FICO model versions

TL;DR

• There are over 40 FICO models in circulation. The ones that matter are FICO 8 (credit cards), FICO Auto 8/9 (auto loans), and FICO 2/4/5 (mortgages).
• Mortgage lenders are stuck on decade-old FICO 2/4/5 until the FHFA-mandated migration to FICO 10T + VantageScore 4.0 completes (multi-year rollout that started in 2025).
• FICO 10T is the first FICO model to use "trended data" — 24-month utilization history instead of just the current statement.

How FICO version numbers work

FICO ships a new general-purpose model every few years, but adoption is glacial. Lenders don't upgrade until they have a business reason to, so the "current" FICO model in a given industry can be 10+ years old.

Each FICO version comes in three tiers:

• Classic FICO N — the general-purpose score, 300–850, used for most consumer products.
• FICO Bankcard N — tuned for credit card default risk, 250–900 range. Weighs revolving utilization and recent bankcard behavior more heavily.
• FICO Auto N — tuned for auto loan default risk, 250–900 range. Pays more attention to prior auto loan payment history.

Credit card issuers mostly use Bankcard, auto lenders mostly use Auto. When a lender says "FICO 8" without specifying, they usually mean classic.

FICO 8 — still the workhorse

Released in 2009. It's the dominant model for credit card underwriting today and has been for 15+ years.

Key traits:

• Ignores collections under $100
• Is less sensitive to a single 30-day late than FICO 5 was
• Treats authorized-user tradelines more cautiously (to curb "piggybacking" fraud) but still scores them
• 300–850 range

Who uses it: Chase, Amex, Citi, Discover, Capital One, Wells Fargo, US Bank, BofA, most retail store cards. If you're applying for a credit card in 2026, the issuer is almost certainly pulling some flavor of FICO 8 — usually FICO Bankcard 8.

FICO 9 — released 2014, barely adopted

Treats medical collections separately (weighs them less) and ignores paid collections entirely. Sensible improvements. Almost no one uses it in practice.

• Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac don't accept FICO 9 for mortgages
• Most credit card issuers never migrated from FICO 8

FICO 10 and FICO 10T — released 2020

• FICO 10 — evolutionary upgrade to FICO 8. Tightens penalties for personal loan consolidation (specifically, borrowers who take a personal loan to pay off credit cards and then re-run up the cards).
• FICO 10T — adds trended data. Instead of looking only at your latest statement, 10T looks at 24 months of balances and utilization history. Someone who pays in full every month will score higher in 10T than someone at the same current utilization who's been paying minimums.

FHFA (the mortgage regulator) announced in 2022 that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will eventually require both FICO 10T and VantageScore 4.0 for conforming mortgages. The rollout started in 2025 and is still in progress — most mortgage lenders are still on the old tri-merge until each step of the migration completes.

Industry-specific FICOs

FICO Bankcard 8

The credit card version of FICO 8. Range 250–900. Weighs revolving-account behavior more heavily than classic FICO 8.

Who uses it: most credit card issuers. If you open a credit card in the US in 2026, this is the score the approval decision is usually running against.

FICO Auto 8 and FICO Auto 9

Auto-loan-tuned models. Range 250–900. Penalizes prior auto loan delinquency more heavily, gives more credit for prior auto loan payoff.

Who uses it: auto dealers (financing through captive lenders — Ford Credit, GM Financial, Toyota Financial), credit unions, bank auto loan departments.

FICO Mortgage 2 / 4 / 5 — the "tri-merge" models

| Bureau | FICO model used for mortgage | |---|---| | Experian | FICO 2 (circa 2004) | | TransUnion | FICO 4 (circa 2001) | | Equifax | FICO 5 (circa 2004) |

Lenders pull all three and use the middle score for underwriting decisions. If one borrower is on the application, it's the middle of their three. If two borrowers, it's the lower of the two middles.

These models are ancient — FICO 5 is from 2004 — but Fannie and Freddie mandate them, so the mortgage industry is frozen.

The migration to FICO 10T + VantageScore 4.0: FHFA announced the transition in 2022. Lenders began testing bi-merge (FICO 10T + VantageScore 4.0 from two bureaus instead of tri-merge from three) in 2025. Full adoption is still years out. If you're applying for a conforming mortgage in 2026, you're probably still dealing with FICO 2/4/5.

The version numbering is confusing

Because FICO ships classic, Bankcard, and Auto variants in parallel, you can legitimately have a "FICO 8" score, a "FICO Bankcard 8" score, and a "FICO Auto 8" score — three different numbers from the same file at the same bureau on the same day.

myFICO.com sells access to 28 FICO score variants for this reason. If you're prepping for a specific loan, check the version your future lender will pull, not just classic FICO 8.

Practical takeaway

• Applying for a credit card in the next 6 months — monitor FICO Bankcard 8 (Experian usually). Move utilization down before statement close, don't open anything new, wait out inquiries.
• Auto loan in the next 6 months — monitor FICO Auto 8/9 on the bureau your dealer pulls (often Experian for dealer financing, varies for direct lending).
• Mortgage in the next 12 months — pay for the myFICO "Ultimate" plan or equivalent to see mortgage FICO 2/4/5. Optimize those three, not Credit Karma's VantageScore. See Utilization deep dive for what actually moves those scores.

Full matrix of which lenders pull which model: Who uses which score.