Fair, Isaac Acquires Medical Bill Review Business From Ward North America Holding, Inc.; Asset Acquisition Expands The Size of Fair, Isaac Insurance Service Bureau

Business Wire, Jan 14, 2003

Business Editors/High-Tech & Insurance Writers

SAN RAFAEL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 14, 2003

Fair, Isaac and Company, Incorporated (NYSE:FIC), the leading provider of analytics and decision technology, today announced that it has acquired the medical bill review business of Spectrum Managed Care, a wholly owned subsidiary of San Diego-based Ward North America Holding, Inc. The asset acquisition will significantly expand the volume of Fair, Isaac's outsourced bill review business driven through the company's industry-leading bill review software. Fair, Isaac and Ward North America have entered into a 10-year partnership agreement as part of this transaction. Terms of the asset acquisition were not disclosed.

"Fair, Isaac is helping insurance carriers and employers in both the private and public sector significantly lower their workers' compensation claims costs," said Sean Downs, vice president of Healthcare and Insurance Solutions at Fair, Isaac. "Last year, our advanced medical bill review software and outsourced services saved our clients over $1.6 billion. This latest acquisition is evidence of our continued commitment to grow our bill review business and expand Fair, Isaac's presence within the insurance industry."

Fair, Isaac will gain Ward North America as an important new outsourced bill review client and provide service to over 300 customers, including a number of high-profile corporate risk management accounts, as well as state, county and municipal jurisdictions nationwide.

The Fair, Isaac Insurance Service Bureau will utilize its advanced software for workers' compensation medical bill review and PPO repricing, including scanning and optical character recognition (OCR), as well as the company's powerful Capstone(R) workflow software, to automatically review a significant percentage of medical bills without human intervention.

"We look forward to having Fair, Isaac as our trusted partner for medical bill review for our clients across the country," said Jeffrey Ward, Chairman and CEO, Ward North America. "Like its proven software, Fair, Isaac's Insurance Service Bureau is second to none in workers' compensation."

Fair, Isaac software products and services process more than $4.4 billion annually in property and casualty claims costs. They are in use in the operations of 9 of the top 10 property and casualty carriers and 65 percent of the nation's state workers' compensation funds.

About Fair, Isaac

Fair, Isaac and Company (NYSE:FIC) is the preeminent provider of creative analytics that unlock value for people, businesses and industries. The company's predictive modeling, decision analysis, intelligence management, decision management systems and consulting services power more than 25 billion mission-critical customer decisions a year. Founded in 1956, Fair, Isaac helps thousands of companies in over 60 countries acquire customers more efficiently, increase customer value, reduce fraud and credit losses, lower operating expenses and enter new markets more profitably. Most leading banks and credit card issuers rely on Fair, Isaac solutions, as do insurers, retailers, telecommunications providers, healthcare organizations and government agencies. Through the www.myFICO.com Web site, consumers use the company's FICO(R) scores, the standard measure of credit risk, to manage their financial health. As of August 5, 2002, the business of HNC Software Inc., a leading provider of high-end analytic and decision management software, is part of Fair, Isaac. For more information, visit www.fairisaac.com.

About Ward North America Holding, Inc.

Ward North America Holding, Inc., is a privately held company headquartered in San Diego, California, with more than 55 offices in 41 states and Canada. The company owns several insurance service businesses providing an integrated outsourced claims management solution to the insurance and alternative risk markets. These subsidiaries include: Ward North America, Spectrum Managed Care, Anchor Pacific Underwriters, SubroNet and Ward-InterSpect, Ltd. (Canada). For further information, please visit www.wardna.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Except for historical information contained herein, the statements contained in this press release that relate to Fair, Isaac, including statements regarding the future performance and business of the company's Insurance Service Bureau, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially, including the company's ability to recruit and retain key technical and managerial personnel, the maintenance of its existing relationships with key alliance partners, its ability to continue to develop new and enhanced products and services, competition, regulatory changes applicable to the use of consumer credit and other data and other risks described from time to time in Fair, Isaac's SEC reports, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2002, and Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2002. If any of these risks or uncertainties materializes or any of these assumptions proves incorrect, Fair, Isaac's results could differ materially from Fair, Isaac's expectations in these statements. Fair, Isaac disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.