FICO Company Warns Employers Use Credit Scores that Credit Reporting Agencies Deny Providing
Fair Isaac myFICO uses video to make the statement, but the issue is blurry.
(also, see Pre-employment Screening. Influence: Government)
Contrary to statements from the three national credit reporting agencies, Fair Isaac, the FICO credit score company, warns that employers use credit scores in hiring decisions.
On the home page of its website myFICO.com, a Fair Isaac video states:
In addition to credit decisions, your FICO credit score may be used to determine if a landlord will rent to you, or even if an employer will hire you. That's right. That little three-digit number between three-hundred and eight-fifty impacts your financial life in a lot of ways.
The video, "Why go with FICO?" can also be found on was removed from the video website YouTube:
Replying to creditcoring.com in April, consumer reporting agencies Equifax, Experian and TransUnion all denied providing credit scores to employers for employment screening. However, as previously reported on creditscoring.com, government, media and legal-profession players make the same claim as Fair Isaac-- that credit scores are, indeed, part of employers' pre-employment screening.
10/30/08
UPDATE: Fair Isaac Used Only Anecdotal Evidence
FICO company fails to name one employer using credit scores
Asked for the source of its information that a FICO credit score could determine the outcome of an employment application, Fair Isaac responded to creditscoring.com that it used "anecdotal information gleaned from public sources such as published articles."
Asked to identify an employer using scores, Fair Isaac named none.
The question of the authorized user effect increasing a score so one employment candidate might have an an advantage over another is unanswered.
Fair Isaac's public affairs manager claimed that, to his knowledge, Fair Isaac itself does not use credit scores for employment screening.
12/2/08
UPDATE: YouTube video removed
Infamous "Why go with FICO?" disappears
But, you can still see the video, now called "Why myFICO?," at myFICO.com.
Fair Isaac Tech Talk seems to have take over the Fair Isaac FICO score YouTube slot.
Updated 2/4/09