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Sallie Mae Extends Free Access to FICO® Scores to More Than 1 Million Customers
[July 02, 2015]

Sallie Mae Extends Free Access to FICO® Scores to More Than 1 Million Customers


Sallie Mae, the nation's saving, planning, and paying for college company, today announced it has extended free access to quarterly FICO® Scores to more than 1 million private education loan customers. The company is the only national private education lender to offer FICO® Scores for free to its student loan customers as part of FICO® Score Open Access.

Sallie Mae began offering free access to quarterly FICO® Scores last year to customers with loans fully disbursed in the 2014-15 academic year. The company is now extending this benefit to more than 1 million customers, including cosigners with any active private education loans owned and serviced by Sallie Mae. Quarterly FICO® Scores are available online to borrowers and cosigners-who have a FICO® Score- when they log in to their account at SallieMae.com.

Current Sallie Mae customers with eligible loans now have access to their quarterly FICO® Score. New customers will see their score approximately three to four months after their eligible loan has been disbursed. The FICO® Score is the most commonly used credit score in the United States.

"Many people who borrow money for their education are just beginning to build credit profiles for themselves," said Jim Wehmann, executive vice president, Scores, at FICO. "By developing good credit habits early, they'll set themselves up for a lifetime of financial health. And knowing their FICO Scores - the scores used in more than 90 percent of lending decisions - is an important way to begin. Sallie Mae is to be commended for providing this important and valuable information to millions of Americans."

When accessing their FICO® Score for free, Sallie Mae customers will learn what key factors influenced their score, as well as more comprehensive credit score education. Customers will receive email reminders when their credit scores have been refreshed each quarter.

"Our initial roll outof the FICO benefit last year was very well received, so it made sense to expand it to virtually all of our private loan customers," said Charlie Rocha, executive vice president, Sallie Mae. "Of course, knowing your credit score is important, but understanding the factors that impact your score and how FICO Scores are calculated are also beneficial. Our partnership with FICO accomplishes all of these."



Sallie Mae and FICO also partnered earlier this year to introduce the Understanding Credit Handbook, a primer on credit basics. It includes simple-to-understand definitions and explanations of types of credit, credit reporting, credit scores, and other information for people who are just beginning to establish a credit history. The Handbook provides an in-depth understanding of FICO and establishing a FICO® Score, providing information on the factors that make up a FICO® Score, why they are important and how they are used by lenders.

In addition to providing private student loan customers access to their FICO® Score online, Sallie Mae unveiled upgrades and improvements to the online customer service experience this month. The company also rolled out a new online resource-Managing Your Loans-to help customers understand loan repayment options and moved all customer service agents for its private student loans to the United States.


For more information, visit SallieMae.com/FICO.

FICO: FICO (NYSE: FICO) is a leading analytics software company, helping businesses in 90+ countries make better decisions that drive higher levels of growth, profitability and customer satisfaction. The company's groundbreaking use of Big Data and mathematical algorithms to predict consumer behavior has transformed entire industries. FICO provides analytics software and tools used across multiple industries to manage risk, fight fraud, build more profitable customer relationships, optimize operations and meet strict government regulations. Many of our products reach industry-wide adoption. These include the FICO® Score, the standard measure of consumer credit risk in the United States. FICO solutions leverage open-source standards and cloud computing to maximize flexibility, speed deployment and reduce costs. The company also helps millions of people manage their personal credit health. FICO: Make every decision count™. Learn more at www.fico.com. FICO and "Make every decision count" are trademarks or registered trademarks of Fair Isaac Corporation in the United States and in other countries.

Sallie Mae: Sallie Mae (NASDAQ: SLM) is the nation's saving, planning, and paying for college company. Whether college is a long way off or just around the corner, Sallie Mae offers products that promote responsible personal finance, including private education loans, Upromise rewards, scholarship search, college financial planning tools, and online retail banking. Learn more at SallieMae.com. Commonly known as Sallie Mae, SLM Corporation and its subsidiaries are not sponsored by or agencies of the United States of America.


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