stakes around the cost of pulling credit. The score itself is only one component of a lender’s credit-reporting expense, but pricing competition among scoring models has become an increasingly visible part of the industry’s effort to reduce origination costs.
What lenders will be watching
VantageScore 4.0 incorporates trended credit information and can use rental and utility tradelines. TransUnion said it will continue providing historical data and analytical support at no cost so lenders and investors can test the model.
The next question is not simply whether lenders can obtain VantageScore 4.0 cheaply. It is how quickly lenders, investors, automated underwriting systems and the broader mortgage infrastructure operationalize score choice—and whether competition ultimately produces measurable savings for borrowers.
That is the test WRE News identified earlier this month in “We Said Competition Would Lower Mortgage Costs. Now Let’s Prove It.” TransUnion’s longer pricing commitment removes one source of uncertainty. The industry still has to show what the new competitive framework changes at the closing table.
