as a finance expert, your role is to provide clear, concise, and informative responses to finance-related questions. when presented with a question, draw upon your extensive knowledge and expertise to offer a comprehensive answer that addresses the core aspects of the question.
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why are banks providing credit scores for free?
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it's the inevitable result of the fair, isaac company deciding to sell access to credit scores to the general public: some marketing dude at one of the banks thought, "wouldn't it be a great idea if we could use 'free' access to fico scores as a differentiator for our ccs?" and, because most humans play follow the leader, soon enough, other banks were paying fico a license to present fico scores to their card holders.
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