Experian upgrades mortgage tool to ease VantageScore 4.0 shift

Experian's Power Profile Plus update lets mortgage lenders access full credit profiles via soft inquiry, cutting early-stage costs as modern scoring goes mainstream.

By Disrupts Editorial Team Sat, 31 October 2026 AI level 2 of 5

AI level 2 of 5: drafted by our AI editorial assistant from the company's announcement; fact-checked, edited and signed off by Mark Walker, Editorial Director. What the levels mean

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Experian has announced enhancements to its Power Profile Plus for Mortgage product, giving lenders access to a full credit profile and a VantageScore 4.0 score through a soft inquiry at the start of a mortgage application. The update allows lenders to re-run unlimited eligible follow-up soft inquiries during the qualification period without incurring an additional Experian credit-profile charge, a pricing structure designed to reduce the financial friction that has slowed adoption of modern scoring models across the US mortgage market.

The announcement follows the Federal Housing Finance Agency's decision to expand VantageScore 4.0 availability to all lenders approved to sell loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two government-sponsored enterprises that backstop the majority of US residential mortgage credit. That regulatory shift moved score modernisation from a policy aspiration to an operational challenge: lenders now have the regulatory permission to use VantageScore 4.0, but integrating a second scoring model into existing underwriting workflows, without doubling early-stage credit-report costs, has remained an obstacle.

The operational mechanics

Power Profile Plus addresses that obstacle through a four-step workflow. A lender begins with a soft inquiry that delivers the full Experian credit file and a VantageScore 4.0 reading, allowing initial borrower assessment before either party commits to a hard inquiry, which is recorded on the consumer's credit file and can temporarily affect their score. If the lender also wishes to evaluate a FICO Score, the applicable score charge applies, but Experian does not bill again for the underlying credit profile. When the application is ready to advance to underwriting, the lender converts to a hard inquiry under standard pricing.

"Our clients have told us they need a full credit profile and a score up front to assess consumers quickly and confidently," said Michele Bodda, Group President of Experian Housing, Verification Solutions and Employer Services. "Experian's Power Profile Plus enhancements deliver decision-ready insights while lowering early-stage costs."

Experian has also made VantageScore 4.0 available as a standalone mortgage origination score at $0.99, and has introduced a Score Choice Bundle that pairs VantageScore 4.0 with FICO Score 2 in a single transaction, with VantageScore 4.0 available at no cost when a FICO Score is obtained during 2026.

Consumer research cited by Experian found that one-third of respondents said they would seek out a new lender if they discovered their current lender relied on legacy scoring models that exclude rent and utility payment histories. The company says 52% of respondents reported they would be more likely to pursue homeownership if lenders incorporated additional positive payment history, figures that, while company-issued and unverified independently, point to a demand signal lenders cannot ignore as competition for purchase-mortgage origination intensifies.

The convergence read-across

The Power Profile Plus update sits at the intersection of financial services infrastructure, data analytics and consumer access policy, a convergence that carries implications beyond the US mortgage market. Credit bureaux globally are under pressure from regulators and fintechs alike to open their data models to alternative inputs: rental histories, utility payments, buy-now-pay-later records. The FHFA's VantageScore expansion is the most significant regulatory endorsement yet of that direction of travel, and Experian's pricing response signals that the legacy bureau model, charging per inquiry regardless of application outcome, is becoming untenable as lenders demand workflow flexibility.

For investors tracking the credit data sector, the move sharpens the competitive dynamic between Experian, Equifax and TransUnion at a moment when all three are investing in analytics platforms that go beyond raw bureau data. If soft-inquiry-based pre-qualification becomes the industry standard, the bureau that embeds itself most deeply into lender workflow software, rather than simply selling data points, will capture the stickier, recurring revenue stream. That platform contest, rather than any single product launch, is the longer story this announcement quietly advances.