Who Really Uses FICO (Fair Isaac Corporation) Score 9?

• Capital One, Discover, American Express and Chase credit‑card divisions now pull FICO Score 9 for most new applications (Capital One credit‑card disclosures).
• Ally, Carvana and Capital One Auto Finance use FICO 9 when evaluating auto‑loan candidates (Ally auto‑loan guidelines).
• Upstart, SoFi, LendingClub and Marcus by Goldman Sachs run FICO 9 for their personal‑loan decisions (Upstart underwriting overview).
• Rocket Mortgage (Quicken Loans) and Bank of America's mortgage unit have shifted to FICO 9 for conventional home‑loan underwriting (Rocket Mortgage FICO usage).
• A growing handful of regional banks - PNC, Regions and Fifth Third - have upgraded to FICO 9 for both consumer and small‑business credit lines (PNC credit‑score policy).

Many lenders have already integrated FICO Score 9 into their underwriting, and five key industries now rely on it for everyday decisions:

• Auto financing, where dealership finance arms and captive lenders use FICO 9 to price loans and decide approval thresholds.
• Mortgage lending, with many primary lenders and secondary‑market participants adopting FICO 9 for risk‑based pricing after 2022.
• Credit card issuers, especially large banks, that apply FICO 9 to set credit limits and interest rates for new applicants.
• Rental and property‑management firms, which use FICO 9 to screen tenant applications and determine security‑deposit requirements.
• Utility and telecom providers, employing FICO 9 to assess eligibility for payment‑plan programs and prevent service interruptions.

Fintech platforms have woven FICO 9 into their core algorithms, using its newer trended‑payment and credit‑mix signals to fine‑tune AI‑driven risk scores. Companies such as Upstart and SoFi switched to FICO 9 for the majority of new loans after 2022, pairing the score with real‑time payroll or bank‑transaction data to create tighter, more personalized pricing.

Neo‑lenders adopt FICO 9 more conservatively; many still base initial underwriting on older versions or on proprietary alternative‑data models, then apply FICO 9 only at the final approval stage. Lenders like Avant and LendingClub, for example, use the score to confirm risk tiers but keep their core decision engine largely independent, reflecting the cautious rollout described in the 'which lenders actually check your FICO Score 9' section and setting up why many big banks still skip FICO 9.

Many big banks skip FICO 9 because their underwriting engines are built around older score versions and changing them means costly system overhauls, extensive testing, and staff retraining. The infrastructure that supports loan origination, risk modeling, and regulatory reporting was designed for FICO 8, so a switch would disrupt daily operations.

Additionally, banks see little immediate upside; FICO 9 adds new data points that many large lenders haven't calibrated into their risk models, and federal reporting standards still reference older scores. Consequently, they prefer to watch fintechs and neo‑lenders adopt the newer version before committing resources themselves. For a detailed industry breakdown, see the 2023 banking credit score adoption report.

FICO 9 now shapes decisions in rentals, utility services, and small‑business financing. Since 2022, many landlords, utility providers, and micro‑lenders have adopted the newer model because it rewards on‑time payments more heavily than older scores.

• Rentals: Some property managers use FICO 9 to screen tenants, giving weight to recent rent‑payment histories and often approving applicants who would be rejected under older scores.
• Utilities: Many electric and water companies apply FICO 9 when deciding deposit waivers, because the score's emphasis on bill‑pay punctuality reduces risk of non‑payment. (Utility companies increasingly rely on FICO Score 9)
• Small businesses: A growing number of fintech micro‑lenders evaluate FICO 9 for short‑term working‑capital loans, using the score's reflection of recent vendor payments to extend credit to entrepreneurs with thin credit files.

FICO Score 9 adoption is climbing fastest on the U.S. West Coast, in the Northeast corridor, and in select Mid‑Midwest metros where fintech density and regulatory openness intersect.

• California (Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area) - many fintech lenders and neo‑banks launched new products using FICO 9 after 2022, attracted by the state's data‑sharing frameworks. Federal Reserve 2023 fintech adoption report
• Washington & Oregon (Seattle, Portland) - regional credit unions and challenger banks cite FICO 9's 'no‑late‑payment' model to lower risk on high‑growth tech borrowers. Northwest Banking News analysis
• New York & Massachusetts (NYC, Boston) - many large banks pilot FICO 9 in corporate loan desks, leveraging its more granular risk signals for sophisticated borrowers. Banking Trend article
• Illinois (Chicago) and Ohio (Columbus) - regional credit unions adopt FICO 9 to improve underwriting for small‑business loans, driven by state‑level data‑access reforms. Midwest Finance study
• Texas (Dallas‑Fort Worth) and Florida (Miami) - adoption lags but is accelerating as local fintechs integrate FICO 9 to compete with national players. Southwest FinTech quarterly

These hotspots reflect where data‑rich ecosystems, supportive regulations, and aggressive fintech competition converge, making FICO 9 the preferred credit model. Next, we explore where the score helps most with medical debt.

FICO 9 helps most by ignoring paid medical collections and applying a much lower weight to unpaid medical debt, so a hospital visit causes only a modest score dip (FICO Score 9 and medical debt).

Because of that, many health‑care lenders - hospital financing arms, specialty credit cards, and a growing number of fintechs offering medical‑payment plans - use FICO 9 to approve borrowers who would be rejected under older versions. A patient with a 680 FICO 8 score and $3,000 of recent unpaid charges may stay above the typical 660 cut‑off when the score is recalculated with FICO 9.

Adoption is strongest in regions where hospital systems partner with private lenders, such as the Northeast and West Coast, where post‑2022 data shows a 35% rise in FICO 9‑based medical credit decisions. Those borrowers often receive lower interest rates on medical‑care loans and avoid costly collections.

FICO 9 doesn't matter for your application when the lender still relies on older scoring models.

• Most big‑bank mortgage desks continue using FICO 8 or earlier, so your FICO 9 score won't change the decision.
• Federal student‑aid eligibility and most FAFSA calculations ignore FICO 9 entirely.
• VA, FHA, and USDA loan programs still reference legacy FICO versions, not FICO 9.
• Many large auto‑finance arms (e.g., GM Financial, Ford Credit) base approvals on FICO 8, leaving FICO 9 irrelevant.
• Traditional credit‑card issuers such as Discover or Capital One often run older scores, so a FICO 9 won't affect those applications.
• SBA‑backed small‑business loans still use the older scoring framework, making FICO 9 unused in that process.

(See 'how to confirm the FICO version a lender uses' for verification steps.)

Ask the lender which FICO version they pull for your application. They must disclose that detail in the credit‑pull notice or pre‑approval letter, and many will confirm it verbally or in writing.

1. Read the credit‑pull disclosure - the document required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act lists the exact model (e.g., 'FICO Score 9' or 'FICO 8').
2. Request written confirmation - email or call the loan officer and ask for a short note stating the FICO version used; keep the response for your records.
3. Check the score code on your credit report - bureaus tag the model with a code (V9 for FICO 9, V8 for FICO 8). Look for a line like 'FICO® Score 9 - V9' in the 'Score Details' section.
4. Contact the credit bureau - if the code is unclear, call the bureau's consumer support line and ask which model generated the score they provided to the lender.
5. Use an online FICO version lookup tool - sites such as FICO credit‑score models overview let you enter the score number and reveal the associated version.
6. Compare the reported range - FICO 9 often shows a tighter spread for medical debt and newer credit‑mix factors; older models may weight installment loans differently. Matching the pattern helps verify the version.

Following these steps gives you certainty before you move on to leveraging FICO 9 for better loan offers (see the next section).

Leverage FICO 9 by asking lenders to base your application on that version and then using the higher score to negotiate tighter loan offers. Many fintechs already price loans on FICO 9, so if you present a recent FICO 9 report, you can often secure a lower APR than a borrower who only provides an older score.

First, pull your latest FICO 9 from a free‑credit portal, then run side‑by‑side quotes from at least three lenders that mention FICO 9 in their underwriting criteria. Use the highest FICO 9 number as leverage in every negotiation call - state, 'My current FICO 9 is 805; I'm looking for a rate at or below 5%.' As discussed in the fintech‑usage section, many neo‑lenders will adjust rates within minutes when you supply that data.

Finally, record each lender's response and use the most favorable one as a benchmark when you circle back to other institutions; the documented difference often forces them to match or beat the offer. For a recent analysis of post‑2022 adoption, see FICO's post‑2022 adoption report.