Which company introduced the first FICO credit score for general use in 1989?

Fair Isaac Corporation introduced the first FICO credit score for general use in 1989.

FICO was founded by engineer Bill Fair and mathematician Earl Isaac, whose names form the company’s original name. The company developed statistical models to help lenders estimate the likelihood that a borrower would repay credit as agreed.

The FICO score became an influential tool in consumer lending, including decisions about credit cards, mortgages, and personal loans. Its scoring models use information from credit reports, such as payment history, amounts owed, length of credit history, new credit, and credit mix.

FICO is not a credit bureau. Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion collect and maintain credit-report information, while FICO develops scoring models that may use data supplied by those bureaus. Different FICO versions can also produce different scores for different lending purposes.