Heartland Financial USA Selects FICO Cloud-Based Loan Origination Solution to Speed Small Business Lending

MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- FICO (NYSE: FICO), the leading provider of predictive analytics and decision management technology, today announced that Heartland Financial USA, Inc., is implementing the FICO® LiquidCredit® service, a cloud-based loan origination solution, to speed commercial lending decisions. The FICO solution will enable Heartland to approve small business loan applications in hours, not days, improve customer satisfaction and attract more small business customers.

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According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, small businesses represent 99.7 percent of employer firms, employ half of the private sector, and generated 65 percent of net new jobs over the past 17 years.  Heartland will also use the FICO^® Small Business Scoring Service℠ (SBSS℠) solution to automate and improve its small business lending decision processes for its nine independently chartered banks in the Midwest and West.

"Small businesses are critically important for the health and recovery of the U.S. economy, and we're very serious about building our business by helping small businesses succeed," said Leila Shanoff, senior vice president and Small Business Loan Center manager at Heartland. "We selected the FICO LiquidCredit and the SBSS because we required flexible and powerful tools for implementing new lending strategies aimed at this vital sector. This solution will enable us to get more credit more quickly to the local businesses we serve."

"Demand for credit from small businesses is intense, and small business lenders must respond in real-time with offers closely tailored to the applicant's needs in order to compete and grow," said Bill Waid, vice president of client services in North America at FICO.  "Using FICO LiquidCredit, Heartland will be able to pursue a profitable growth strategy by adapting quickly to changing market conditions and making more competitive offers to small business borrowers."

FICO® LiquidCredit® service gives credit grantors an intelligent network for providing instant credit across any channel. It provides credit grantors with access to FICO's industry-leading analytic models, which analyze application, financial, consumer and business bureau data to drive better credit risk decisions. Using the LiquidCredit decision engine, credit grantors can realize greater profitability by booking more loans and cutting losses.

About Heartland Financial USA, Inc.
Heartland Financial USA, Inc. is a $4.4 billion diversified financial services company providing banking, mortgage, wealth management, investment, insurance and consumer finance services to individuals and businesses. Heartland currently has 64 banking locations in 43 communities in Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Arizona, Montana, Colorado and Minnesota. Additional information about Heartland Financial USA, Inc. is available at www.htlf.com.

About FICO
FICO (NYSE:FICO) 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 FICO^® Score — the standard measure of consumer credit risk in the United States — along with industry-leading solutions for 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. FICO also helps millions of individuals manage their personal credit health through www.myFICO.com. Learn more at www.fico.com. FICO: Make every decision count^™.

For FICO news and media resources, visit www.fico.com/news.

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, 2011 and its last quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 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, LiquidCredit, Small Business Scoring Service, SBSS and "Make every decision count" are trademarks or registered trademarks of Fair Isaac Corporation in the United States and in other countries.

SOURCE FICO