Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri is advocating for an investigation by President Donald Trump’s Justice Department into the Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO), the leading credit-scoring company in the United States, due to alleged monopolistic practices. In a letter addressed to Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater, Hawley expressed concerns over FICO’s significant market control and price increases, which he believes have led to excessive profits in the absence of substantial competition.
Hawley highlighted that FICO holds approximately 90% of the business-to-business credit scoring market share and benefits from advantageous agreements with government entities, requiring its scores for various loans. He accused FICO of misusing its privileged market position, and claimed that working Americans have been disadvantaged by this monopoly power.
In his correspondence, Hawley urged the Department of Justice’s antitrust division, led by Slater, to examine FICO’s practices closely. FICO has not yet commented on this potential investigation.
This request from Hawley follows the Trump administration’s recent initiation of an antitrust lawsuit aimed at preventing a significant acquisition in the tech sector. This lawsuit is intended to block Hewlett-Packard Enterprise from purchasing Juniper Networks, a competing wireless local area network technology provider, in a deal valued at $14 billion.