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Computers aren't just doing hard math problems and showing us cat videos. Increasingly, they judge our character. Maybe we should be grateful.
A company in Palo Alto, Calif., called Upstart has over the last 15 months lent $135 million to people with mostly negligible credit ratings. Typically, they are recent graduates without mortgages, car payments or credit card settlements.
Those are among the things that normally earn a good or bad credit score, but these people haven't been in the working world that long. So Upstart looks at their SAT scores, what colleges they attended, their majors and their grade-point averages. As much as job prospects, the company is assessing personality.
The idea, validated by data, is that people who did things like double-checking the homework or studying extra in case there was a pop quiz are thorough and likely to honor their debts.
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/07/26/using-algorithms-to-determine-character/
[Other Companies Involved With Similar Programs]: ZestFinance , Workday
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 27 2015, @09:00PM
That is short-term debt. You have constant, revolving debt. This is part of my point. Shouldn't the ability to pay for things at time of purchase be rewarded and not punished through lower credit scores?
I have never had any debt. No credit cards. No loans. Nothing. My credit score is as low as it gets. Even someone that is declaring bankruptcy can have a higher credit score than me.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 27 2015, @11:15PM
1. Ability to repay (i.e., having sufficient excess income so as to afford payments).
2. Willingness to repay (i.e., making good on your promise).
It is the latter that one demonstrates by paying off a debt and is why "going into debt" is necessary to get a good credit score.