FICO: A High Score Business - [Business Breakdowns, EP.111]

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May 17, 2023

Dev Kantesaria, managing partner at Valley Forge Capital Management, joins to explore FICO's influential role in the credit scoring industry. Discover how FICO revolutionized lending practices by shifting from subjective assessments to objective metrics. Kantesaria discusses their dual revenue streams: consumer credit scores and sophisticated software for fraud detection and CRM. With an annual revenue of $1.3 billion, FICO's efficient model and its competitive edge are examined, alongside insights into future developments driven by artificial intelligence.

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ANECDOTE

FICO's Founding

Bill Fair and Earl Isaac started FICO in 1956, initially focusing on bringing objectivity to lending.
Their first scoring system was sold in 1958, evolving from rudimentary factors to incorporating credit bureau data.

INSIGHT

FICO's Pricing Model

FICO's scores business has a three-layered customer structure: credit bureaus, financial institutions, and consumers.
Credit bureaus pass FICO price increases to financial institutions, who often include them in consumer closing costs.

INSIGHT

Securitization Challenges with Non-FICO Scores

Switching from FICO scores can limit securitization options, similar to using non-standard credit rating agencies.
This is due to FICO's established standard for risk assessment in securitization.

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This is Zack Fuss, an investor at Irenic Capital, and today we’re breaking down Fair Isaac Corporation, commonly known as FICO. FICO is best known for its consumer credit scores product, which has become a common language across the world of consumer loans and banking. Less well known, but a major piece of the business, is FICO’s software offering that helps financial businesses with fraud detection, CRM, and loan origination. Between these two offerings – scores and software – FICO earned $1.3 billion last year.

To break down the business, I’m joined by Dev Kantesaria, managing partner at Valley Forge Capital Management. In going through its history and business units, Dev explains why it would be tough to design a better business model than FICO. Please enjoy this breakdown of FICO.

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.

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Show Notes

(00:02:40) - (First question) - What attracted him to FICO as a business

(00:03:31) - An overview of their key products and the value they provide

(00:06:01) - How FICO collaborates and competes with credit bureaus

(00:11:23) - Their ability to sustain steady growth in a cyclical environment

(00:12:48) - How FICO's software offerings complement their credit score business

(00:14:13) - Who their competitors are

(00:23:16) - The potential competitive risks of emerging A.I. technology

(00:25:57) - Why the push for VantageScore in the mortgage industry created more competition for credit bureaus

(00:27:58) - The differences between their B2C and scores businesses

(00:30:38) - A breakdown of the software side of the business and its significance

(00:34:26) - All about FICO’s Falcon Fraud Manager and Triad Customer Manager

(00:39:20) - FICO’s capital-light business model in detail

(00:41:59) - The aspects of the business that investors often overlook or underestimate

(00:45:18) - Lessons learned from studying FICO