The days of consumers being able to game the FICO credit scoring system has officially gone &39;on the clock&39; and the countdown has begun.  Fair Isaac will be closing the &39;authorized user&39; loophole in their newest versions of the FICO score, which will be installed at all three credit bureaus by this time next year. 

A small number of bottom feeding companies has been trying to play God with the FICO scores and for the past several months has figured out a way to connect consumers who NEED a good credit card account with someone who has a good credit card account and wants to SELL access to it.  The desperate consumer pays these vultures a fee of several hundred or thousands of dollars and they are added to some stranger&39;s credit card as an authorized user.  This, in turn, helps their FICO scores when the account is added to their credit reports at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. 

This process has been labeled as &39;piggybacking&39; by the press who is in a frenzy over this, as well they should be.  The last time there was this significant of a change made to the inner workings of the FICO score was back in 1997 when the company changed how they treated auto and mortgage inquiries so not to penalize consumers who were aggressively shopping interest rates.

Credit.com is in the process of publishing several insider articles on this news and I will be going on CNN&39;s Paula Zahn Show in the next few days to discuss the FICO scoring model change.  I will also be interviewed for several print and online media publications.  Stay tuned for more information on the FICO announcement!

Reporters and Media: Contact us if you&39;d like to speak to one of Credit.com&39;s industry experts about this significant FICO score change.