Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
I was on “TheGrio with Marc Lamont Hill” last week, and one of the topics we discussed was a new service called Score, which bills itself as “the dating app for people with good credit.”
In order to join the app, you have to have a credit score of 675 or better, and this is verified with a soft pull on your credit before you are even allowed to join the app. Your score will not be shared with other users, and no one will be able to access your credit information, but the app promises that everyone else you encounter on the app will have a score of 675 or better.
I had to let out a hearty chuckle at the entire idea behind the app, beginning with the idea that 675 is a “high” credit score.
While 675 may get you that apartment you are applying for or that credit card you want in the credit game, according to the three major credit reporting bureaus, 675 – while not a bad score – is definitely not the definition of good credit.
Marc asked me and Feminista Jones if we thought this app was a good idea, and we both thought it was laughably ridiculous.
Please understand that a good credit score is no more an indication of wealth than a bad credit score is indicative of poverty. There are rich people with bad credit and poor people with good credit. I heard there’s a “rich” person right now who is running for president, and he doesn’t pay his bills either.
It’s also important to understand that the credit system is arbitrary and almost purposely confusing to the average consumer; most people don’t have a firm understanding of what drives their credit scores and how they can improve them, and this leads to many wasting hundreds or thousands of dollars on “credit repair” companies — which, in my opinion, are also a scam.
I would like to take this opportunity to try and…
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