FICO Provides UniCredit with Tools to Reduce Application Fraud and Improve Customer Experience

LONDON, Feb. 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- FICO (NYSE:FICO), the leading provider of analytics and decision management technology, today announced that UniCredit, the Italy-based European banking group, will use an application fraud solution from FICO to help reduce fraud losses on personal loans and improve the customer experience in its Italian banking business. FICO is also validating the performance of the UniCredit Fraud Score, built for detecting residential mortgage application fraud.

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As part of its credit application process, UniCredit will score each loan for its likelihood of being fraudulent. Custom fraud models developed by FICO based on UniCredit's data will be used to analyze personal loans, and models developed by UniCredit and certified by FICO will be used to analyze mortgage loans. FICO will also work with UniCredit to define which criteria to check on each application to detect more fraud, and to regularly fine-tune the models and UniCredit's fraud rules based on fraud attacks. The solution is aimed at detecting both third-party fraud, where the criminal uses another person's identify to obtain credit, and first-party fraud, where an individual takes out credit under his or her own name but with no intent to repay.

UniCredit is a major international financial institution with strong roots in 22 European countries and an international network in approximately 50 markets.

As reported by UniCredit's Risk Management department, "Our main objective was to further enhance our ability in detecting potentially fraudulent applications, while increasing efficiency and effectiveness in our fraud investigations. We needed a solution which could enable us to focus on the credit applications with the highest likelihood of fraud while improving the customer experience. We chose FICO for its international leadership in fraud analytics as well as its ability to partner with us and improve our fraud operations."

"Application fraud is a growing focus for criminals who are being thwarted in such areas as credit card fraud," said Mike Gordon, executive vice president of sales, services and marketing at FICO. "By applying advanced analytics to stopping criminals from opening credit lines with fraudulent intent, UniCredit is taking an aggressive step that should boost the performance of their business and further deter criminal activity. At the same time, UniCredit can approve legitimate credit applications faster, by focusing fraud reviews on only those applications that have the highest chance of being fraudulent."

FICO's industry-leading enterprise fraud management solutions include FICO^® Falcon^® Fraud Manager, which protects 2.5 billion payment cards worldwide. As part of its focus on applying analytic innovations to fraud detection, the company has just released FICO^® Application Fraud Manager, a new global solution for identifying first-party and third-party fraud in credit applications. FICO was recently awarded "best-in-class" status by CEB TowerGroup for card fraud and enterprise fraud management, as well as for consumer loan origination systems.

About FICO

FICO (NYSE:FICO), formerly known as Fair Isaac, delivers superior predictive analytics solutions that drive smarter decisions. The company's groundbreaking use of mathematics to predict consumer behavior has transformed entire industries and revolutionized the way risk is managed and products are marketed. FICO's innovative solutions include the industry-leading solutions for measuring credit risk, managing credit accounts, identifying and minimizing the impact of fraud, and customizing consumer offers with pinpoint accuracy. Most of the world's top banks, as well as leading insurers, retailers, pharmaceutical companies and government agencies, rely on FICO solutions to accelerate growth, control risk, boost profits and meet regulatory and competitive demands. Learn more at www.fico.com. FICO: Make every decision count^™.

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Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Information

Except for historical information contained herein, the statements contained in this news release that relate to FICO or its business are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially, including the success of the Company's Decision Management strategy and reengineering plan, the maintenance of its existing relationships and ability to create new relationships with customers and key alliance partners, its ability to continue to develop new and enhanced products and services, its ability to recruit and retain key technical and managerial personnel, competition, regulatory changes applicable to the use of consumer credit and other data, the failure to realize the anticipated benefits of any acquisitions, continuing material adverse developments in global economic conditions, and other risks described from time to time in FICO's SEC reports, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2012 and its last quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period ended December 31, 2012. If any of these risks or uncertainties materializes, FICO's results could differ materially from its expectations. FICO disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

FICO, Falcon and "Make every decision count" are trademarks or registered trademarks of Fair Isaac Corporation in the United States and in other countries.

SOURCE FICO