TransUnion and Equifax are letting mortgage lenders access borrower credit files without immediately buying scores and add scores later as needed, the companies announced this week. The move aims to cut credit costs and better align spending with loans that are likely to close.
TransUnion on Thursday announced First Look Functionality for Mortgage, which allows lenders to review credit insights before buying scores, following its extension of 99-cent VantageScore 4.0 mortgage pricing through 2028 when pulled alongside a FICO score.
Equifax, meanwhile, launched Equifax Mortgage Score Select, which lets lenders and brokers pull a mortgage credit file either with a selected score or without a score during loan origination.
Lenders can repull the file within 24 hours for $1, in addition to the cost of whatever mortgage score they choose, the company said. It follows Equifax’s decision to maintain $1 VantageScore 4.0 mortgage credit score pricing through the end of 2028.
Both launches come as originators face persistent margin compression and new score requirements.
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will accept Classic FICO, FICO 10T or VantageScore 4.0 for eligible mortgages starting Jan. 1, 2027, while the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) have already announced the move to both Classic FICO and VantageScore 4.0.
The credit bureaus said the new offerings align lender spending with loans that are more likely to close. Lenders often purchase multiple credit scores early in the process, even when the underlying credit data is sufficient to determine whether a file should move forward or not.
A spokesperson for Equifax provided a statement to HousingWire in which they explained that for customers using its tool, “the cost to customers for the first pull of the Equifax consumer mortgage credit report is at their contracted price, plus the cost of the credit score they select, if any. For example, the price would be the cost of the credit file plus $1 for a VantageScore 4.0 mortgage credit score.
“If after the evaluation, and within 24 hours, the lender wants to pull the mortgage credit report on the same consumer with a different score or no score, the cost of the Equifax consumer credit file would then be $1, plus the price of the score selected,” the spokesperson added.
TransUnion did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
How the new workflow works
TransUnion’s functionality allows lenders to buy either a credit report alone or a report with one score, then add additional scores later when needed. When eligibility and matching conditions are met, lenders do not pay for a second credit report when they add additional scores. The functionality is available in both soft- and hard-pull workflows and through mortgage resellers.
“Mortgage lenders face sustained pressure to control costs and operate more efficiently without compromising underwriting decisions,” Satyan Merchant, mortgage business leader at TransUnion, said in a statement. “First Look Functionality provides insight earlier in the lending journey, directs resources toward the most promising opportunities and creates a more efficient path from application to closing.”
Equifax‘s offering gives lenders the option to pull a mortgage credit file with a selected score or without a score at application. If the lender wants a second look, they are able to pull file again within 24 hours for just $1, along with the cost of their selected mortgage credit score or without a mortgage credit score.
Each Equifax mortgage credit file under the program is associated with a single credit score, which the lender selects. Equifax said the structure is intended to simplify underwriting reviews, since lenders know which score is driving the decision on a given file.
“We are helping lenders and brokers achieve two key objectives: cost-effectively gaining access to more data to support lending decisions and qualifying more borrowers based on those expanded data sets,” said Joel Rickman, general manager and senior vice president of U.S. mortgage and verification services at Equifax.
Editor’s note: This story was updated with a statement from Equifax.
