Most questions, answered honestly.
We don't run a sales team. The point of this page is to answer, in plain language, the questions you'd ask if there were someone on the phone.
Email questions@score-watch.com if your question isn't here — we add new ones to this page as they come up.
What is this thing, exactly?
Is Score Watch research, or software, or data?+
All three, packaged for different buyers. The dashboard subscription is software — you log in, look at things, set alerts. The Tape (Data Export) is data — clean tables delivered to your infrastructure daily. The methodology and the model behind both is research. The pricing tiers exist because different buyers want different shapes of access to the same underlying work.
What does Score Watch actually do that I couldn't do myself with HMDA, SEC filings, and Twitter?+
You absolutely could do it yourself. The question is whether twenty hours a month of your time is worth $4,995. For a senior analyst at a fund, the math usually works in our favor. For a junior analyst whose firm has the time-budget but not the cash-budget, doing it yourself is the right call. We don't try to talk you out of it — most of our methodology is published openly.
Are you affiliated with FICO?+
No. Score Watch is independent. We are not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Fair Isaac Corporation. We have never received compensation, data, or non-public information from FICO. The mention of FICO® is identification under fair use.
Do you cover anything other than FICO mortgage?+
Not yet. The framework is generalizable to any critical-infrastructure company with a concentrated customer base — Verisk, MSCI, S&P, Moody's. We have plans. We're not announcing dates.
Pricing & buying
Why are you so much cheaper than FactSet, Bloomberg, or Capital IQ?+
Different product. Those are horizontal terminals — you pay for breadth across thousands of companies. Score Watch is vertical — we go deep on one franchise. Our cost structure is also smaller because we're focused. The price reflects what it costs to build this specific thing, plus a fair margin, not what the market will bear by terminal-replacement standards.
Why are you so much more expensive than a free Substack?+
Because a Substack is opinion, and this is monitored data. The methodology is disclosed, the sources are primary, the dataset is structured, and the historical archive is complete. If you're picking between Score Watch and reading a free newsletter, you should read the free newsletter.
Can I expense this?+
Whether your firm reimburses subscriptions is between you and your firm. Score Watch issues itemized receipts suitable for expense reports. Funds we know of that have expensed Pro subscriptions: we don't disclose customer names, ever, even to confirm or deny.
Do you offer a free trial?+
The Free Preview tier is the trial. It shows the top 3 lenders and the methodology pages — enough to decide whether the deeper product is real. We don't offer time-limited trials of paid tiers because the credit-card friction is already low and the cancellation policy is clean.
What's the cancellation policy?+
Cancel anytime from the account page. No refund for the current period. Access continues through the end of the period you've paid for. No retention call, no win-back sequence — we'd rather you leave clean than be a hostage.
Do you offer annual discounts?+
Not currently. Monthly billing is the default. We'd rather have customers who renew because the product is working than customers locked in because they prepaid. If you specifically want annual billing for accounting reasons, email us — we'll do it without a discount.
Data and methodology
How do I know your defection scores are right?+
You don't, and we don't promise infallibility. What we do is publish the methodology, version it, show the inputs, and disclose how scores have moved historically. The five-component decomposition is included in every export. If you disagree with how we weight the components, you can re-weight from the underlying data and run your own composite.
Where does your data come from?+
Public sources only: HMDA, FHFA filings, SEC EDGAR (10-K, 10-Q, 8-K), earnings call transcripts, trade press (HousingWire, Inside Mortgage Finance, NMN, MBA), executive social presence, government affairs filings, industry conference proceedings, and Form 4 insider transactions. Every signal carries a source attribution.
Do you ever talk to the lenders or to FICO?+
We attend public conferences and read public statements. We don't conduct expert calls, take management meetings, or accept off-the-record briefings. The product is designed to be MNPI-clean by construction so it can be used inside compliance-regulated funds without procurement headaches.
What's the refresh cadence?+
Lender state table: refreshed nightly. Signal stream: continuous during market hours, batched overnight outside them. Pricing trajectory: monthly. Hostility index: daily. HMDA volume data: quarterly per the federal release schedule.
Have you ever been wrong?+
Yes. The methodology page documents the accuracy track record on directional defection-risk calls since launch. We publish misses alongside hits.
Compliance, legal, edge cases
Is using Score Watch data inside a fund permissible?+
We've structured the product to use only public sources, document every input, and avoid material non-public information. That said, we are not your compliance department. If your firm has specific concerns, the methodology page is the right starting point for your compliance review.
Can I cite Score Watch in published research?+
Pro and Tape subscriptions are for internal use. Publication and citation rights are part of the Sell-Side License, a separate product. Email data@score-watch.com if you publish research and want to cite us.
What if FICO sends you a cease-and-desist?+
We expect that some of what we cover is uncomfortable for FICO. Everything we publish is sourced from public information, framed as commentary, and uses FICO's marks under nominative fair use. If we receive legal correspondence, we'll respond through counsel. We will not pull research because it's unwelcome.
Do you have an ESG or political agenda?+
No. We have no view on whether FICO's pricing is good or bad, fair or unfair. We have a view on what's actually happening, which is a different thing. Our customers buy us because they need the truth, not because they need an opinion.
What happens to my data if you go out of business?+
Your historical exports are yours. We commit in writing that if Score Watch shuts down, we will provide a final full-archive export to active subscribers within 30 days of shutdown notice.