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Credit Scoring: How Far Will It Go? By Barbara Woodcox   Once upon a time in our glorious land, credit history information was only used to accept or reject applications for home loans, car loans, credit cards, personal loans-- things with the word "credit" or "loan" in them. It makes perfect sense to check the credit history of a person who wants to borrow money from you.   However, it has since come to pass that credit information is being used in situations that have nothing to do with credit or loans. It is used to determine eligibility for such things as employment and insurance. If a job involves access to a lot of money, then it makes sense to run credit reports on the applicants. In all other instances, it seems to be discriminatory and a gross invasion of privacy. Maybe a highly qualified job applicant has a bad credit rating because he or she can't find a decent paying job and can't make ends meet.  A person who applies for work is not asking for a loan. A person who applies for insurance is not asking for a loan. Why should a person with a perfect driving record have to pay high risk insurance premiums? Why should a qualified professional have to work in a fast food restaurant or a gas station?   Forward to the future! Will there come a time when credit scores will determine how much each person pays for groceries, gasoline, clothing, and entertainment? Will there come a time when people with credit scores under 720 won't be allowed to move into certain neighborhoods? Will there come a time when we all have to show cards that display our credit scores to get into restaurants, theaters, and sporting events? {You can't go to the Superbowl because you're a 620.} Or, instead of cards, will it be some kind of mandatory skin implant.......?   A bit paranoid, you say? Maybe not. Twenty years ago no one would have ever thought that a person with a perfect driving record and no claims would have to buy high risk auto insurance. If consumers continue to be apathetic about the inappropriate use of credit scoring, the cards and implants mentioned above may very well be as commonplace as cars in the not too distant future.   So, we all need to ask ourselves the following question: How far will we let inappropriate uses of credit scoring go before we do something about it?

 

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